Facts
Plot No. 290 owned by A.C. and B.C. in Teufen is built with a residential building and accessible via a footpath and stairs from Egglistrasse. For around 100 years, the owners were able to use the access over Plots Nos. 292 and 1937, although no right of way was registered in the land register. In 2013, the owner D. of these plots prohibited them from continuing to use the access.
A.C. and B.C. then filed a request with the Teufen Municipal Council for joint use of the existing access, which was rejected. However, the Department of Construction and Environment upheld their appeal and ordered the joint use to be noted in the land register. D. appealed against this to the High Court, which conducted a site inspection on March 25, 2015 and upheld the appeal on the same day.
A.C. and B.C. appealed the High Court's decision to the Federal Supreme Court in public law matters.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court notes that according to Art. 29 para. 2 of the Federal Constitution, the parties have a right to be heard. This includes the right to comment on the result of a site inspection if it is relevant to the decision.
In the present case, the appellants were not given the opportunity to comment on the result of the High Court's site inspection. Although extensive photographic documentation was created, this was only brought to the attention of the appellants in the…