Renewal of the Land Lease Agreement: Problems of Theory and Judicial Practice

Abstract

Land is the most important object of the environment. It is an indispensable means of production in agriculture, the territorial basis for the location of various objects. It is argued that the proper functioning of land lease relations is a guarantee of sustainable economic circulation, a guarantee of the exercise of rights and performance of duties by both the lessor and the lessee of the land. The issue of renewal of the land lease agreement after its expiration is debatable. The purpose of the study is to outline the existing theoretical and law enforcement problems regarding the renewal of the land lease agreement, to make proposals to eliminate the latter. To achieve this purpose, a system-structural method of scientific knowledge was used, which helped analyse the prescriptions of the legislation on renewal of the land lease agreement, their relations and interaction were highlighted. The study proves that the lessee's pre-emptive right exists to renew the land lease agreement only for the same period and on the same terms and in the absence of objections to such renewal by the lessor. If the lessee tries to change the essential terms of the land lease agreement and in the absence of the lessor's consent to such changes, the lessee's pre-emptive right to enter into a land lease agreement for a new term is terminated. It is emphasised that in each dispute it is necessary to establish the good faith of the lessor’s actions to refuse to renew the land lease agreement with one person (lessee) and the subsequent conclusion of the agreement with the new lessee. The use of the category of "less protected" party in land lease legal relations appears debatable, because depending on the subject composition of the parties to these legal relations, such a party can be both a lessee and a lessor. It is concluded that the Supreme Court should unify the practice of applying the provisions of the law on the renewal of the land lease agreement (only in combination with other regulations or autonomously, with the use of the principle of "tacit consent"). The possibility of autonomous application of such instructions is indicated by the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Counteraction to Raiding”. The revealed shortcomings of the legal regulation of the renewal of the land lease agreement after its expiration indicate the directions of improvement of the legislation in land lease, which has practical significance