{"id":4100,"date":"2019-07-23T16:38:10","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T14:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.croce-associes.ch\/?page_id=4100"},"modified":"2019-07-23T16:40:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T14:40:13","slug":"the-debt-collection-procedure-in-switzerland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dev.croce-associes.ch\/en\/the-debt-collection-procedure-in-switzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"The debt collection procedure in Switzerland"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The debt collection procedure in Switzerland<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Index<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    \n
  1. Preliminary remarks<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Competent authorities<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. The Debt recovery process<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Abusive debt recovery and debt collection register extracts<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Conclusion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    I. Preliminary remarks<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Under Swiss law, the enforcement procedure to recover debts of money is governed by the\u00a0Swiss Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (DEBA) [Loi f\u00e9d\u00e9rale sur la poursuite pour dettes et la faillite, LP] of 11 April 1889 (SR 281.1)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    The enforcement of any other claim is governed by title 10 of the\u00a0Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC) [Code de proc\u00e9dure civile f\u00e9d\u00e9ral, CPC] of 19 December 2008 (SR 272)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    The procedure is the same everywhere in Switzerland but the language may vary according to the Canton.<\/p>\n

    The procedure for recovering debts of money under Swiss law is unusual in that forced execution is possible based simply on claims from the alleged creditor, without the need to present documentary evidence.<\/p>\n

    Consequently, the alleged creditor does not need to be in possession of any specific title (civil judgment, arbitration award, administrative decision or acknowledgement of debt, either signed by the debtor or resulting from a notarized deed) to begin a debt collection procedure.<\/p>\n

    Conversely, even with incontestable documentary evidence, the creditor has to go through the preliminary step of the debt recovery process, because the only enforceable title available to seize the assets or have the debtor declared bankrupt is an enforceable summons to pay [commandement de payer en force]. No other document is acceptable (except in special cases).<\/p>\n

    Consequently, the debtor can immediately freeze the process instituted by the creditor by filing an objection to the summons to pay [opposition au commandement de payer]. The creditor will then have to lift the objection [lever l\u2019opposition] in order to be able to continue the process.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    II. Competent authorities<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Forced execution is a state function, similar on certain levels to police activities.<\/p>\n

    The Swiss system for allocating competence for forced execution is very complicated.<\/p>\n

    In general, debt collection falls to specialised administrative authorities, which are the debt collection and bankruptcy authorities in each Canton – the Debt Collection Office [Office des poursuites] and the Bankruptcy Office [Office des faillites]. Appeals against decisions by these authorities can be submitted to the supervisory authority [autorit\u00e9 de surveillance] (art. 17 DEBA).<\/p>\n

    However, in certain cases, forced execution is enforced not by the administrative authorities but by the civil courts.<\/p>\n

    In this respect, it is important to distinguish between three different situations:<\/p>\n

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    1. A judge sometimes replaces the administrative authorities because the decision to be made is highly important and has weighty consequences for the parties. A civil judge pronounces a decision rather than a judgement, and acts as an enforcement body. This is the case, for example, for the declaration of bankruptcy. Here, the judge’s jurisdiction is mandatory (based on Swiss national law) and cannot be altered or modified by the parties.<\/li>\n
    2. The Swiss judge can be tasked with settling procedural issues. Here, the matter is submitted to the Swiss judge because one party has opposed the continuation of the enforcement by raising an issue. Certain judgments are pure procedural enforcement law matters (for example the definitive lifting of the objection [mainlev\u00e9e d\u00e9finitive]) and others relate to substantive enforcement law issues (for example the provisional lifting of the objection [mainlev\u00e9e provisoire]). The judge’s jurisdiction here is also mandatory and founded in Swiss national law, subject to international agreements to the contrary (for example the Lugano Convention of 30 September 2007, SR 0.275.12).<\/li>\n
    3. Finally, the judge is also called on to settle proceedings on the merits. These issues do not relate to the law on forced execution, but are simply raised as part of an ongoing procedure to settle a substantive law dispute. Due to the uncertainty caused, the enforcement cannot continue until the matter is settled. This is a normal procedure under standard law. The most common cases are the action for recognition of debt [action en reconnaissance de dette] (art. 79 DEBA) and the action for discharge from debt [action en lib\u00e9ration de dette] (art. 83 DEBA). Here the judge’s competence is determined based on the will of the contracting parties (choice of court clause for instance) as well as the international and national law applicable to the dispute.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      These distinctions are sometimes complicated, and have consequences on the place of jurisdiction and enforcement [fors] and the effect of decisions.<\/p>\n

      Therefore, procedures relating only to substantive law (proceedings on the merits) must be brought before the place of jurisdiction [for ordinaire] provided for under ordinary law. For example, if the parties have agreed on an arbitration clause, the Swiss state judge will not have jurisdiction to decide whether the debt is valid on the merits. The arbitration decision will have the authority of res judicata, and will be binding on the judge and the Swiss administrative enforcement authorities.<\/p>\n

      However, procedures which raise issues relating to forced execution law must be brought in the place of enforcement [for de la poursuite] provided for by mandatory Swiss law. Consequently, an arbitration court could not rule on a request for a definitive lifting of the objection [mainlev\u00e9e d\u00e9finitive] or a provisional lifting of the objection [mainlev\u00e9e provisoire] even if there was an arbitration clause in the contract. These decisions will be final and binding on the current enforcement procedure only.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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      III. The Debt recovery process<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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      The standard way of instituting a debt collection process is via the preliminary procedure [proc\u00e9dure pr\u00e9alable].<\/p>\n

      This is the phase of the procedure situated between the debt collection request [r\u00e9quisition de poursuite] (art. 67 DEBA) and the request for continuation [r\u00e9quisition de continuer la poursuite] (art. 88 DEBA).<\/p>\n

      This phase is governed by two main principles, and it is important to note that the Debt Collection Office [Office des poursuites] carries out the enforcement actions – the creditor can neither carry them out nor serve notice of them:<\/p>\n