While generally upbeat and not overly cynical, as lawyers go, Paul and I allow ourselves the occasional rant, especially when we write a year-end Christmas legislative wish-list for the WBJ. Usually, the real property mess in Poland ends up on that list in one way or another. If it's not lack of zoning plans, it's the lack of a re-privatization law or some variance on these themes. Last year, the Law on Large Scale Retail Facilities made the top of our real estate worry list. The Law effectively ground to a halt all plans of development of new stores, except for small corner stores of less than 400 square meters.

For larger retailers, Christmas came in July this year. On July 8, 2008, The Constitutional Tribunal declared the Law to be unconstitutional.

Whether or not you believe that Poland should protect small mom-and-pop shops, the Law was not a solution to Poland’s growing pains. It was, however, another example of a pet political project enacted, but never implemented. Although the Law came into effect last September, no implementing regulations were ever enacted. Thus, larger retail development plans found themselves in a vacuum for nearly a year. Despite the shut-down on expansion and new development, the Law did keep existing large-scale retailers busy as they had to re-certify their existing stores under the Law to keep them operating.

Well, my own holiday in July is fast approaching. I’m off to visit family in the Wolverine State and the Nutmeg State. I'll be back in mid-August.