Utanian Press Agency, Release 3 January 301 AP

UPA (Utanian Press Agency)
Release: January 3, 301 AP.

Former-lords attempt to regain lost property in Utania

In the first case of its kind in the lands of the former Guwimith Empire, a former nobleman from the Tsarist court of the Guwimith Tsar Dusko II has lodged a legal case to declare the seizure of his lands in Utania as illegal.

Upon the collapse of the Guwimith Empire, the UNVCOCN instituted significant reforms to land ownership, divorcing many Guwimithian nobles from their lands in the former Guwimith Dependencies and handing them to the respective national governments of the dependencies. Some of the new countries, including Utania, even enshrined these land reforms in their constitutions.

Now, almost two years after the collapse of the Empire, former Lord-Protector Sergei Dosansky in the Tsarist court is attempting to reclaim his now-government owned possessions in Utania. With a cadre of lawyers from Guwimith (no respectable Utanian would touch the case), Dosansky is attempting to prove that the constitutional law holds no sway over his own lands, which were "gifted" to his ancestor who was military governor of the Utanian region in the 290's, and will sue the Utanian government for compensation.

Dosansky has not set foot on Utanian soil, and will be represented by his lawyers in the case. Critics and government defense lawyers claim Dosansky is "playing opportunist" while Utanian law is somewhat premature and ill-founded to date. One example is the employment of Guwimithian lawyers who are not qualified for Utanian law, but no such law forbids it. Though several MP's have criticised Dosansky's move, there have been no attempts to overturn a judge's consent to hear the case.

Dosansky's lands would include large tracts of land within the cities of Luka and Geelong, as well as lands around Vela Luka. The estimated compensation would run into billions of Utanian punds. Furthermore, several other former nobles are looking with interest at the case which, if won, could set a precedent that could ruin the Utanian economy.