Popescu & Asociatii has successfully represented The Romanian Academy in court in an expropriation dispute with the Mogosoaia Local Council.
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic, and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to Popescu & Asociatii, the proceedings concerned "the suspension of three decisions issued by the Mogosoaia Local Council by admitting the appeal promoted on behalf of [The Romanian Academy], administrative documents representing an important step in an extensive and controversial expropriation procedure started by the local authority since 2017."
According to the firm, "the Mogosoaia Local Council decisions concern the approval of the topographic-cadastral documentation, the technical documentation for the reconfiguration of the land plots in order to develop the urbanistic agricultural lands by changing the legal, economic, and technical regime with the geometry amendment, positioning, and surface of the land plots and of land, leading to the forced expropriation of the lands owned in the area by both individuals and public institutions." The expropriation concerns an endeavor which seeks "the development of an ample urbanization project outside Mogosoaia – Sector Zero, having as object the restitution of over 28,000 hectares of land. The project is a small town with about 90,000 inhabitants that would span over 1,100 hectares and would include residential areas, shops, a university campus, a hospital, and a leisure park."
According to the firm, "the immediate consequence of the solution obtained is that, until the legality check of the administrative acts issued by the Mogosoaia Local Council, any administrative approach that could lead to further expropriation procedures and changing the land's legal-economic regime in the impact zone is ceased."
Popescu & Asociatii’s team included Partner Octavian Popescu and Senior Counsel Andreea Mihalache.