Foreign Minister

REGULATION

Tallinn 20 December 2006 No 13

Terms and Procedure and the Application Form for the Transfer of the Possession of Immovable Property Ownership and of an Immovable to the Representation of a Foreign State or International Organisation

The Resolution shall be enforced under § 13 (13) of the “Foreign Relations Act”.

§ 1. Scope of application of the Regulation

(1) The resolution shall govern the transfer of the possession of immovable property ownership and of an immovable by means of acquiring an immovable, a legal part thereof or a right of superficies thereon, of establishing usufruct or of constituting a right of superficies, of renting or of gratuitous grant of use thereof (hereinafter transfer of an immovable) to the representation of a foreign state or international organisation (hereinafter representation of a foreign state).

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, an immovable transferred to the representation of a foreign state shall be land and buildings, parts of buildings or facilities and the land adjacent to them located in the territory of the Republic of Estonia, which the representation of a foreign state intends to use for the needs of the representation, including as a residence of the head of the representation.

(3) The transferor of an immovable shall be the owner thereof or his authorized representative.

(4) The regulation shall be applied, except in case of:

1) transfer of an immovable governed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the representation of a foreign state;

2) if otherwise provided in an international agreement.

§ 2. Notification obligation of the representation of a foreign state

The representation of a foreign state shall in a written form notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of its intention of acquiring an immovable, a legal part thereof or a right of superficies thereon, of establishing usufruct or of constituting a right of superficies, of renting or putting into use free of charge thereof, as well as of the location of the immovable and of the transferor.

§ 3. Application for the authorisation of transferring an immovable

(1) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs upon receipt of the information mentioned in § 2 shall notify the representation of the foreign country and the transferor of the immovable in a written form of the need to apply for the authorisation of transferring the immovable.

(2) The application for the authorisation of transferring an immovable pursuant to form provided in the Annex of the Regulation shall be submitted by the transferor of the immovable to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(3) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall review the application for the authorisation of transferring an immovable within 30 calendar days beginning from the date of the registration of the application. In the course of the review of the application the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall if necessary submit a pertinent request for information to the rural municipality government or city government of the location of the immovable for taking a position.

(4) The application form for the authorisation of transferring an immovable shall be published on the web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

§ 4. Granting the authorisation of transferring an immovable

(1) The authorisation of transferring an immovable shall be granted to the representation of a foreign state subject to an administrative proceeding by the Directive of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

(2) Upon the granting of the authorisation of transferring an immovable to the representation of a foreign state the restrictions related to state defence provided in § 3 (1) of “Restrictions on Acquisition of Immovables Act” shall be taken account of.

(3) The Minister of Foreign Affairs may refuse to grant an authorisation of transferring an immovable in case it:

1) may jeopardise state security; 2) is contrary to the principle of reciprocity ensuing from international practices; 3) may be contrary to public interest.

(4) The Foreign Ministry shall in a written form notify the representation of a foreign state of an authorisation granted to the transferor of an immovable or of refusing to grant an authorisation within 5 working days upon granting the authorisation or refusing to grant it.

§ 5. Entry into force of the Regulation

The Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2007.

Urmas Paet Minister of Foreign Affairs Matti Maasikas Secretary General