Relations with the Administration

Relations with the Administration

Law 39/2015 on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations establishes the obligation for legal persons and entities without legal personality to interact with the public administration by electronic means. Therefore, community woodlands in common ownership will generally need to have an electronic certificate or signature to comply with this obligation, as they are an entity without legal personality.

The most common telematics procedures involve submitting documentation, appeals, applications, declarations on honour or certificates to the various public administrations, as well as receiving notifications from them (the Government of Galicia, the Tax Agency, the Hydrographic Confederation, ministries, the Cadastre, municipalities or provincial councils, among others).

Communication obligations with the General Register of Communal Woodlands

In order to maintain up-to-date information on community woodlands, the Department of Rural Affairs maintains a public administrative register called the General Register of Community Woodlands, which has a section for each provincial delegation.

The Government of Galicia will not maintain any administrative relationship with the communities of communal forests without prior certification from the officer in charge of that register, or its sections, regarding their statutory status, the legitimacy of those holding their representation, and the record of dispositive acts and any other annotations of which it is required to take note.

The various regulations affecting the community woodlands of Galicia establish a series of communication obligations, both periodic and ad hoc, which allow the Administration to have concrete information on the administrative status of the communal woodlands.

In recent years, and thanks to improved communications between communities and the Forestry Administration through new information technologies, the provision of data by community governing boards has become increasingly efficient.

Annually, during the month of January, the community woodlands must submit the List of community residents.

Also on an annual basis, during the first six months of the year, they must submit the Notice of reinvestments.

In the event of the election of a new Board of Directors or the renewal of the previous one, it is necessary to send a certificate from the secretary with Composition of the Board of Directors, accompanied by an updated list of the census of community members (so that the staff of the General Register can verify the status of community members of the Governing Board).