Estate: Neighbors have complained about a hawthorn hedge that is too high; penalty payment

Questioner

The judge now rules in favor of the neighbors; because the neighbors state that the hedge blocks the sunlight and therefore reduces the yield of their crop in the field; now the judge has never been to look at the spot; because sunlight rises in the east and turns south and sets on the side where the hedge is; I am 88 and now have to pay a penalty of up to €1,500, €50 every day; the hedge is also on my own estate and, in my opinion, is also covered by the Nature Conservation Act; now that the hedge has to be pruned every year before March 1, according to the judge, below 1.5 meters, this hawthorn hedge can never bloom and my own estate suffers damage to nature,

Lawyer

If there is a court ruling, you can appeal. You can bring your position to the attention of the court by means of a sun study by an expert. If you can no longer appeal the ruling, or if it is already a ruling by the highest court, you will have to comply with the ruling to avoid being liable for the penalty. It is advisable to have a lawyer look at the ruling. It is possible that this is a judgment in first instance (of the district court) and that it has been declared provisionally enforceable (as stated in the last part of the judgment); in that case, an appeal will in principle not suspend the judgment of the district court.