Important changes to the Swiss Code of Civil Procedure came into force on 1 January 2025. The aim of the revision was to make court proceedings simpler, faster and more cost-effective. The changes mainly relate to legal costs, time limits, evidence, the conciliation procedure and the so-called novelty barrier, i.e. facts or evidence submitted late. The most important changes are explained below.
- Litigation costs
Party compensation directly to lawyers
In the area of litigation costs, the cantons may now stipulate in their own legislation that party compensation is to be paid directly to the lawyer and no longer to the client (Art. 96 para. 2 nZPO). As the cantons can decide on this change, it remains to be seen whether and how it will actually be implemented.
Limitation of the advance on costs
The advance on costs to be paid by a party may not exceed half of the estimated court costs (Art. 98 nZPO). In exceptional cases, however, the entire presumed court costs may still be requested as an advance (Art. 98 para. 2 nZPO).
Repayment of the advance
In addition, the cost and collection risk may no longer be passed on to the winning party. If the party who made the advance payment wins the case, the advance payment must be repaid, provided that this party does not have to bear any court costs (Art. 111 para. 1 nZPO). However, it is unclear whether this rule also applies in summary debt enforcement cases. Some authors argue, based on the decision BGE 139 III 195 E. 4.4.2. of the Federal Supreme Court, some authors are of the opinion that this is not the case, as Art. 16 SchKG as lex specialis provides for a separate regulation. It remains to be seen how the courts will handle this regulation in practice in the future.
- Time limits
Service at weekends
One of the most important changes is the amended regulation on service for ordinary mail and A Mail Plus mail. Art. 142 para. 2 ZPO in the old version stipulated that a deadline for A Mail Plus delivery on Saturdays already began to run on Sunday. In practice, this led to unsatisfactory results. The new version stipulates that items delivered by ordinary post on a Saturday, Sunday or a recognised public holiday are only deemed to have been delivered on the following working day (Art. 142 new CPC). This prevents time limits from starting to run on a Sunday.
Limitation of the right of reply
Previously, there was an “unlimited right of reply”, which often caused the courts to delay proceedings. This is now restricted. Art. 53 para. 3 nZPO stipulates that a party may comment on all submissions of the opposing party within a period of at least 10 days to be granted by the court. This should lead to significantly shorter court proceedings.
- Private expert opinions as evidence
In the context of evidence, Art. 177 of the new Code of Civil Procedure stipulates that a private/party expert opinion will in future have the quality of a document and is therefore recognised as admissible evidence in civil proceedings. It is therefore subject to the free evaluation of evidence by the court. This makes it easier for parties to support their allegations without having to repeatedly explain the content of the expert opinion.
- Conciliation proceedings
Administrative fine for non-appearance
A party who fails to attend an arbitration hearing without an excuse can now be fined up to CHF 1,000 (Art. 206 para. 4 nZPO). The parties must therefore now be informed not only of the impending loss of the authorisation to bring an action, but also of the impending administrative fine.
Increase in the amount in dispute for proposed decisions
Conciliation authorities are now authorised to submit a proposed decision to parties in property disputes up to a value in dispute of CHF 10,000, instead of the previous CHF 5,000 (Art. 210 para. 4 nZPO). This is intended to help resolve simple disputes more quickly.
- Novenschranke: Extended possibility to submit new facts and evidence
Previously, if only a simple exchange of documents had taken place, new evidence and facts could only be presented without restriction until the start of the main hearing. According to the previous position of the Federal Supreme Court, this meant that such novelties had to be introduced before the first party submission. Art. 229 para. 1 of the new Code of Civil Procedure stipulates that facts and evidence can now also be brought forward without restriction during the first party submission in the main hearing. This makes it easier to react flexibly to new developments in the proceedings.
The revision of the Code of Civil Procedure represents an important step towards improving the course of court proceedings. The new regulations offer all parties involved a better framework for fair and speedy legal enforcement. For further information, we recommend our detailed presentation on the 2025 revision of the Code of Civil Procedure, which can be downloaded free of charge from our shop.
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