Facts
R.S. is the owner of two parcels in Vernier, one of which is built, and his daughter C.S. is the owner of an adjacent, also built, parcel. These three properties were created in 1998 from the division of the former parcel no. 3620, acquired on April 2, 1982 by R.S. They are located a little more than one and a half kilometers from the southwest end of the runway of Geneva International Airport.
On August 27, 1992, R.S. requested expropriation compensation in relation to the nuisance caused by the operation of the airport, which resulted in a devaluation of his property. On September 1, 1999, the Federal Department granted the State of Geneva the right of expropriation so that it could initiate proceedings in which the claims of the two owners would be decided.
On December 12, 2001, the Federal Valuation Commission issued a partial decision recognizing the conditions for granting compensation to the expropriated parties, both for the formal expropriation of their neighborhood rights and for the overflight of their parcels. The State of Geneva appealed against this decision.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal partially upheld the appeal and annulled the part of the decision relating to compensation for the formal expropriation of neighborhood rights. However, it confirmed that the conditions for granting compensation for the overflight of the parcels were met.
Indeed, the Federal Tribunal made a distinction between the impacts caused by the intrusion of aircraft into the airspace of a property (overflight stricto sensu) and those caused solely by noise emissions. Contrary to noise emissions, the condition of unpredictability does not apply to overflight stricto sensu. The owner of an overflown property can therefore claim expropriation compensation, even if the…