I've trimmed my neighbour's hedge: am I allowed to?
I've trimmed my neighbour's hedge: am I allowed to?
Living in a villa overlooking a private road belonging to the neighbouring owners, everyone is obliged to trim their hedge to the boundary of their property, which is marked by a low wall and a trellis. One of the owners doesn't comply with this boundary, as his hedge gets in the way of traffic due to the narrowness of the road. After a number of requests, I've cut back a shrub that was blocking the way for passing cars - am I allowed to do that?
A. Geneva
Because neighbourly relations can be difficult, certain provisions of the Civil Code restrict the freedom of property owners, who are required to refrain from any excesses that may be detrimental to neighbouring properties. In particular, air pollution, noise, deprivation of light or sunlight that have a harmful effect and exceed the limits of tolerance owed by neighbours according to local custom are prohibited. The legislator has also provided for the right of any property owner to cut back branches protruding onto his or her property if they cause him or her harm and if, after complaint, the neighbour does not remove them within a suitable period of time. If you and your neighbours are joint owners of the private road on which the obstructing hedge projects, the rules governing joint ownership stipulate that each joint owner has the right to carry out acts of day-to-day administration, such as maintenance repairs. As such, you had the right to prune the part of the shrub that was protruding excessively onto the path and obstructing its use.
If you are not a co-owner of the private road, you probably have a right of way over it, so the rules on easements apply. The beneficiary of an easement may take all necessary measures to preserve and use it, and the encumbered owner may not in any way prevent or render more inconvenient its exercise. Where several beneficiaries of an easement of the same rank and content share in a common facility, the rules governing co-ownership apply by analogy, unless otherwise agreed. You therefore had the right to trim the part of the hedge that encroached on the private road on this basis too.
