Facts

[A. SA], registered since 3 December 2021 in the Geneva commercial register, has as its purpose the operation of any agricultural, viticultural and/or horticultural estate, as well as the trade in agricultural products. Its share capital is CHF 100'000. Its shareholders are C. (71.5%, sole director) and D. (28.5%).

[C.], born in 1975 and domiciled in S. (GE), comes from a family of Moroccan farmers. He obtained a baccalaureate in agronomic sciences in Morocco in 1997, then in 2000 a technician diploma specialising in fruit arboriculture and livestock farming. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (hereinafter: the State Secretariat for Education) recognised this diploma as equivalent to a certificate of competence by certificate dated 23 June 2021. [C.] asserts that he operated the family business and owns large plots of land in Morocco. After buying a watch-making company that closed during the Covid-19 crisis, he has no professional activity.

[B.], a friend of [C.], owns plot no. z in the municipality of V. (33'706 m2, agricultural zone, field crops), which was seized by the tax authorities and then subjected to forced enforcement proceedings. By deed dated 2 November 2021, [B.] sold this plot to A. SA. [C.] intended to practise arboriculture there according to an operating plan providing for a break-even point after about ten years, without taking direct payments into account.

The Agricultural Land Commission of the Republic and Canton of Geneva (hereinafter: the Land Commission) rejected, by decision of 11 October 2022, A. SA's application for authorisation to acquire, after hearing C. By judgment of 25 April 2023, the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Justice of the Republic and Canton of Geneva (hereinafter: the Court of Justice) dismissed the appeal. It held that C.'s horticultural activity in Morocco had not been demonstrated, that the operating plan provided for no income for several years, that [C.] had scattered himself across his projects, and that the real purpose of the acquisition was financial, the municipality having already studied a rezoning of the area.

[A. SA] lodged a public law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, which upheld it. The central question is whether the acquiring company may be classified as an operator in its own right within the meaning of Art. 9 RLRA.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court recalls the legal framework: under Art. 9 para. 1 RLRA, a person is an operator in their own right if they personally cultivate the agricultural land and, where it is an undertaking, personally manage it; Art. 63 para. 1 let. a RLRA refuses acquisition where the acquirer is not an operator in their own right. It also recalls that agricultural undertakings may be operated by a legal entity where the holder of the majority interest meets the conditions for operator in their own right or where the majority of persons work in the operation (ATF 140 II 233). These principles apply mutatis mutandis to agricultural properties, the recognition of the operator being made with restraint. For a property not yet operated, it suffices to render credible the future commitment to cultivate personally, which may result from current or past ties with agriculture; the capacity to operate (Art. 9 para. 2 RLRA) presupposes in principle adequate agricultural training or comparable experience.

The Federal Supreme Court finds that the Court of Justice relied on irrelevant elements. The fact that the plot could be rezoned and that the acquisition would amount to land speculation is not decisive for qualifying the operator in their own right within the meaning of Art. 9 RLRA; this ground may also not be taken into account to refuse an authorisation for good cause under Art. 64 RLRA (ATF 122 III 287). C.'s purchase of a watch-making company cannot be held against him in this context either.

On the merits, [C.] has a past connected with arboriculture, foreign diplomas deemed equivalent to a certificate of competence by the State Secretariat for Education, and two testimonies from farmers attesting to his practical knowledge of arboriculture.…