Problem rewindykacji kościelnej nieruchomości Polskiego Kościoła Ewangelicznych Chrześcijan Baptystów we Wrocławiu
The problem of the restitution of church property of the Polish Evangelical Christian Baptist Church in Wroclaw

Summary/Abstract: The main aim of the paper is to present the course of the restitution proceedings concerning the church property of the parish of the Polish Evangelical Christian Baptist Church in Wrocław, as well as to analyse the administrative decisions issued during the proceedings. Special attention is given to the legal issues related to applying art. 2 para. 4 of the decree of 8 March 1946 on abandoned and post-German properties and to the consequences of the resolution of the Supreme Court of 19 December 1959 for the legal effects in the interpretation of art. 2 para. 4 of the decree. A definitive decision on this issue that refused to grant the right of ownership to the Church was issued only 13 years after the restitution application had been submitted. The excessive duration of the proceedings was confirmed by the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (Application no. 32045/10). The Second Congregation in Wrocław (the legal successor of the above-mentioned parish) did not recover the property lost after World War II under the provisions of the act regulating the legal situation of the Church of Christian Baptists in the Republic of Poland. A close examination of the circumstances of the lengthy restitution litigation indicates that in order to resolve the question of the right of ownership of this property, it is necessary to pursue another route than the administrative one.

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