Facts
On May 14, 2008, an owner granted the applicant a right of purchase for a period of 10 years on eight real estate properties forming an agricultural enterprise within the meaning of art. 7 RLRA. The right of purchase was registered in the land register.
On May 4, 2010, the applicant declared that it was exercising its right of purchase and requested the registration of the transfer in the land register. The land register office rejected the request due to the lack of authorization from the competent authority under the RLRA.
On July 15, 2010, the applicant again declared that it was exercising its right of purchase. On August 25, 2010, the land register office rejected the request, justifying its decision on the grounds of the lack of a certificate of res judicata.
The justice commission of the higher court of the canton of Lucerne rejected the appeal against this decision on December 22, 2010.
The applicant filed a civil law appeal on February 24, 2011, requesting the annulment of the decision of the justice commission and the rejection of the land register office, as well as the suspension of the appeal procedure until the decision of the administrative authority on the seller's request against the authorization decision became final.
Considerations
The Federal Court rejected the civil law appeal. According to art. 966 para. 1 CC, a registration request must be rejected if the necessary evidence for a property transaction is not provided.
Art. 24 para. 1 of the Ordinance on the Land Register (LRO) provides that the land register keeper must reject a request if it does not meet the legal requirements. This concerns in particular the case where an authorization from an authority is necessary and is not available (art. 24 para. 1bis let. b LRO).
The RLRA provides special rules for agricultural properties. According to art. 81 para. 2 RLRA, if an authorization…