Act on Expropriation (Cantonal Expropriation Act, kEntG) - Principle (LCE)

1. This law applies, subject to federal law, to all expropriations and the consequences of expropriation-like restrictions on property rights.

1. If expropriation is possible under both federal and cantonal law, the expropriator decides under which law the expropriation is to be carried out; the authorization under federal expropriation law precludes the invocation of cantonal law.

1. Subject of Expropriation May Include

1. Real rights to properties;

2. Neighboring rights arising from land ownership;

3. Personal rights of tenants and lessees of the property affected by the expropriation.

1. The right of expropriation is vested in the canton as well as in the municipalities and municipal associations.

2. The canton may grant the right of expropriation to third parties by law or by decision of the government council.

1. Expropriation is permissible for projects that serve the public interest and pursue a purpose recognized by a cantonal law, as well as for the use of land during construction work; it may only be invoked to the extent necessary to achieve the purpose.

2. Expropriation is also permissible for the future expansion of a project.

1. Properties serving public purposes may be expropriated if justified by balancing the interests.

2. The expropriation may be contingent upon the replacement of the affected public facilities.

1. Temporarily expropriated land may be used for a maximum of five years; the period may be extended by agreement or, for important reasons, by order of the Expropriation Commission.

2. The rights of the expropriator expire three months after the completion of the work.

1. The expropriator may demand that the components and accessories be excluded from the expropriation if they are useful to the expropriated party even without the main object.

2. The expropriated party has the same right if the components and accessories can be separated without disproportionate costs and are not necessary for the expropriator's work.

1. If a property or the right to such a property loses its primary value due to partial expropriation, temporary expropriation, or the establishment of an easement, or if the previous use is significantly impaired, the expropriated party can demand the expropriation of the entire property.

2. The expropriator has the same right if, in the case of a partial expropriation, the compensation for the devaluation of the remainder exceeds half of its value.

3. If the extension is demanded, the expropriation commission determines the compensation for both the case of partial expropriation and full expropriation.

4. The parties can waive the extension within 30 days after the compensation judgment becomes final; they must declare this in writing by registered letter to the involved counterparty and the authority that made the final decision.

1. The expropriator may, if he has not previously taken possession or made advance payments, renounce the expropriation within 30 days from the finality of the compensation judgment; he must compensate the expropriated party for any damage resulting therefrom.

2. The expropriator must declare the renunciation to the authority that made the last decision, in writing by registered letter.

3. The president of this authority may extend the period by up to a maximum of one year for important reasons; the expropriator must compensate the expropriated party for any damage resulting therefrom.

4. The expropriated party must assert claims for damages within one year from the declaration of renunciation or from the payment of the expropriation compensation to the expropriation commission.

1. In cases of property restrictions equivalent to expropriation, full compensation must be provided.

2. Compensation claims, unless otherwise provided for by specific legislative provisions, must be asserted through a lawsuit filed with the Expropriation Commission.

3. The property owner's claim becomes statute-barred ten years after the issuance of the property restriction.

1. Expropriation shall be carried out with full compensation.

1. The expropriated party shall be offered, as far as possible, compensation in kind; however, there is no legal entitlement to compensation in kind.

2. If the expropriated party unreasonably rejects a reasonable written offer of compensation in kind contrary to good faith, the expropriator is only obliged to provide monetary compensation equivalent to the amount that would be required for the provision of such compensation in kind.

3. Compensation in the form of material assets requires the consent of the affected lienholders.

1. The Expropriator Shall Compensate

1. the market value of the expropriated property or right;

2. in the case of partial expropriation, the difference in market values of the holdings before and after the expropriation;

3. any further disadvantages that can be foreseen as a result of the expropriation.

2. There is no compensation for disadvantages self-inflicted.

1. The decisive factor is the market value at the time of the settlement negotiation.

1. Changes in value that have occurred due to the impending expropriation shall not be taken into account.

2. In the case of partial expropriation, the compensation shall be reduced by the value of the specific benefits that accrue to the remaining property from the expropriator's project; any landowner contributions made or owed shall be considered in the valuation of the remaining property.

1. A diminution in the value of the property due to easements, excluding usufruct, as well as due to rental and lease rights, must be taken into account.

1. Beneficiaries of servitudes, tenants, and lessees shall be fully compensated for the loss or premature termination of their rights.

2. Other personal beneficiaries shall be compensated if their rights are registered in the land register; any amounts due to them shall be deducted from the compensation of the owner.

3. The rights of the usufructuary shall continue to exist over the compensation amount of the owner; any disadvantages resulting from the change of the object of usufruct shall be compensated.

1. The compensation is liable to the holder of the real estate lien and land charges in place of the expropriated property.

2. The compensation for extinguished easements is due to the holders of the real estate lien and land charges of the dominant property.

1. If easements and personal rights have been established without the consent of the creditors of prior mortgage liens and land charges, and the owner's compensation does not cover the claims, the priority creditors may demand that the subsequent rights not be considered.

2. They must submit their request no later than at the appraisal hearing; the expropriation commission will then assess the property value both with and without the contested encumbrance.

3. The holders of the respective easement rights and personal rights may nonetheless be awarded compensation at the discretion of equity, provided that their rights would not have been at risk in the foreseeable future without the expropriation.

1. Access to third-party property for inspections, surveys, markings, drillings, and similar activities requires authorization from the competent authority if the owner does not consent; access may be granted even before the commencement of the expropriation proceedings.

2. The competent authority shall duly notify the owner; it shall also inform him that his claims for compensation will become time-barred if he does not assert them within one year from when he becomes aware of the damage, but in any case no later than five years after the damage occurs with the competent authority.

3. Disputed compensation claims shall be adjudicated by the President of the Expropriation Commission; his decision can be challenged at the Administrative Court.

1. The application for the issuance of the expropriation decree must be submitted by the expropriator to the competent directorate for the attention of the government council; if the competent directorate represents the expropriator, it shall submit the request to the government council itself.

2. The application must be accompanied by

1. the expropriation plan;

2. the expropriation table;

3. an excerpt from the expropriation plan and the expropriation table for each known party obligated to transfer (owner, tenant, lessee, easement holder, personally entitled party registered by annotation);

4. a plan showing the impact of the proposed project on both the claimed and surrounding properties.

1. The expropriator must present the project by no later than the beginning of the planning submission in such a manner that it becomes evident to the affected parties whether and how they will be impacted.

2. The competent directorate shall decide on the necessary measures (such as staking out, models, profiles, etc.).

1. The competent directorate shall make the application and its appendices publicly available for at least 30 days as soon as they are complete and in order, and shall inform the obligors of the expropriation through public notice and personal notification.

2. The persons listed in the expropriation table shall also receive the extracts prepared in accordance with Article 22, paragraph 2, number 3.

3. The competent directorate shall draw the obligors' attention to their duties and rights in the plan public inspection procedure, as well as to the expropriation restrictions.

1. The obligors of assignment must submit the following to the competent authority for the attention of the Government Council within the submission deadline

1. * Objections to the expropriation and its scope;

2. Requests for modification and completion of the plans;

3. Requests based on rights that are missing from the expropriation table;

4. Requests for the replacement of public facilities (Art. 6 para. 2).

2. Within the same deadline, the following must be submitted to the competent authority for the attention of the Expropriation Commission

1. Claims for compensation;

2. Requests for the extension of the expropriation.

3. The property owners must promptly inform tenants and lessees, whose rights are not registered in the land register, about the plan submission and the submission deadline; they are to be informed of this obligation and the civil law consequences of failure to comply.

1. If the filing of claims for compensation and expansion is neglected, the president of the expropriation commission may set a grace period for the obligor.

2. Objections and claims pursuant to Article 25 paragraph 1 numbers 1 and 2 may only be submitted subsequently if the delay is due to excusable reasons or inadequate legal instruction pursuant to Article 24 paragraph 3, and construction work has not yet begun; they must be filed within 30 days of the elimination of the excusable reason.

1. Public Display of the Plans and Public Notice of the Plan Display

The public display of the plans and public notice of the plan display can be omitted if only a few persons subject to expropriation are affected and if all of them are known to the expropriator; for this, the expropriator must obtain the approval of the President of the Expropriation Commission.

1. From the start of the submission period, the obligated parties may not do anything, without the expropriator's consent, that would increase the cost of the expropriation; in the event of disputes, the president of the expropriation commission shall make a final decision.

2. The expropriator may have the expropriation ban noted in the land register; the district administrator shall establish the procedure in a regulation.

3. Any damages arising from the expropriation ban shall be estimated along with the compensation for the expropriation.

4. If the expropriation ban has already lasted for two years, the obligated party may request the determination of the damages through a special procedure before the expropriation commission.

1. The directorate allows the expropriator to respond to the objections and requests submitted pursuant to Art. 25 para. 1, or it makes a statement on its own behalf.

2. Conversely, compensation and extension requests pursuant to Art. 25 para. 2, insofar as they have not already been amicably settled, are to be forwarded to the president of the expropriation commission for the conduct of the appraisal procedure.

1. Concerning the unresolved objections and requests according to Article 25 paragraph 1, the government council shall decide upon request of the directorate; at the same time, it shall issue the expropriation order.

2. Anyone whose request is rejected by the government council may appeal to the administrative court according to the regulations on administrative legal proceedings.

1. Anyone suffering an infringement of their neighboring rights from a public work may demand the initiation of expropriation proceedings if the perpetrator disputes a civil law obligation to cease or remedy the situation; the request must be filed with the competent directorate to be forwarded to the government council.

2. The competent directorate investigates the cause and extent of the damage and hears the parties involved.

3. The government council then decides whether and how the disruptive operation must be altered; at the same time, it makes decisions regarding which rights of the applicant are to be expropriated.

4. If the parties can agree on the rights to be transferred, or if, for other reasons, only the compensation requires a decision, the aggrieved party may directly approach the expropriation commission.

1. In the case of expropriation by a municipality or a municipal association, the tasks that are assigned to the competent directorate in the event of expropriation by the canton are the responsibility of the administrative council or the board.

1. The Landrat elects an expropriation commission of five members for the constitutional term of office; he appoints the chairman.

2. The secretariat is managed by the clerk of the Cantonal Court.

1. The Expropriation Commission is not bound by the applications of the parties; obvious rights are also assessed without an application from the parties.

2. The Expropriation Commission investigates the facts ex officio and may impose evidence requirements on the parties, consult experts, inspect public registers, and hear witnesses; if necessary, it may suspend the proceedings until the facts are clarified.

3. The absence of properly summoned parties does not impede the conduct of the main hearing.

4. The decisions and settlements concluded or approved in the valuation procedure have the effect of court judgments.

5. Otherwise, the provisions of the Swiss Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) apply.

1. The president of the expropriation commission summons the obligors, whose expropriation is confirmed, as well as the expropriator to the conciliation hearing; he endeavors to amicably resolve the remaining contested claims.

2. For his decision regarding advance payments and early possession, he consults the other members of the commission, provided this is requested by a party or otherwise appears necessary.

3. Lienholders, holders of real burdens, and usufructuary rights are at liberty to attend; if they do not attend, the agreement between the owner and the expropriator will also be binding on them.

4. If the expropriator fails to appear, a further conciliation hearing must be scheduled; if the expropriated parties fail to appear, a second hearing is at the discretion of the president.

1. If the unification negotiation does not lead to an agreement, the owner may demand an advance payment; the president of the expropriation commission determines the amount.

2. The advance payment must be transferred to the land registry office within 20 days; it shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of Article 42 and following.

3. With the advance payment, the expropriator acquires ownership; possession is transferred at the time of legal force of the final appraisal decision or during the early possession entry, unless the expropriated party demands otherwise.

4. At the same time, the president of the expropriation commission sets the compensation that the expropriated party owes the expropriator for the continued use of the property.

5. The decision on the advance payment and the compensation for further use of the property is incontestable as an interim decision; it will be reviewed ex officio during the final appraisal.

6. If the advance payment was too low, the difference must be subject to interest at the usual interest rate.

1. If the owner disputes the existence of registered rights, he must file a lawsuit through civil proceedings.

2. The president of the expropriation commission sets a deadline for this; if this deadline passes without action, the right is deemed to exist.

3. With the consent of the parties, the dispute may be resolved in the appraisal procedure.

1. Settlements regarding compensation and extent that are reached after the initiation of the expropriation procedure shall be submitted to the President of the Expropriation Commission for approval; he may refuse the approval and order the execution of the appraisal procedure.

2. If holders of mortgage, land charge, and usufruct rights suffer a loss in a settlement, and they have not consented to the settlement, the President of the Expropriation Commission shall set them a period of 30 days within which they may request the execution of the appraisal procedure.

1. If no agreement is reached, the president of the expropriation commission orders a first and, if necessary, a second exchange of written submissions; thereafter, the expropriation commission decides.

2. At the request of the parties, the president may decide as a single judge.

1. The decision is subject to appeal to the Administrative Court; the opposing party may declare joinder within seven days.

2. The Administrative Court also reviews the appropriateness of the decision.

1. The expropriator may be granted early possession if they can demonstrate that significant disadvantages would otherwise arise; the condition of the property prior to possession must be recorded as necessary through photographs, sketches, etc.

2. The request shall be decided by the president of the expropriation commission, no earlier than during the conciliation hearing; the decision may be appealed to the administrative court, which shall decide in an expedited process.

1. The compensation must be paid within 20 days of the decision or settlement becoming final; thereafter, it shall bear interest at the usual interest rate.

2. In the event of the expropriator's default with non-monetary obligations, the president of the expropriation commission shall take the necessary measures.

1. Compensation for further disadvantages (Art. 14 para. 1 no. 3), expropriation ban (Art. 28) and preparatory actions (Art. 21) as well as that to tenants and lessees (Art. 18 para. 1) shall be paid directly to the entitled parties.

2. In all other cases, the compensation is to be transferred to the land registry office for distribution.

1. Upon making the payment, the expropriator acquires the claimed rights; the previous rights to the property are extinguished, unless otherwise provided.

2. If the final survey of the claimed area is still pending, the payment of a provisional approximately determined amount shall have the same legal effects.

1. If the entitled parties cannot agree on the disbursement of the compensation, the land registry administrator shall draft a distribution plan, applying the provisions on the compulsory auction of real property as appropriate.

2. The distribution plan shall be made available for 30 days, and each claimant known to the administrator shall be provided with an excerpt and the necessary instructions on legal remedies.

1. The distribution plan may be contested before the President of the Cantonal Court within the time limit for objections; for important reasons, the deadline can be extended.

2. If the plaintiff claims that his claim was unjustly rejected or reduced, the lawsuit must be directed against the other parties involved; these parties shall be represented by the land registry administrator.

3. If the plaintiff disputes the admission of another party involved, he must file a claim solely against that party.

1. The holders of mortgage and property charge rights receive their shares as soon as these are legally determined and the mortgage certificates are in the possession of the land registry administrator; the remainder goes to the other parties involved.

2. Insofar as prior liens lapse due to repayments, the subsequent liens move up into the gap.

3. Losses of lienholders from mortgage certificates and real estate lien notes are certified by the land registry administrator; the certificate has the effect of a judicial acknowledgment of debt.

1. The land register administrator initiates the necessary changes to the land register and mortgage deeds.

2. As long as a mortgage deed is outstanding, the corresponding amount is deposited with the cash office of the land registry; nevertheless, the land register administrator initiates the changes in the land register and appropriately informs the holder that the sale or pledge of the title without considering the default is punishable.

1. Expropriated Rights May Be Reclaimed by Notification to the Expropriator

1. if they have not been used for a purpose justifying the expropriation within five years; if the delay is due to reasons for which the expropriator is not responsible, the expropriation commission may extend the period; the expropriated party shall be heard;

2. if they were expropriated for the future expansion of an existing facility and were not used for this purpose within 25 years;

3. in case of misuse within 25 years from the expropriation, meaning if they are to be sold or assigned to a purpose other than that for which they were expropriated.

2. The Right of Reclamation Shall Be Noted in the Land Register, unless the Obligated Party Has Explicitly Waived the Reclamation.

1. The right to claim restitution belongs to the previously obligated assignor and their heirs. In the case of partial expropriation or expropriation of an easement, however, this only applies if they are still the owners of the property that remained with them at that time or of the property that was entitled at that time.

1. The expropriator must notify the party entitled to restitution if they intend to dispose of the expropriated right or assign it to a purpose for which the right of expropriation was not granted.

2. If the expropriator fails to do so and the right of restitution is consequently lost, they become liable for damages.

1. The right of reclamation is forfeited one year after it could have been asserted or after the entitled person became aware of the misappropriation, but at the latest five years after the misappropriation.

1. The expropriator returns the object in its current condition; improvements can be removed, provided this is possible without damaging the object itself.

2. The reclaimant returns the received compensation for market value and, as justified, compensation for other disadvantages; no interest is owed.

3. If the expropriator has meanwhile altered or neglected the object, thereby affecting its current value, the compensation to be repaid shall be correspondingly increased or decreased.

1. If the expropriator disputes the right of reversion or if no agreement is reached regarding the compensations to be exchanged, the entitled party must file a claim with the Expropriation Commission within three months; the decision of the Expropriation Commission is subject to appeal to the Administrative Court.

2. The reclaiming party must fulfill their obligations within three months from the agreement or the legally binding determination of the reciprocal performances; otherwise, the right of reversion shall expire.

1. The District Administrator establishes the fees for the activities of the administrative authorities involved as well as the expropriation commission through a regulation and issues provisions regarding party compensations.

1. The expropriator shall bear the procedural costs of all instances as well as the fees due with the execution of the expropriation; for the necessary party costs, he shall provide the assignor with appropriate compensation.

2. The party compensation may be denied to the assignor if he is unsuccessful in whole or in the greater part.

3. In cases of manifestly abusive requests or clearly excessive claims, a portion of the procedural costs and party compensation may be imposed on the assignor in favor of the expropriator.

4. The decision on costs in the recovery procedure follows the decision in the main matter; this rule may be deviated from if the claimant of recovery is unsuccessful, provided that the expropriator has given justified cause for the recovery.

1. An appeal against the cost decision of lower instances is open to the Administrative Court.

1. Expropriation procedures that were pending before January 1, 1976, must be processed and concluded according to the previous regulations.

1. The District Administrator issues the regulations necessary for the execution of this law.

1. This law shall enter into force on January 1, 1976.

2. All provisions that conflict with it are repealed, in particular §§ 135 to 145 of the Act of April 30, 1911, concerning the introduction of the Swiss Civil Code.