Vladimir Galka appealed the court's refusal to return his plot.

The Sochi Cossack Vladimir Galka filed an appeal against the decision of the Adler District Court, which refused to return his land plot. The lawyer noted that the first-instance court ignored the fact that Galka had paid taxes for 30 years and bore the burden of maintaining the plot, although these circumstances, in the lawyer's opinion, are of key importance.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on May 23, it became known that the court refused to return the land plot to the Sochi Cossack Vladimir Galka. The Cossack could not achieve the return of the land plot seized by the authorities through the court, which he has maintained for several decades.

Vladimir Galka stated his intention to seek the return of the plot

On July 14, Vladimir Galka filed an appeal with the Krasnodar Regional Court against the decision of the Adler District Court, which refused to return his land plot. He emphasized that he does not intend to retreat.

"I did not steal this land; I cultivated it with my own hands when it was overgrown with weeds and stones. For thirty years, I have been paying taxes, taking care of every inch. In 2011, I went to the department to [its head] to formalize the land, and he told me: 'Write a request; as we dictate to you, it will be easier for us to formalize it into ownership.' He dictated that I request to transfer my plot into municipal ownership, and then, as they formalize it for themselves, they will then transfer it to me," Vladimir Galka told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

He noted that officials took advantage of his trust. "I wrote: 'I request to formalize my plot into municipal ownership.' They formalized it based on my request. And then they said: 'You yourself voluntarily renounced your plot. What else do you want? Why are you coming here?'" Galka noted.

According to the Cossack, he has filed complaints with various authorities, but officials did not respond to them. Galka stated that the problem arose due to the fault of one of the heads of the legal department of the Sochi administration, who is currently accused by law enforcement of receiving a bribe.

Vladimir Galka's representative in court, who is also his wife Olga Koryagina, noted that the struggle for the right to the land has become a matter of principle for their family. "I saw how quickly the court made decisions in favor of the administration, without asking a single clarifying question about how this situation with deception arose. It felt like the judge hadn't even opened the archival documents that we had so painstakingly obtained. We filed an appeal because we cannot allow a person's years of hard work to be erased by a single signature of an official made under dictation," she told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

One wants to believe that the regional court will pay attention to the fact of ownership of the plot for almost 30 years

Koryagina noted that this is not just about land, but about the sustenance of their family. "We grow everything on the plot, and that is how we feed ourselves. It is impossible to live on our pensions," she emphasized.

In the appeal, the plaintiff requests to overturn the decision of the Adler Court and adopt a new one – to recognize the actions of the administration regarding the registration of municipal ownership rights as illegal, and also to oblige the city authorities to assign the plot to Vladimir Galka.

"One wants to believe that the regional court will hear us and will look not only at the administration's papers but also at our archival documents, at the facts of ownership of this plot for almost 30 years, which is evidenced by the age of our trees that we bought, planted, and took care of ourselves," Koryagina said.

Vladimir Galka's appeal has been received, confirmed an employee of the office for civil cases of the Adler District Court. "He will receive an invitation to the appellate court via SMS if the judge determines that the appeal is properly formatted and there are no complaints about it," she told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

The lawyer pointed out gross violations of the law

The judge who made the decision in Vladimir Galka's case committed gross procedural violations, effectively removing himself from a comprehensive investigation of the case, believes an independent lawyer Timur Akhmetov, specializing in land dispute cases.

"According to the texts of the claim, the court's decision, and the court protocol, the process in the Adler court looks like a formal procedure aimed at legalizing the seizure of land from a citizen. The most outrageous thing is the ignoring of evidence. The case materials indicate that the judge independently requested archival documents confirming the legality of the initial allocation of the plot to Vladimir Galka back in 1996. He attached them to the case but simply forgot about them in the final decision. The judge did not give them any legal assessment. In civil proceedings, this is a violation of fundamental legal norms (Articles 67, 196 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), which makes the decision illegal," Timur Akhmetov told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

The first-instance court also ignored the principles of good faith ownership, the lawyer continued. "For thirty years, a person has been paying taxes, taking care of the land, considering it his own. The administration, using the legal illiteracy of the plaintiff, committed actions that violate Articles 1 and 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (prohibition of abuse of rights). The judge did not want to give a legal assessment of the officials' actions, reducing everything in his decision to dry and out-of-context norms of the Land Code," Akhmetov noted.

Ownership of property for fifteen years grants ownership rights

The lawyer also pointed out that the first-instance court ignored the principles of good faith ownership enshrined in civil legislation. If a person has paid taxes for thirty years, taken care of the land, and borne the burden of its maintenance, then there is a fundamental institution of acquisitive prescription in Russian law for such cases, he explained.

"A person – a citizen or a legal entity – who is not the owner of the property but has owned it in good faith, openly, and continuously as if it were their own real estate for fifteen years or other property for five years acquires ownership rights to this property," the lawyer quoted paragraph 1 of Article 234 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Galka has owned the land for twice the legally established period. The Sochi administration committed actions that grossly violate the principles of good faith (Articles 1 and 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), he continued. "The court did not want to assess this, effectively ignoring the law, although the plaintiff stated about the deception in the first-instance court," Akhmetov concluded.