Revision of the Civil Procedure Code
TA Advisory
Swiss-based law firm active internationally in dispute resolution, asset tracing and recovery, and sanctions.
On 6 September 2023, the Federal Council decided to enter the amendments to the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (“CPC“) into force on 1 January 2025. The new provisions address long-criticized issues, in particular, facilitating access to courts and improving the efficiency of law enforcement.
1. International?Commercial Courts?
In our opinion, Switzerland is rightly following the trend that has emerged in Singapore, Germany and France, for example, namely the creation of an international commercial court.
As part of the revision of the Code of Civil Procedure, the cantons will be given the power to create specialized courts or court chambers for international commercial disputes.?
Switzerland is thus expanding the excellent reputation it already has for international arbitration courts into an international court of justice for commercial matters. This will strengthen Switzerland as a “legal hub” but also as a centre for judicial services.
This means that the commercial courts may also function as international commercial courts in future.?
Cantons that wish to create a specialized international commercial court should be able to assign specific cases to it – over and above the current rules on jurisdiction. Here, the following 4 conditions must be met:
i.???????????????The business activity of at least one party is affected. However, no registration as a legal entity in a (Swiss or foreign) commercial register is required.
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ii.??????????????The dispute must be of a pecuniary nature and the amount in dispute must be at least CHF 100,000.
iii.?????????????The consent of the parties is required for the Commercial Court to have jurisdiction in these cases.
iv.?????????????At least one party must not be domiciled or have its registered office in Switzerland at the time of consent.
In connection with the creation of international commercial courts, the possibility of conducting proceedings in English is now also provided (Art. 129(2) CPC). Proceedings can only be conducted in English if a request has been submitted by all parties. However, this should be easy to fulfill, especially with regard to an international commercial court, as the use of English as the language of proceedings can already be stipulated in the jurisdiction agreement.