Expropriation judge (juge de l'expropriation)

The juge de l’expropriation (expropriation judge) is a judge of the French judicial court specially designated to deal with compulsory purchase in the department. He acts at two points. First, to order the transfer of ownership of the properties declared transferable: at that stage he checks the formal regularity of the procedure, without assessing the public interest, which is a matter for the administrative courts. Second, if the expropriated owner and the acquiring authority cannot agree on the compensation, to fix it after an adversarial hearing.

His jurisdiction extends to the price of pre-empted property, where the seller and the authority disagree, and to other compensation linked to easements or development operations. His judgments may be appealed to a specialised chamber of the Court of Appeal.

Where the rule comes from

The French Expropriation Code organises in Book II the transfer of ownership by the judge’s order and in Book III the fixing of compensation. The judge is seised by the more diligent party after the failure of the amicable phase; the parties exchange written memoranda, the government commissioner (article R. 311-22) files submissions, the judge visits the site, hears the parties and rules. He applies the substantive rules of articles L. 321-1, L. 322-1 and L. 322-2: full compensation for the direct, material and certain loss, condition at the date of the order, use at the reference date, valuation at the date of judgment. In pre-emption matters, article L. 213-4 of the French Planning Code entrusts him with fixing the price.

In a valuation report

The expropriation judge rarely orders a court-appointed expert appraisal: the procedure rests on the parties’ memoranda, the government commissioner’s submissions and the site visit. The report of the expropriated owner’s valuer is therefore attached to the memorandum and must be designed for that reader: classification of the property at the statutory dates, table of verifiable comparables, head-by-head calculation of the principal and ancillary compensation, response to the government commissioner’s submissions. It is useful for the valuer to accompany the client at the site visit to answer the judge’s questions.

Example

A public land agency offers €92,000 for a 1,500 m² plot in a future development zone. The owner applies to the expropriation judge. His memorandum, supported by a valuation report, argues that the plot was building land at the reference date, served by utilities, and values it at €135,000 by comparison with five sales of building plots in the area, plus €15,000 of reinvestment allowance. The government commissioner concludes at €105,000. After the site visit, the judge fixes the principal compensation at €128,000 and the reinvestment allowance at €14,300.

Not to be confused with

The administrative judge, who reviews the declaration of public interest and the transferability order, and the enforcement judge, who has jurisdiction over the forced sale of a property subject to foreclosure.