Government commissioner (commissaire du gouvernement)

Before the French expropriation judge there are not two parties but three voices. The acquiring authority makes its offer, the expropriated owner states his claim, and the commissaire du gouvernement (government commissioner), who is neither one nor the other, files reasoned submissions on the value of the property and the amount of compensation. This role is performed by the departmental director of public finances or his delegate, that is by the administration which values property for the French State.

His submissions carry weight, because they rest on access to registered deeds of sale and on daily valuation practice. But the judge is not bound by them, and the expropriated owner may contest them point by point, which is precisely the role of his expert.

Where the rule comes from

Article R. 311-22 of the French Expropriation Code entrusts the functions of government commissioner to the departmental or regional director of public finances, or his representative. The Code provides that his submissions are served on the parties before the hearing, so that they can respond. The European Court of Human Rights held, in Yvon v. France on 24 April 2003, that the privileged position of the government commissioner at that time infringed the equality of arms; the procedure has since been amended to guarantee the adversarial nature of his submissions and the parties’ access to the comparables he uses.

In a valuation report

The expropriated owner’s expert anticipates the government commissioner’s submissions. He builds his valuation on verifiable comparables, giving for each the date, the address, the floor area and the price, and explaining the adjustments. Once the submissions have been served, he writes a note in reply: he examines each comparable used by the commissioner, points out those that are not comparable (too old, different use, different location), challenges unexplained flat-rate allowances and recalls any ancillary heads of claim that have been left out. This note is attached to the lawyer’s written pleadings before the hearing and the site visit.

Example

For an expropriated house, the government commissioner concludes at €165,000 on the basis of five sales, three of which concern houses needing major works, and applies a 10 % allowance for “dilapidation”. The owner’s expert shows that the house was renovated in 2019 (invoices produced), sets aside the three comparables, adds four renovated houses sold between €195,000 and €215,000, and contests the allowance. The judge fixes the principal compensation at €198,000.

Not to be confused with

The public rapporteur before the administrative courts, formerly called commissaire du gouvernement, who intervenes in the administrative phase and not on the amount of compensation; and the opinion of the State property service (service des domaines), consulted by the local authority before it makes its offer.