Termination motivated by the landlord's desire to obtain a higher rent

Facts

In this case, the municipality of [P.] brought an action against [H.] before the District Civil Court of L. to claim payment of the damages caused to the apartment he had rented until June 1, 1990. [H.] raised the exception of the court's lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the case should first be brought before the conciliation authority. The district court dismissed this exception, but the Civil Cassation Court of the Canton of Neuchâtel quashed this judgment and referred the municipality back to the regional conciliation authority.

The municipality of [P.] then filed an appeal for reform with the Federal Tribunal, concluding to the annulment of the contested judgment, the rejection of the exception of lack of jurisdiction and the referral of the case to the cantonal court for a new decision.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal first recalled that the cantons are competent to designate the authorities and the procedure in matters of disputes over rental leases, unless federal law mandatorily regulates the matter. Thus, the cantons must establish conciliation authorities responsible for attempting to bring the parties to an agreement and to render the decisions provided for by law.

Although federal law does not expressly provide for the competence of the conciliation authority for claims for damages, the Federal Tribunal considered, after a thorough analysis of the historical, grammatical…