Snow Removal - Cleaning By The Owners of The Contiguous Lands or Buildings

Cleaning By The Owners of The Contiguous Lands or Buildings

In some countries, to ensure the winter trafficability of sidewalks belongs to duties of the owner of the contiguous land or building. Such owner can be an individual inhabitant, in case of a family house, but also the municipality, municipal district or their specific organization or a housing co-operative or some other company (especially if some office or industrial object is concerned). Owners of large buildings or building complexes generally have mechanized snow-removal equipment, but individual house owners mostly clean the sidewalk with hand tools.

For example, in Prague, a persistency of such duty is documented since 1838. The decree of the government of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia No 1/1943 Sb. said that sidewalk cleaning in residential area in municipalities with more than 5000 inhabitants, district cities and other specified municipalities is a duty of the owner or user of the contiguous land. The municipality was empowered to undertake this duty at the expense of the contiguous land owner. The Czechoslovak Road Act No 135/1961 Sb. (§ 23) adopted such legal regulations for all municipalites, but municipality offices might modify them. The new Road Act of the Czech Republic, No 13/1997 Sb. (§ 9 art. 4) left this enactment and stated that way maintenance is an obligation of the way owner, without any exception. Despite of it, § 27 art. 4 attached to the contiguous land owner the liability for harm caused by defects of cleaning. The Czech Public Defender of Rights claimed in 2002 and 2003 annual reports the discrepancy between theoretical and practical interpretations of the act and recommended to enact an unequivocal formulation. This discrepance was repeatedly handled by courts and the Supreme Administrative Court on 2005 June 27 and the Constitutional Court on 2007 January 3-rd stated that the cleaning duty results indirectly from the stated liability for harm. Impugners of the duty argued that this duty is a residue of feudal corvée or of totalitarian nazism and communistic regimes and that nowadays, compulsory labour at extrinsic way is in conflict with Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms, and that systematic municipal cleaning is more effective than a cleaning by individuals. On December 6, 2007, the Senate of the Czech Republic proposed at the instance of its Constitutional Committee to let out the controversial article. The Czech Government give support to it by their narrow majority. Past heated debate, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic sanctioned this change by 116:31 ratio from 190 presenting members. Since 2009 April 16-th, the change made by the act No 97/2009 Sb. is forcing and sidewalk cleaning is an obligation of the sidewalk owner only, i. e. generally the municipality. In despite of duty abolition, many people including oppugnants of the duty declared that they will to continue the winter cleaning of municipal sidewalks, but voluntarily and on their own behalf.

As was mentioned during the discussion at the Czech Parliament by the statement of the Czech Association of Cities and Municipalities, similar duty remains in many other modern countries, e. g. Austria, France and some cities of Bavaria and USA.