Neighbours’ Interventions under German and Swiss Law

This article analyses the neighbour law in the law of Germany and Switzerland with the question of borrowing foreign experience in Russia. For this purpose, the classification of neighbours’ interventions is examined in detail. Each type is considered in the context of foreign doctrine and judicial practice, its impact on the balance of interests of neighbours and the state is studied, and a conclusion is made about the necessity or lack thereof for potential borrowing in Russia. Also important terms and principles accompanying neighbourly relations are analysed: materiality of interference, economic feasibility of measures to reduce harmful effects, the principle of good neighbours in the context of cohabitation. The ways of protection of the owner’s rights against them are considered, among which there are negatory action, tort action, challenging the decision of a public authority, compensation action. As a result of the study, the following conclusions are drawn. Not all types of interference in the right of ownership by a neighbour could be relevant in Russia, in particular intangible (affecting the value of real estate without direct interference in use) and aggregate interferences (from several sources and issuers) are applied in Germany with great difficulty (most often only reaching the Supreme Court), but positive (physical) interferences and negative (interfering in use without direct physical interference), taking into account the text of the draft reform of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (where they are indirectly taken into account) would be important in the future and could find a place in the legal system of the Russian Federation.