ABUSOS URBANISTICOS NO! – LEGAL ACTION FUND
Board: Charles Svoboda, Enrique Climent , Wilhelm Kamphuis, Jonathan Lambert
C/o Marques de Campo no 37-2, 03700 Denia – tel: 96 578 63 15
Dear Property Owner and Friend,
APPEAL FOR SUPPORT
Too many of us residents of the Valencia Community have become recent victims,
directly or indirectly, of the scandalous application of the LRAU and other associated
land laws and legislation here. Developers determined on taking our property have
influenced Municipalities into granting their activities the status of `Public Interest
Projects’ thereby unleashing one of the most draconian applications of expropriation
law seen anywhere in the European Union.
We all know of families who have been deprived of their heritage without more than a
gesture of compensation, of people thrown out of their homes and of their being
presented with highly inflated infrastructure bills, which they can’t afford to pay.
Although these abuses are being done in the name of ‘Public Interest’, we all know it
is rarely public facilities or social housing which are being constructed, but rather
holiday homes for wealthy outsiders. The only people to profit are the developers
themselves and their friends in the Town Halls. Meanwhile our beautiful landscape
suffers and housing costs are pushed well beyond the reach of all but the wealthy.
Abusos Urbanisticos No! (AUN) , a non partisan, not for profit association, have now
developed a legal strategy to prosecute this institutionalised theft. Working with our
Spanish lawyers and a major British legal firm, Irwin Mitchell (specialists in human
rights cases), we have obtained legal opinion from Human Rights experts who say
that these activities under the LRAU clearly violate the individual human rights of
property owners under the Spanish Constitution and European law. The experts
suggest that those affected are in a good position to win their case at the European
Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and may well be eligible for compensation and
punitive damages against both the developers and public bodies involved. We intend
to proceed therefore with actions on behalf of a number of victims of these outrageous
abuses. A success at the European Court of Human Rights should create a situation
where no future developers or Town Halls would risk continuing to abuse
landowners in this way. It would also force the Valencian Government, and indeed
the Madrid Government, to fundamentally reform the land laws, which have been so
open to such abuse.
It is important to appreciate that a direct appeal to the Court of Human Rights is
unusual and only allowed in certain special circumstances. Normally, cases must
exhaust national remedies first. However, our legal advisors believe we have strong
grounds to qualify for such an exception, given the inadequate legal protection
currently available in Spain against such gross violations as the now well publicised
Valencian `Land Grabs’. Our first task, therefore, is to appeal for the right to be heard
in Strasbourg.
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For these reasons we are now actively selecting suitable cases to contest the abuses
under the LRAU and if you think your situation may be eligible please contact us by
filling the attached form. We are not asking individuals to pay the costs of this action
rather we are asking the community to share the burden. It is in all our interests to
defeat unscrupulous " Land Grabbers " and their allies who have been using their
money and influence to harass homeowners into surrendering their property. Our
suggestion is that if everyone who is affected either directly or indirectly by this law
could contribute an average of 50 euros to this campaign, then with a thousand
supporters we would have adequate funds to fight this action. Note, this is separate
from the normal annual subscription for AUN.
Even if your case is not one of those to go to court at this time it is vitally important if
you are now affected, or probably will be in the near future, by these abuses that you
register your objection now. The European Court of Human rights only recognises
complaints registered within six months of the violation of your rights. You do not
have to go immediately to court, but if you fail to make an official objection within
that time you will automatically lose your right to compensation even if these abuses
are later ruled illegal. We can help you do this (and give you advice if you think you
may have run out of time). If you contact us using the attached form we can assist you
with a legal advice pack and information about registering your objection. This
service is free for anyone who is willing to donate to our campaign.
If you or anyone you know would like to receive this legal support please fill in our
form and return it to: Abusos Urbanisticos No! Legal Action Fund, c/o Jan Richards,
Buzon 9.06.25, Benissa 03720 Alicante, Spain Also, you can contribute directly to our
fund by sending a cheque made to Abusos Urbanisticos No! Please consult our
website for details and for updates on our progress.
We look forward to receiving your support and please pass on information about our
appeal to anyone you think may be in need of our advice or who might be willing to
contribute to our campaign.
Charles V. Svoboda MA, DPA
President, Abusos Urbanisticos No!
(on behalf of) The AUN Legal Action Campaign
www.abusos-no.org
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Please complete the form below IN BLOCK CAPITALS and send with your
contribution to:
Jan Richards,
Buzon 9.06.25, Benissa 03720, Alicante, Spain.
ABUSOS URBANISTICOS NO! LEGAL ACTION FUND
Please find enclosed a cheque to ‘Abusos Urbanisticos No!’
For sum of Euros: …………………………………………
Receipt to: Name:
……………………….…………………………………
Full Postal Address
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Would you like a copy of our legal advice pack and information about how to object
to an abuse in your case?
YES/ NO
If yes can you give us some details of the abuses you face?………………………….
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Would you like to register as a supporter of ABUSOS URBANISTICOS NO! (free
membership for all doners)
YES/ NO
Would you like the option of providing further contact details?
Email:………………………………
And telephone number?
Telephone:……………………..…mobile:………………………………