General Business Conditions And Arbitration

Introduction

The press recently reported on an attempt by a major entertainment group to prevent a man from taking legal action against one of its subsidiaries on the grounds that he had agreed to an arbitration clause in the terms and conditions of its streaming platform.

In a few words, and still according to the press, the plaintiff had lost his wife, who died of anaphylactic shock, after eating at one of group theme parks.

After a few days, the group backtracked, explaining that it had waived the arbitration clause.

This textbook case took place in the United States, but it is not uninteresting to ask how it might have been judged in Switzerland. Questions such as whether an arbitration clause can be included in general terms and conditions, whether it can be transposed from one group subsidiary to another, or whether it applies in the event of death, are all relevant.