Dismissal of the appeal against the granting of a permit for the acquisition of an agricultural property

Facts

The appellant X. was the owner of a property in the municipality of G./SZ, which was auctioned off by the debt collection office on February 29, 2008. The bid for the part of the property located in the residential zone was awarded to the insurance fund for the state personnel of the canton of Zurich, while the bid for the part located in the agricultural zone was awarded to Y. The appellant X. applied on February 25, 2010, for the cancellation of the auction bid, as Y. lacked the required permit for the acquisition of the agricultural property. The Office for Agriculture granted Y. the permit for the acquisition of the agricultural part of the property on December 6, 2011. X. appealed against this permit to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Schwyz, which did not consider the appeal. X. then appealed to the Federal Court in public law matters.

The main question in this case is whether the appellant X. is entitled to appeal against the granting of the acquisition permit. The appellant claims that he has a legitimate interest in refusing the permit, as he would be reinstated in his ownership of the property by canceling the auction bid.

Considerations

The Federal Court has dealt with the question of whether the appellant X. is entitled to appeal against the granting of the acquisition permit. The entitlement to appeal against decisions on permits under Art. 60 and 61 et seq. of the Federal Act of October 4, 1991, on Agricultural Land Law (RLRA) is governed by Art. 83 para. 3 RLRA. This provision governs the entitlement to appeal against the refusal of the permit and against the granting of the permit.

The Federal Court has found that the appellant X. is not entitled to appeal against the granting of the acquisition permit. The appellant is neither a tenant nor a buyer, pre-emptor, or assignee of the disputed property and is therefore not entitled to appeal under the wording of Art. 83 para. 3 RLRA. The enumeration in Art. 83 para. 3 RLRA is not exhaustive, but an extension beyond the wording of the law is only to be handled very restrictively.

The Federal…