Facts
The Fondation des Buissonnets was established on October 12, 1949 in Sierre, with the purpose of operating a building intended for the Commercial School for Young Girls of the Sierre district, run by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Ingenbohl. The articles of association provide for two cases of dissolution of the Foundation: if the School ceases to exist or if the School's Management is no longer entrusted to the Congregation. In the event of dissolution, the assets of the Foundation must revert to the Congregation.
In 1993, the Congregation requested the Foundation to declare its own dissolution, as the school it was in charge of had ceased to exist. At its meeting on September 27, 1993, the General Assembly of the Foundation considered itself incompetent to rule on a possible dissolution. On September 19, 1994, the Congregation then directly sued the Foundation before the Federal Tribunal, concluding for the dissolution of the Foundation and the allocation of its assets in its favor.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal examines the admissibility of the action ex officio. It considers that the dissolution of a foundation according to the will of the founder falls within the competence of the administrative authority and not of the civil judge. Although the Congregation requests the allocation of the Foundation's assets in its favor, this is not a dispute of a pecuniary nature, but a question mainly concerning the legal existence of the Foundation.
Consequently, the dispute does not constitute a civil dispute within the meaning of Art. 41 para. 1…