Facts
The company Cottoferm AG was subject to an expropriation procedure by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) for the expansion of the Horgen train station. The valuation commission initially set the compensation relating to the market value of the expropriated property (Art. 19 let. a ComPurA), but deferred its decision on the other damages suffered by the company (Art. 19 let. c ComPurA). The parties contested this decision before the Federal Tribunal.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the valuation commission violated the clear provisions of Arts. 16 and 91 ComPurA by ordering the transfer of ownership on 1 April 1957 against the sole payment of the market value, without having previously determined the entire expropriation compensation. All the elements of compensation provided for in Art. 19 ComPurA must indeed be assessed at the same time, as the compensation forms an indivisible whole, which constitutes the consideration for the right that the expropriated owner had to abandon.
Furthermore, the Federal Tribunal considers that the division of the procedure into a partial judgment on the market value and a subsequent decision on the other damages is not admissible. The law does not…