Switzerland
Answer ... According to Article 124 of the Swiss Code of Civil Procedure (SCCP), the court directs the proceedings. In order to promote swift and efficient proceedings, the court can issue the necessary procedural orders and/or delegate the management of proceedings to a member of the tribunal.
Furthermore, the court is assisted by law clerks who prepare the case, attend the hearings, draft the summary minutes (no verbal court reporting) and may also have an advisory vote.
Lastly, the administrative office of the court plays an important role in administrative tasks.
Switzerland
Answer ... In Switzerland, hearings and any oral presentation of judgments are conducted in public. Judgments are made accessible to the public, but are anonymised before publication. Furthermore, cantonal law determines whether the deliberations are public.
However, proceedings may be held completely or partially in camera when required by the public interest or by the legitimate interests of a party involved which requests confidentiality. Moreover, as a rule, family law proceedings are not conducted in public.
Switzerland
Answer ... In international proceedings, the applicable law is generally determined by the Private International Law Act (PILA) or by international treaties.
In case of a conflict of law, the PILA sets forth various provisions in each substantive law section providing for conflict of law rules regarding the substantive applicable law. In addition, Articles 13 and following of the PILA impose general conflict of law rules that can be applied in any case and allow for the application of a single law to be determined.
Switzerland
Answer ... In addition to the voluntary or mandatory joinder discussed in question 4.3, Swiss law provides for the following mechanisms.
Any party that claims to have a stronger right in the subject matter of a dispute, to the total or partial exclusion of other parties, may bring a claim directly against the parties in the court at which the dispute is pending at first instance (principal intervention). Once submitted, the court may either suspend the proceedings until the case of the intervenor has been finally concluded or join the two cases.
Furthermore, anyone that shows a credible legal interest in having a pending dispute decided in favour of one of the parties may intervene at any time as an additional (ancillary) party, as long as it submits an intervention application to the court indicating the reasons for intervention and the party in whose favour the intervention is made (ancillary intervention). The court will decide on the application after hearing the parties.
Once approved, the intervenor may carry out any procedural acts in support of the principal party, provided that these are permitted at the relevant stage of the proceedings. For example, the intervenor can make use of any offensive or defensive measures or file appeals. However, the procedural acts of the intervenor must not be contradictory to those of the principal party, as they will not otherwise be taken into consideration.
Finally, a party may notify a third party of the dispute which, in the event of being unsuccessful, may seek recourse against the unsuccessful party (third-party notice or third-party action if the notifying party has already decided to make claims against the notified party in the same proceedings).
Switzerland
Answer ... The SCCP provides for three main types of proceedings:
- ordinary proceedings;
- simplified proceedings; and
- summary proceedings.
The SCCP also contains specific provisions applicable to proceedings in matters concerning matrimonial law, child law and family law.
The three main proceedings mainly vary in their evidentiary requirements and procedure. As a consequence, they also differ in duration.
However, each type of proceedings consists of three stages:
- the assertive stage, when the parties plead their case and offer the available evidence;
- the evidentiary stage; and
- the post-hearing stage, when the parties may comment on the result of the evidentiary phase before the judgment is rendered.
In the assertion stage, the plaintiff must bring a duly substantiated claim; while the defendant has the opportunity to duly contest the claim. Otherwise, the allegations made by the plaintiff are deemed proven. The defendant may also have the possibility to file a counterclaim.
Furthermore, both parties must consider the time limit for new allegations or evidence (‘nova’). After the exchange of the second briefs, nova cannot generally be filed later on. Nevertheless, some exceptions apply – for example:
- where new facts and evidence came into existence after the exchange of written submissions or after the last instruction hearing (proper nova); or
- where new (unknown) facts and evidence came to light which already existed before the close of the exchange of written submissions or before the last instruction hearing, but could not have been submitted despite reasonable diligence (improper nova).
Notwithstanding the above, based on the right to be heard, any party may rely on the right of replication –which also permits new allegations or evidence – if:
- this right is timely exercised; and
- the party outlines the reasons for the additional submission.
In case of nova, the requirements for proper or improper nova as described above must be met.
At the evidentiary stage, both parties are entitled to present their evidence, and the court must accept this evidence if it is presented in the relevant form and within the specified timeframe (see question 6.3).
At the post-hearing stage, the parties can make or jointly dispense of oral closing remarks and request written party submissions.
Switzerland
Answer ... On average, from issuing a claim until receipt of the judgment after trial takes between 18 and 24 months. The timeframe usually depends on the amount in dispute and the complexity of the case.