The Syrian Ministry of Justice announced the formation of a committee to study real estate contracts and the applicable regulations related to rental contracts, on the evening of Thursday, June 12.
The committee is chaired by the President of the Court of Cassation, Judge Anas Mansour al-Suleiman, and includes seven members, four of whom are judges: Muhammad Haj Hassan, Muhammad Jamal al-Din al-Khatib, Ammar al-Aani, and Hussam Shweiki.
The committee also includes Ahmad Sanda, representing the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment, the head of the Rental Contracts Department in Damascus, Muhammad Aqid, and a member of the central Bar Association council, Abdul Aziz Bakri.
The Ministry of Justice has tasked the committee with studying legislative instruments and applicable regulations related to judicially extended rental contracts, whether the properties are owned by individuals or the state, and whether they are leased to individuals or the state.
The committee is responsible for proposing solutions to the issues related to the judicial extension of leases, based on the nature of the rental contract and the provisions governing the relationship between the parties, ensuring “the achievement of justice” among the parties involved in the rental relationship.
The ministry required the committee to complete its tasks within a month from the date of the decision and granted it the right to consult any suitable external experts.
For her part, lawyer Nadine Ghazi stated to Enab Baladi that there are properties and commercial shops subject to judicial extension, noting that valuation lawsuits take three years and become forgotten in courts, after which the owner files a new lawsuit and pays attorney fees again.
She explained that there are commercial or residential properties leased by the state, known as state-owned properties, owned by public institutions.
The lawyer confirmed that the committee will examine rental laws related to judicial extensions for both the state and individuals.
“Social earthquake”
Lawyer and legal expert Aref al-Shaal commented on the decision, describing it as a “forthcoming social earthquake.”
Al-Shaal stated via his Facebook account that the new administration of the country has begun its first step in “liquidating” exceptional rental legislations, which landlords have suffered “under its oppression” for long periods of time, as he described.
He considered the government’s movement to be “noticeable” in the community to achieve justice for them.
Al-Shaal noted the diversity in the committee’s formation, as it represents all concerned parties, according to the legal expert, considering that this institutional configuration hints at a change in the Ministry of Justice’s previous policy of monopolizing committee formations with only judges.
The lawyer residing in Damascus called on the committee to consider Agricultural Relations Law No. “56” of 2004, describing it as “bad.”
This mentioned law pertains to regulating relationships between agricultural work parties arising from agricultural land investment (plant or animal) and contains 167 articles.
Decree “111”
Rental relationships in Syria have been governed by the provisions of Legislative Decree No. “111” since 1952, which made the rental relationship subject to the provisions of judicial extension and determining the rental fee. This legislative decree interfered with freedom of contracting, mandating that the rental contract be automatically extended regardless of the landlord’s desire or intent, creating many issues between the contracting parties and depriving the landlord of their right to dispose of their property.
Legislative Decree “111” has generated many valuation lawsuits that landlords are forced to resort to in order to raise the rental fee commensurate with rising real estate prices. Additionally, this right was granted to tenants as well, who can file a valuation lawsuit to reduce the rental fee, which has flooded the small courts with this type of case.
With the evolution of rental laws in Syrian law, some have considered Legislative Decree “111” to be a violation of Article “148,” which states that “the contract is the law of the contracting parties and may not be revoked or amended except by mutual consent of the parties or for the reasons prescribed by law.”
Enab Baladi attempted to contact the Syrian Ministry of Justice earlier to ask if there is an intention to issue a new law that would fairly address both landlords and tenants, but did not receive a response at that time.
Syrian Justice Ministry forms committee for rental laws Enab Baladi.
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