Refusal to consider appeals for lack of final or partial decision

Facts

The dispute opposes the children and heirs [A.], [B.] and C. of the deceased D. The estate includes an agricultural estate, a castle with access to Lake Constance and a disputed plot located in the lake's shoreline area. [B.] brought an action for determination and division of the remaining estate, requesting the allocation of the disputed plot to his benefit, with a compensation value of 153'000 CHF, and a right of use in favor of C. [A.] also requested the allocation of the disputed plot to his benefit.

The district court allocated the disputed plot to [B.] with a compensation value of 153'000 CHF and a right of use in favor of C. The parties then reached an agreement on the other disputed points. The district court was seized again and set the compensation value at 1'334'000 CHF.

[A.] and [B.] filed an appeal with the FSCA, which dismissed the appeals for lack of final or partial decision.

Considerations

The FSCA examined the admissibility of the appeals under art. 90 ss FSCA. It distinguished between final, partial, preliminary and incidental decisions and their consequences on the admissibility of the appeal.

The FSCA considered that the judgment under appeal did not constitute a final decision within the meaning of art. 90 FSCA, as it did not put an end to the proceedings as a whole. It also considered that the judgment under appeal did not constitute a partial…