A Legal Definition for Public Investments
A Legal Definition for Public Investments

Summary/Abstract: Although largely used by both lawyers and economists, the concept of „public investment” lacks a legal definition of general application. The quite few regulations addressing the issue refer mainly to investments of public interest financed from public budgets and are to be found in various normative act, which renders difficult their composition into a coherent legal regime. A definition of public investments from a legal perspective should use the single legal criterion of the ultimate owner of the resulting asset, irrespective of their financing from public or private funds. Consequently, they should include all actions undertaken by the state or by local authorities or by public undertakings acting on their behalf for the construction or rehabilitation of assets to be used for the public interest and that will enter their ownership according to the law or to the contract underlying such actions. This definition may further be the foundation for a comprehensive legal regime of public investments.

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