1944
1964
France. Direction des Dommages de guerre (1944-1964)
La direction des Dommages de guerre comprend à sa création une administration centrale et des services extérieurs. L’administration centrale est organisée en sous-directions : une sous-direction des dommages mobiliers et immobiliers qui traite des dommages n’ayant pas un caractère agricole, industriel et commercial ; une sous-direction des dommages agricoles ; une sous-direction des dommages industriels et commerciaux ; une sous-direction d’assurances de guerre, réquisitions et règlements ; une sous-direction du contentieux.
Dans chaque département et au sein des délégations départementales à la Reconstruction, est créé un service départemental des Dommages de guerre. Ce service est chargé de recevoir et d’instruire les dossiers des sinistrés.
Après le décret 46-1179 du 23 mai 1946 relatif à l’organisation du ministère de la Reconstruction et de l’Urbanisme, l’administration centrale des Dommages de guerre est réorganisée autour de trois directions :
- une direction juridique ;
- une direction administrative et technique composée d’une sous-direction des bâtiments d’habitation, une sous-direction de l’agriculture et des bâtiments annexes, un service de l’industrie et du commerce, une sous-direction des bâtiments et services publics ;
- une direction financière ;
- une cellule chargée du contrôle des services départementaux des dommages de guerre.
Le décret 49-357 du 16 mars 1949 apporte une nouvelle modification à la direction des Dommages de guerre, organisée ainsi :
- Un service administratif et financier ;
- Un service d’évaluation des éléments mobiliers, immobiliers et d’exploitation industrielle, commerciale et agricole des dommages de guerre ;
- Un service de liquidation des dommages de guerre.
Après des combats meurtriers et destructifs entre 1939 et 1945, la France voit ses moyens de production les plus vitaux paralysés ou anéantis, ses moyens de communication et de transports détruits et des centaines de milliers d’habitations à terre. Face à l’ampleur des destructions, l’État ouvre alors aux sinistrés le droit à une indemnisation. Une loi existait déjà, celle du 17 avril 1919, héritière de la Première Guerre mondiale. Cette loi sert de base à celle du 28 octobre 1946.
La loi 46-2389 du 28 octobre 1946 sur les dommages de guerre
La loi du 28 octobre 1946 est le socle sur lequel reposent les activités consacrées aux dommages de guerre. Elle reconnaît au sinistré un droit à la réparation intégrale de ses dommages, tempéré cependant par les nécessités économiques et les possibilités financières du pays.
Deux principes sont énoncés dans les articles 1er et 2e de la loi, qui reprennent fidèlement ceux de la loi du 17 avril 1919. C’est d’abord un principe de justice, celui de l’égalité et de la solidarité de tous les Français devant les charges de la guerre. Puis, le principe de la réparation intégrale des dommages certains, matériels et directs causés par les faits de guerre.
Contrairement à la loi de 1919, la loi du 28 octobre 1946 n’a pas pour objectif de verser une indemnité pour les pertes subies, sans contrepartie. Il faut reconstruire le pays : l’État n’accordera donc aux sinistrés les indemnités prévues par la loi que si ces derniers reconstituent effectivement leurs biens détruits.
Cette reconstruction ne doit pas entraîner appauvrissement ou enrichissement. À cet effet, la loi précise que les sinistrés recevront une indemnité de reconstitution qui sera égale à la valeur du bien tel qu’il était au moment du sinistre. Cette indemnité doit cependant tenir compte de la vétusté ou du mauvais état des biens détruits, par l’application d’abattements variables qui ne dépasseront jamais 20 %.
La loi offre aux sinistrés une certaine liberté pour la reconstitution de leurs biens. Sous réserve d’autorisations administratives, les sinistrés ont la possibilité – lorsque leur projet n’est pas contraire à l’intérêt général –d’utiliser leurs indemnités à la création de biens nouveaux ayant une affectation différente des biens détruits. A contrario, les sinistrés qui décident de ne pas reconstituer les biens détruits ne reçoivent qu’une indemnité d’éviction, volontairement peu élevée, mais qui peut être sensiblement augmentée en faveur des sinistrés trop âgés pour entreprendre de longs travaux.
La reconstitution des biens détruits doit enfin s’effectuer selon les prescriptions des plans économiques lancés par le gouvernement ainsi que de la législation de l’urbanisme : l’intérêt général commande non pas de reconstituer les biens détruits tels qu’ils existaient au moment du sinistre, mais de profiter de l’occasion permise par la reconstruction afin d’améliorer les conditions d’habitabilité des immeubles, l’équipement des services publics ou la modernisation de l’outillage industriel.
Mettre en œuvre la politique d’indemnisation : la direction des Dommages de guerre
Dès la création du ministère de la Reconstruction et de l’Urbanisme (16 novembre 1944), les services administratifs issus du commissariat à la Reconstruction et de la délégation générale à l’Équipement national (DGEN) sont réorganisés. Sur la base d’un organisme aux dommages de guerre créé durant la guerre et dont les effectifs provenaient de la direction administrative et financière du commissariat à la reconstruction, se met en place une administration dont les attributions sont précisées dans un document de fin 1944 –Attributions et organisation du ministère de la Reconstruction et de l’Urbanisme cote 19900614/2 -
L’organisme est d’abord chargé de l’application de la législation sur les dommages de guerre et en particulier de toutes les questions relatives à l’évaluation et à la fixation des allocations concernant les bâtiments et les meubles meublants. Si l'instruction concrète des dossiers s'opère à l'échelon local, l'administration centrale procède au contrôle technique et administratif de ces derniers, ainsi qu'au règlement des allocations évaluées par les administrations compétentes. La direction gère également les dossiers de contentieux et ceux dits de « priorité nationale ».
Une note du 25 février 1955 - attributions et organisation du MRU cote 19900614/1-, émanant du bureau de la Législation du ministère, détaille plus précisément les missions de la direction des dommages de guerre, présentées ainsi :
• L’établissement des règles applicables à l’instruction des dossiers des diverses catégories de biens sinistrés ;
• La centralisation et la comptabilisation des décisions d’attribution et des règlements ;
• La gestion du contentieux administratif et juridictionnel en matière de dommages de guerre ;
• Le contrôle des opérations de transfert et de mutations des biens sinistrés ;
• L’agrément des experts et des techniciens intervenant dans la reconstitution des biens détruits ;
• Une veille portant sur l’application de la législation sur les dommages de guerre.
Si l’administration est chargée de l’évaluation des dommages de guerre, le contrôle des décisions se fait par des commissions cantonales ou départementales (suivant l’importance des dommages). Les recours contre les décisions sont portés devant les commissions départementales ou une commission nationale suivant les cas. Ces commissions agissent d’abord comme juridictions arbitrales. Enfin, une commission supérieure des dommages de guerre, organe de cassation, assure l’observation de la loi et la formation de la jurisprudence en la matière.
L’activité de la direction des Dommages de guerre va décroissant au fur et à mesure de l’achèvement des travaux de reconstruction. Les déclarations de dommages de guerre ne sont, en effet, plus recevables à partir du 5 juillet 1952 - sauf cas exceptionnels fixés par une circulaire du 9 mai 1956 -.
De même, les possibilités de demandes de liquidation et de recours judiciaires ont été fixées au 1er mai 1961 pour les dommages mobiliers (et au 1er janvier 1963 en ce qui concerne les spoliations effectuées pour des raisons raciales, religieuses ou politiques par les autorités allemandes d’occupation en France et susceptibles d’être indemnisées par la République Fédérale d’Allemagne) et au 31 mars 1964 pour les dommages immobiliers.
La direction des Dommages de guerre disparaît des organigrammes en 1965. La gestion et la liquidation des derniers dossiers, ainsi que les contentieux sont confiés à deux bureaux rattachés, l’un à la direction de l’Administration générale, l’autre à la direction de la Législation et du Contentieux du ministère de la Construction.
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