Facts
Jean Werren was the owner of a property in St-Jean, municipality of Morges, on which a multi-family house was located. His plot of land was part of a group of five parcels on which, according to an easement registered in the land register, villas had to be erected in a staggered arrangement. The definitive course of the Geneva-Lausanne motorway ran through two of these parcels, which were acquired by the Canton of Vaud and released from the easement.
Werren claimed that he had suffered a loss of 12,000 francs due to the loss of the easement and the impairments caused by the motorway construction (noise, dust, lighting). The Federal Valuation Commission rejected his claim, whereupon Werren filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the complaint regarding the loss of the easement and awarded Werren compensation of 12,000 francs. It stated that the easement was intended not only to provide visual protection, but also to protect against disturbing and noise-intensive buildings such as industrial facilities. The loss of this therefore constituted an intervention requiring compensation, which the authorities could not compensate by advantages that Werren might have derived from other measures taken by the expropriating party.
With regard to the impairments caused by the motorway operation, the Federal Supreme Court, on the other hand, concluded that these were normally to be…