GAR Know-How Litigation: Swiss Chapter

OVERVIEW

1 Court system - Describe the general organisation of the court system for civil litigation.

The organisation is governed by cantonal law (article 3 et seq of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code, CPC). Generally, each canton has a conciliation authority and a first and second instance court. Decisions of the last cantonal instance are appealable to the Federal Supreme Court if certain requirements are met (article 72 of the Federal Supreme Court Act (FSCA)).

In principle, civil courts are competent for all civil law disputes. As the cantons are free to organise the jurisdiction ratione materiae, some cantons have established first instance courts that only hear specific types of civil disputes (eg, for matters of employment or rental law).