Facts
Stephan [K.] is the owner of commercial premises and an apartment in a building where he operates a store. A 2.60-meter-deep portion of the public sidewalk overlaps the plot of his building. A double no-parking sign is installed on the roadway at the height of the building.
[K.] has on several occasions left his car parked on the part of the sidewalk that overlaps his property, in front of the display window of his store, beyond the 30 to 60 minutes tolerated by the police. He was reported to the Sierre Police Court, which fined him 20 francs for each offense. [K.] filed an objection and was fined 80 francs again by the Police Court (for four offenses). He then appealed to the Sierre Tribunal, which dismissed his appeal.
Considerations
The Criminal Cassation Court of the Federal Tribunal must determine whether the part of the sidewalk that overlaps K.'s private property is subject to road traffic legislation, despite the lack of physical separation from the public domain.
The Court considers that the sidewalk, although overlapping private property, is an integral part of the public road within the meaning of the Federal Road Traffic Act (LCR), as it is used for the circulation of an indeterminate number of people. However, the Court considers that imposing the application of the LCR to any portion of private land adjoining a public road without physical separation would constitute a disproportionate infringement of private…