Facts
The spouses Ernst and Frieda Kuhn-Römer, as well as Walter Rimensberger, had founded a simple partnership in 1962 to acquire and manage two properties in Rehetobel. After disagreements between the partners, the partnership was dissolved in 1964. The Kuhn spouses then filed a lawsuit to obtain the dissolution of the joint ownership of the properties and the judicial liquidation of the partnership.
The District Court of Vorderland upheld the claim and instructed the court management to appoint a liquidator. On the appeal of the defendant Rimensberger, the High Court of Appenzell A.Rh. overturned the first-instance judgment and referred the matter back to the District Court of Vorderland for consideration and assessment of all the claims. In a further judgment, the High Court ultimately ordered the public auction of the two parcels of land and appointed a liquidator.
Considerations
The Federal Court took up the defendant's appeal, as the contested decision was to be qualified as a final decision within the meaning of Art. 48 para. 1 OG. On the merits, the Federal Court stated that the statutory liquidation procedure for the simple partnership takes precedence over the property law provisions on the dissolution of joint ownership. The defendant therefore has no claim to the physical division of the…