Facts
This decision concerns an expropriation dispute between the City of Zurich and the hereditary community of Duri Dora et al. The City of Zurich requested advance possession of certain real estate properties, both built and unbuilt, in order to quickly commence construction of a dam. The request for possession was rejected for the built properties, as the City did not yet have an imperative need for them before the construction of the dam and the execution of other preparatory work. However, the court considered that possession could be ordered at any time during the appeal procedure before the Federal Tribunal, if the conditions of Art. 76 of the Federal Expropriation Act (LEx) were met. The court held that the fact that Art. 86 LEx allows for provisional execution does not prevent advance possession, as these two measures are distinct. Possession must be ordered if the legal conditions are met, while provisional execution may be refused if the expropriating party manifestly does not offer sufficient compensation. In this case, only the request for advance possession was made, without a request for provisional execution. The court therefore had to rule solely on the conditions for advance possession.Considerations
The court considers that advance possession can be ordered even during the appeal procedure before the Federal Tribunal, if the…