Partial Action: A Strategy Too Often Overlooked

A partial action is one in which a creditor only claims part of the debt owed against the debtor in court. The choice of a partial action may be based on various strategic reasons, in particular the desire to submit the dispute to the simplified procedure foreseen by civil procedure law (in cases where the amount in dispute does not exceed CHF 30,000), which is quicker and less costly.

The Swiss Supreme Court has recently issued various rulings on this subject.

Alleviation of formal requirements

In particular, the formal requirements for an action for partial recovery of several separate claims have been reduced. Up to now, the creditor claiming partial recovery of its debt had to specify (1) the scope of its various claims and (2) their order of priority. The Federal Supreme Court has now waived these requirements (ATF 144 III 452, para. 2.4). From now on, the creditor will only have to allege with sufficient precision the existence of a higher claim. For