Real Estate & Property Law

"Takings International" Panel Report

By Robert Thomas (inversecondemnation.com)

My ABA State & Local Government Law colleague Andy Gowder has posted on his blog Grounded, a report and summary of the recent Miami panel discussion of Takings International: A Comparative Perspective on Land Use Regulations and Compensation Rights (Mar. 2010; $95 regular price; $75 for SLG members). 

Takings International is a comparative study of how 13 jurisdictions worldwide treat what we in the U.S. call "regulatory takings." Visit this page for the Table of Contents and a pdf of Chapter I (scroll to the bottom of the page). Our book review is here.

I concur with Andy's assessment that it was a fascinating and informative session (and I disclaim any bias resulting from the fact I served as moderator). The panelists highlighted the issues discussed in the book, and Andy reports:

Professor Alterman began her remarks by pointing out that though no other country comes close to the United States in the amount of litigation, academic writing and public media generated on the issue of takings, it does not have the broadest compensation rights. In fact, the US is generally in the middle of the pack, with Poland, Germany, Sweden, Israel, and the Netherlands offering significantly more to the landowner in compensation for taking of property by the government, with the Netherlands, interestingly, having the highest rate of compensation.

Along with me and Professor Alterman, the panel included Professor Russell Brown (University of Alberta) and Professor Bryan Schwartz (University of Manitoba) who gave details and criticisms of Canada's approach, Professor David Callies (University of Hawaii) discussing the Asia and Pacific approaches, and Professor Tom Roberts (Wake Forest University) comparing our homegrown system. Professor Brown has promised a blog post with further thoughts upon his return home. We will link to it when it goes up.

Read the entirety of Andy's report here.

Full post as published by inversecondemnation on May 03, 2010 (boomark / email).