Facts
On 29 June 1973, the justice of the peace of the Begnins district ordered the seizure of a 1969 Buick automobile belonging to C. Henry Buhl III, at the request of Paul Rouge. The seizure was executed on 2 July 1973. The Nyon prosecution office set the value of the car at 7'000 fr. and entrusted a garage owner with the task of guarding the vehicle. However, it decided to put the car up for sale due to its potential depreciation in case of prolonged parking.
C. Henry Buhl III filed a complaint against this decision with the president of the Nyon Tribunal, who rejected the complaint on 25 March 1974. An appeal against this decision was rejected on 2 July 1974 by the Higher Supervisory Authority for Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Offices.
C. Henry Buhl III then appealed against this ruling to the Chamber of Debt Collection and Bankruptcy of the Federal Tribunal, requesting the annulment of the cantonal decision and demanding that the Nyon prosecution office take the necessary measures to conserve the car.
Considerations
The Chamber of Debt Collection and Bankruptcy of the Federal Tribunal examined the competence to order the sale of seized objects in case of rapid depreciation or high conservation costs. According to case law, art. 124 al. 2 DEBA is applicable to seized objects, but with the restriction that, when the seizure gives rise to a dispute, it is for the judge alone and not the prosecution office or supervisory authorities to order the premature sale.
The Chamber considered that, in this case, the seizure had not given rise to a judicial dispute and that the prosecution authorities were competent to order the premature sale of the car. The decision to sell objects that are subject to rapid depreciation or are expensive to conserve is left to the free discretion of the prosecution office, and the Chamber ruled that the cantonal authority had…