The ownership and the conditions for its deprivation through compulsory expropriation have always been contentious issues between public and private interests, because the state needs private property, for example, to construct a public work, implement a city plan, or protect an archaeological site.

In this book, judicial officers of the Council of State and lawyers thoroughly analyze all the issues and legal institutions related to the constitutional and legislative protection of property against public authority and answer questions such as:

What is the scope of property protection according to the Constitution and the ECHR?

Can the state deprive a citizen of their property through compulsory expropriation and under what conditions?

How does compulsory expropriation differ from property restrictions?

In what way is the citizen compensated and who determines it?

Who determines the beneficiary of the compensation and by what process?

What do the terms lifting and revocation of expropriation mean?

Is it permissible to declare the expropriation anew?

Can a citizen be deprived of their property without prior compensation being paid?

How is the citizen protected when the state (or another obligor) is inactive or deprives them of property without due compensation?

In all of the above and generally in the numerous issues related to compulsory expropriation, the book provides substantiated answers and serves as an essential aid for practitioners of the law (administration, lawyers, and judges) as well as for citizens.