This document discusses property rights and encroachment under the Civil Code, referencing case law from the Court of Cassation.
Extract
[...] Can the owner bring a lawsuit if her property right can be affected? A. Qualification of the property To proceed with the qualification of the property, it is necessary to refer to the provisions set out in the first case: articles 516 and 517 of the Civil Code and to the legal principle "everything that is not immovable is movable". In this case, the dispute is related to the trees of the neighboring property; the trees, once they are planted in the soil, constitute immovables. [...]
[...] 2 The Pioupiou company acquired a property with a warehouse in 2011. It has just learned that this warehouse encroaches on the neighboring plot owned by SCI Lebrun. Even if SCI does not currently seem to want to take any action, it asks you what the consequences might be and whether it is possible to sue the sellers for this. Case No. 3 Finally, another of these neighbors, the Vegan Family has a plantation of gigantic trees along the edge of their property, it borders Pioupiou's land along the storage spaces. [...]
[...] So the property owner will be able to bring an action against her neighbor. Article 750-1 of the Civil Procedure Code provides an obligation for the parties to resort to a MARD before any referral to the judge when the dispute is related to an abnormal disturbance of the neighborhood. In this case, it is a dispute of this kind, which obliges the parties to proceed with a preliminary step of mediation or conciliation; in the absence of an agreement, the owner may refer to a jurisdiction. [...]
[...] Therefore, the neighboring company seems to have means to contest the encroachment. It does not seem to exist any provisions related to the actions offered to the owner suffering from encroachment or on the sanctions of the owner of the encroaching building. According to the case law of the Court of Cassation, the demolition of the work that encroaches on a neighboring plot seems to be the solution in order to preserve the right of ownership, but in recent years the Court seems to adopt a less severe conception by applying a proportionality control. [...]
[...] The association seems to be able to rely on its right to freedom of expression in the event of an action brought by the owner company. - Case No. 2 A company has acquired a building with a warehouse, then it then realizes that the latter encroaches on the property of a neighboring company. Can the acquiring company bring a lawsuit against the sellers? Can the neighboring company pursue legal action against the owner, even though it had no knowledge of the encroachment at the time of the sale? [...]
