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Switzerland: The Principle Iura Aliena Novit Curia and the Role of Foreign Law Advisory Services in Swiss Judicial Practice

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Treatment of Foreign Law - Dynamics towards Convergence?

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 26))

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Abstract

The first part of the report aims at defining the content and limits of the principle iura novit curia whenever the courts needs to apply iura aliena. After assessing in which circumstances and on which grounds foreign law is applied in Switzerland, the report argues that the principle iura novit curia, when it comes to foreign law, needs to be nuanced proportionally to the linguistic and cultural accessibility of the foreign law applicable in the forum. Based on an analysis of case law, the first part concludes stating that foreign law is viewed as “law” in Switzerland and, as such, it cannot be proved by the parties, although they may be helpful to assess it.

The second part of the report describes the nature of the Swiss conflict of law rules and the frequency with which the application of these rules leads to the application of foreign law. It explains when foreign law may be applied ex officio and when parties may enter an agreement regarding their choice of law. It also explains the role of the courts and parties in ascertaining the content of foreign law; the nature of legal information on foreign law; and, the means used by Swiss judicial authorities to ascertain foreign law. Lastly, this part of the report evaluates whether there is a need to modify either the conflict of law rules or the treatment of foreign law in Switzerland.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Before the enactment of the PILA (Bundesgesetz über das Internationale Privatrecht (IPRG) vom 18. Dezember 1987 RS 291) the provisions of private international law were in the «Bundes Gesetz vom 25. Juni 1891 betreffend die zivilrechtlichen Verhältnisse der Niedergelassenen und Aufenthalter» (SR 211.435.1) and in two prior federal acts on civil capacity and marriage of 1881 and 1874. These provisions are no longer applied, with some notable exceptions, as e.g. ATF 119 II 281, 284, a decision of April 22nd,1993. On the problem of intertemporal law in private international law, see the Resolution of the International Law Institute, Dijon Session of 1981, The Problem of Choice of Time in Private International Law. On the doubts on the mandatory character of the PILA – recalled by Sh. Lalani, part II - Access to Foreign Law in Practice and in Perspective, par. 1, see Schwander, I., Einführung in das Internationale Privatrecht, Allgemeiner Teil, 2. A. St. Gallen 2000, n° 385.

  2. 2.

    See Bucher, A., Art. 19, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 1 ss., Mächler-Erne, M. & Wolf-Mettier, S., Art. 19, in H. Honsell et al. (eds.), Basler Kommentar – Internationales Privatrecht, 3 A., Basel 2013, n° 1 s., Vischer, F., Art. 19, in D. Girsberger et al. (eds.), Zürcher Kommentar zum IPRG, 2nd edition, Zürich 2004, n° 1 ss.

  3. 3.

    Some conflict-of-laws rules may be found outside the PILA, in other federal legislation: See Art. 101a–c of the Federal Act on Insurance contracts of 2.4.1908 RS. 221.229.1, and Arts. 37f and 37 g of the Federal Act on Banks of 3.10.2003 RS952.0. For an exhaustive list see Bucher, A., Introduction, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 4, p.16.

  4. 4.

    Corboz, B., Art. 96, in B. Corboz et al. (eds.), Commentaire de la LTF, Bern 2014, n° 9, observes that failure to apply the PILA is censorable under Art. 95 FSCA (RS 173.110), whereas failure to apply rules included in ratified international conventions is censorable under Art. 96 FSCA.

  5. 5.

    See, e multis, the decision of the Swiss Federal Court, 26.07.2010, 4A_421/2009 and Ballarino, T. & Pretelli, I., Una disciplina ultracentenaria delle successioni, Rivista di Diritto Ticinese, I-2014, p. 889–921.

  6. 6.

    See Brownlie, I., Principles of public international law, Oxford 2008, p. 4 et seq. 31 et seq.

  7. 7.

    See Brulhart V., Le choix de la loi applicable - questions choisies, Berne 2004; Egeler S., Konsensprobleme im internationalen Schuldvertragsrecht, St-Gall 1994; Knapp B., Le droit suisse est. applicable au présent contrat, in Etudes de droit international en l’honneur de Pierre Lalive, Bâle/Francfort s/Main 1993, pp. 81–96; von Overbeck A. E, L’irrésistible extension de l’autonomie en droit international privé, in Nouveaux itinéraires en droit, Hommage à François Rigaux, Bruxelles 1993, p. 619–636; Siehr K., Die Parteiautonomie im Internationalen Privatrecht, in Festschrift Max Keller, Zurich 1989, pp. 489–510.

  8. 8.

    See ATF 133 III 37, 39: “La cause revêt des aspects internationaux, de sorte que le Tribunal fédéral, saisi d’un recours en réforme, doit vérifier d’office et avec un plein pouvoir d’examen le droit applicable”; ATF 133 III 323, 327: «La présente cause comporte des aspects internationaux […]. Il faut donc contrôler d’office la question du droit applicable au litige, cela sur la base du droit international privé suisse en tant que lex fori». Reference to the international aspects is always very broad and no particular elements are precisely identified or explicitely mentioned by the Supreme Court.

  9. 9.

    RS 291. See the Message of the Federal Council on the Swiss Federal Law on International Private Law of 10th November 1982, FF 1983 I p. 301: “l’article [16] oblige le juge à établir d’office le contenu du droit étranger. Le principe iura novit curia joue ainsi également pour l’application du droit étranger”. Likewise, ATF 121 III 436, 438: «L’art. 16 LDIP consacre donc l’obligation pour le juge cantonal d’établir d’office le droit étranger». See Keller, M. & Girsberger, D., Art. 16, in D. Girsberger et al. (eds.), Zürcher Kommentar zum IPRG, 2nd ed., Zürich 2004, ad art. 16, n° 16.

  10. 10.

    English translation by Bucher, A., Art. 16, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 1 s.

  11. 11.

    See, infra, part II, par. 2.1. and 2.2.

  12. 12.

    See Schlesinger, R. et al., Schlesinger’s Comparative Law, 7th ed., London 2009, passim. See also Bussani, M. & Mattei, U., The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law, Cambridge 2012, passim, arguing that each country’s legal culture as a whole influences its positive legal order.

  13. 13.

    Kassationsgericht des Kantons Zürich, Beschluss vom 4. September 1995, ZR 95/1996 S. 7, 9.

  14. 14.

    Swiss Federal Court, 28.10.2004, 1P_390/2004 (not published), c. 2.2.: “s’agissant du droit de pays voisins, le juge ne doit pas solliciter systématiquement l’avis d’un expert judiciaire, car l’application du droit étranger aux cas concrets rentre dans ses attributions et non pas dans celles de l’expert”.

  15. 15.

    ATF 118 II 188, 193 and 4A_364/2015 du 13 avril 2016 (arrêt non publié).

  16. 16.

    See the improvements studied at the EU level to promote the knowledge of foreign legal systems through judicial training, especially with a view to improving mutual trust: Raffaelli, R. & Bux, U. (eds.), Workshop The Training of Legal Practitioners: Teaching EU Law and Judgecraft, Compilation of briefing notes, PE 493.022 and PE 493.023 as well as Coughlan, J./Opravil, J./Heusel, W., ERA - Academy of European Law, Judicial Training in the European Union Member States, PE 453.198. See also Pretelli I., Language as a Bridge Between Legal Cultures and Universal Justice: Linguae Alienae Novit Curia? in Martin Schauer and Bea Verschraegen (Eds), General Reports of the XIXth Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, Ius Comparatum, vol. 24, Springer, 2017, at 607 ff.

  17. 17.

    ATF 126 III 492 c.3 c/aa.

  18. 18.

    ATF 127 III 123, c. 2e.

  19. 19.

    4A_336/2008, c.5.1.

  20. 20.

    Bucher, A., Art. 16, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 7, referring to decision of 04.07.2003, 4P.137/2002, c. 7.2.1. RSDIE 2005, p. 134 and of 31.03.2009, 4A_428/2008, c.3.1., Elektrim, ASA 2010, p. 104.

  21. 21.

    In many continental countries – for instance in Italy – courts are not strictly bound by the ruling of the highest Court, e.g. when they consider a ruling outdated in light of new legal principles or norms.

  22. 22.

    On the concept of “legitimate expectations” see Quadri, R. Lezioni di diritto internazionale, Napoli 1969, p. 147 et seq.

  23. 23.

    Dutoit, B., Droit international privé suisse, Commentaire, 4th edition, Basel 2005, p. 58, n°4, Bucher, A., Art. 14, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 206 s., Mächler-Erne, M. & Wolf-Mettier, S., Art. 14, in H. Honsell et al. (eds.), Basler Kommentar Internationales Privatrecht, 3rd edition, Basel 2013, n° 1 et seq., Heini, A., Art. 14, in D. Girsberger et al. (eds.), Zürcher Kommentar zum IPRG, 2nd edition, Zürich 2004, n° 1 et seq.

  24. 24.

    Keller, M. & Girsberger, D., Art. 16, in D. Girsberger et al. (eds.), Zürcher Kommentar zum IPRG, 2nd ed., Zürich 2004, n°17; Siehr, K., Private international law at the end of the twentieth century: progress or regress?, in Swiss reports presented at the XV International Congress of Comparative Law: Bristol, 27 juillet au 1 août 1998, Zürich 1998, p. 431 et seq.

  25. 25.

    Siehr, K., Private international law at the end of the twentieth century: progress or regress?, in Swiss reports presented at the XV International Congress of Comparative Law: Bristol, 27 juillet au 1 août 1998, Zürich 1998, p. 415 and note 31.

  26. 26.

    On these principles see the synthesis offered by Najm, M.-C., Principes directeurs du droit international privé et conflit de civilisations, Paris 2005, p. 82 et seq., in French. See also Pretelli, I., Garanzie del credito e conflitti di leggi, Napoli 2010, pp. 297–302, and passim in Italian.

  27. 27.

    See Francescakis, Ph., La théorie du renvoi et les conflits de systèmes en droit international privé, Paris 1958 and, in Switzerland, e multis, Aubert, J.-F., Une révision du droit international privé: La “Théorie du renvoi” de M. Francescakis, in Annuaire suisse de droit international, 15(1958), p. 187–214; Reichart, P. A., Der Renvoi im schweizerischen IPR: Funktion und Bedeutung, Zürich 1996; Schnitzer, A. F., Der Renvoi: Rück- und Weiterverweisung im Internationalen Privatrecht in Schweizerische Juristen-Zeitung, Zürich 1973; Schwander, I., Einige Gedanken zum Renvoi, in Liber amicorum Adolf F. Schnitzer, Genève 1979, p. 411 et seq.,Sonnentag, M., Der Renvoi im Internationalen Privatrecht, Tübingen 2001; Romano, G. P., Le renvoi en droit international privé – Thèse, antithèse et la recherche d’une synthèse, Collection genevoise, Droit international, Zürich 2014.

  28. 28.

    See Art.72 ss. and Art. 95 let. a) and b) of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court Act (FSCA) (RS 173.110). ATF 127 III 123, c. 2e., ATF 126 III 492: “Der Rügegrund von Art. 43a Abs. 1 lit. a OG ist gegeben, wenn das massgebende ausländische Recht nicht in dem vom schweizerischen Kollisionsrecht geforderten Umfang (Art. 16 IPRG) angewendet wurde (E. 3)”, ATF 118 II 83, 85: “Il appartient à la juridiction de réforme de contrôler d’office que le juge cantonal a appliqué le droit désigné par le droit international privé suisse”.

  29. 29.

    ATF 118 II 83 c. 2b.

  30. 30.

    ATF 127 III 123, c. 2e. and supra par. 1.2.

  31. 31.

    ATF 119 II 93 c. 2c.

  32. 32.

    Art. 96 let. a) and b) of the FSCA (RS 173.110), see Donzallaz, Y., Art. 96 Droit étranger, in Loi sur le Tribunal fédéral – Commentaire, Bern 2008, n° 3566 et seq; Corboz, B., Art. 96, in B. Corboz et al. (eds.), Commentaire de la LTF, Bern 2014, n° 14 et seq. The notion of pecuniary matter is given by Art. 74 al. 1 LTF fixing a minimal amount for submitting an appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

  33. 33.

    Swiss Federal Court, 07.04.1995, Dame X. c. X. (VS), RVJ 1996 p. 161; ATF 121 III 248.

  34. 34.

    Von Overbeck, A.E., Die Ermittlung, Anwendung und Überprüfung der richtigen Anwendung des anwendbaren Rechts, in Hangartner Y., Die allgemeinen Bestimmungen des Bundesgesetzes über das internationale Privatrecht, St. Gallen, 1988, p. 103. Schwander, I., Einführung in das Internationale Privatrecht, Allgemeiner Teil, 2. A. St. Gallen 2000, n° 391. In respect of the distinction between pecuniary and non-pecuniary matters see Corboz, B., Art. 74, in B. Corboz et al. (eds.), Commentaire de la LTF, Bern 2014, n° 12–16.

  35. 35.

    Swiss Federal Court, 23.02.2009, 5A_437/2008 at 2.1. See Corboz, B., Art. 96, in B. Corboz et al. (eds.), Commentaire de la LTF, Bern 2014, n° 16.

  36. 36.

    ATF 130 I 337, c. 5.4.2.

  37. 37.

    See the aforementioned decision of 28.10.2004, 1P.390/2004, at c.2.2. and infra par. 4.2. and note 81: “[l ’art. 16] consacre l’obligation, pour le juge, d’établir d’office le droit étranger […] car l’application du droit étranger aux cas concrets rentre dans ses attributions et non pas dans celles de l’expert”.

  38. 38.

    ATF 118 II 188, 193 on which see supra, par. 1.1.

  39. 39.

    As regards to the legal opinions of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, the Federal Court stated explicitly: “les avis de droit rendus par cet organisme [ne sont] pas assimilables à des rapports d’experts” see Swiss Federal Court, 28.10.2004, 1P.390/2004, c. 2.

  40. 40.

    See Swiss Federal Court, 27.05.2013, 5A_60/2013, c. 3.2.1.1.: “L’emploi du terme “preuve” est. donc impropre, dans la mesure où il ne s’agit pas d’une preuve au sens strict, la norme étrangère étant une règle de droit”. The proof of foreign law, in particular, is not equivalent to giving to a party the “fardeau objectif de la preuve, entraînant le cas échéant la perte du droit invoqué”; See also: ATF 138 III 232, 237: “Wie dargelegt hat fremdes Recht, das im Inland angewendet werden soll, jedoch nicht Tatsachen-, sondern Normcharakter, weshalb Art. 16 Abs. 1 IPRG vom “Nachweis” und nicht vom “Beweis” des ausländischen Rechts spricht”. See Schwander, I., Einführung in das Internationale Privatrecht, Allgemeiner Teil, 2. A. St. Gallen 2000, n° 388.

  41. 41.

    Bucher, A., Art. 16, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 7 with reference to ATF 126 III 495 and Swiss Federal Court decision of 02.09.2008, 4A_336/2008, c. 5.3.2. Bucher, A. & Bonomi, A., Droit international privé, 3rd edition, Basel 2013, p. 129 § 473.

  42. 42.

    See the Swiss Federal Court judgments of 12.01.2006, 5C_222/2005, c. 2.5.

  43. 43.

    ATF 128 III 346, 351 «Nur wenn die erwähnten Bemühungen zu keinem zuverlässigen Ergebnis führen, ist ersatzweise Schweizer Recht anzuwenden. Dies ist auch dann der Fall, wenn ernsthafte Zweifel am Ergebnis aufkommen».

  44. 44.

    The Federal Council, Message concernant la révision totale de l’organisation judiciaire fédérale du 28 février 2001 (FF 2001, 4135), observes that a Court violates Art. 16 § 2 PILA if it applies Swiss law on the wrong assumption that the content of foreign law could not be established. The violation falls under Art. 90, al.1, let a) and Art. 95 FSCA (RS 173.110).

  45. 45.

    European Convention of 7 June 1968 on Information on Foreign Law (RS 0.274.161). See Bucher, A., Art. 16, in Bucher A. (ed.), Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romand, Basel 2011, n° 10–13.

  46. 46.

    Swiss Federal Court, 30.04.2008, 5A_50/2008, c. 4.

  47. 47.

    ATF 128 III 346, 352. Dutoit, B., Supplément à la 4e édition du Commentaire de la loi fédérale du 18 décembre 1987, Basel 2011, p. 39, n°5.

  48. 48.

    Swiss Federal Court, 08.11.2006, 5P_355/2006, c. 4.2.: «Für den Arrest im Besonderen wird die Ansicht vertreten, dass der Gläubiger den Inhalt des anwendbaren fremden Rechts glaubhaft zu machen habe. Danach findet Art. 16 Abs. 1 IPRG im summarischen Verfahren keine Anwendung».

  49. 49.

    See Swiss Federal Court, 30.04.2008, 5A_50/2008, c. 4.3, as regards to a Brazilian decision determining the amount of maintenance to be paid, without the indication of the dies a quo.

  50. 50.

    See Dutoit, B., Droit international privé suisse, Commentaire, 4th edition, Basel 2005, p. 57, n° 3 also on the difference of the Swiss approach from the French one.

  51. 51.

    ATF 124, I, 49, 53 explicitly refers to Volken, P., Die Internationale Rechtshilfe in Zivilsachen, Zürich 1996, p. 139–140.

  52. 52.

    Supra par. 2.1.

  53. 53.

    See Art. 164 ff. of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation and in particular Art. 164–1: “All significant provisions that establish binding legal rules must be enacted in the form of a Federal Act”. The English non official version is available here: https://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/1/101.en.pdf

  54. 54.

    On the effects of the application of foreign law see Wengler, W., Die Funktion der richterlichen Entscheidung über internationale Rechtsverhältnisse, in RabelsZ 1951, pp. 1–31, p. 1–31.

  55. 55.

    SR 291.

  56. 56.

    See for example, Dutoit, B., Droit international privé suisse: Commentaire de la loi fédérale du 18 décembre 1987, 4th ed., Basel, 2005, p. 57, no 3. See also Bucher, A., ed., Loi sur le droit international privé: Convention de Lugano, Commentaire romande, Basel, 2011, ad. Art. 16, p. 226.

  57. 57.

    ATF 118 II 83, 85 and ATF 133 III 323, 327.

  58. 58.

    See the Swiss Response to Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International Law, Feasibility Study on the Treatment of Foreign Law – Questionnaire, Preliminary Document No 25 of October 2007, available at http://www.hcch.net/upload/wop/genaff_pd09ch.pdf (11.01.2014) [hereinafter the “Hague Conference Questionnaire”].

  59. 59.

    The SICL is an agency of the Swiss Federal Department of Justice, which is designated as the receiving and transmitting agency for requests regarding foreign law under Article 11 of the Federal Private International Law Act. It is also designated as such under Article 2 of the European Convention of 7 June 1968 on Information on Foreign Law (the “London Convention”). See Council of Europe Treaty Office, List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 062, available at http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=062&CM=8&DF=24/02/2014&CL=ENG&VL=1 (24.02.2014). See also SR 0.274.161.

  60. 60.

    See Institut suisse de droit compare, Rapport Annuel 2015, available at http://www.isdc.ch/media/1236/rapport-annuel-2015_website.pdf (23.09.2016).

  61. 61.

    Swiss courts will not apply foreign law that violates Swiss public policy or a mandatory provision of Swiss law: see Articles 17 and 18 of the Federal Private International Law Act.

  62. 62.

    Dutoit, B., Droit international privé suisse, p. 57, no 3.The ex officio application of the conflict of laws rules has been confirmed in the following decisions of the Swiss Supreme Court: ATF 130 III 417, cons. 2; ATF 130 III 462, cons. 4.1; ATF 131 III 153, cons. 3; ATF 131 III 511, cons. 2; ATF 132 III 626, cons. 3; ATF 132 III 609, cons. 4; ATF 132 III 661, cons. 2; ATF 136 III 142, cons. 3.2. All of these cases are cited in Dutoit, B., Droit international privé suisse: Commentaire de la loi fédérale du 18 décembre 1987, Supplément à la 4e édition, Basel, 2011, p. 39, no 1. See also Bucher, A., ed., Loi sur le droit international privé, p. 226, no 1–2.

  63. 63.

    These are directly implemented in Switzerland, as Switzerland is a monist State: see Auer, A., Malinverni, G., and Hottelier, M., Droit constitutionnel suisse, vol. I, Berne, 2013, p. 456, no 1344, citing ATF 130 I 312, 326. See also Bucher, A., Droit international privé, vol. 1/2, Basel / Frankfurt am Main, 1992, p. 152, no 381.

  64. 64.

    See Article 120, paragraph 2 of the Federal Private International Law Act.

  65. 65.

    See respectively Articles 116, para. 1; 52; and 65c, para. 2 of the Federal Private International Law Act. Other provisions of the Federal Private International Law Act that give the parties the right to choose a foreign law as the governing law include Articles 90, paragraph 2; 104, paragraph 1; 105, paragraph 1; 119, paragraph 2; 122, paragraph 1; 135; 139; 163c, paragraph 2; and 187.

  66. 66.

    See respectively Articles 116, para. 2; 53; and 65a of the Federal Private International Law Act.

  67. 67.

    Dutoit, B., Droit international privé suisse, p. 57, no 3.

  68. 68.

    See Article 16 of the Federal Private International Law Act. See also Bucher, A., ed., Loi sur le droit international privé, p. 225–26, no 1.

  69. 69.

    Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 148, no 374.

  70. 70.

    See Article 16 of the Federal Private International Law Act. The idea behind this exception was to place the financial burden of ascertaining foreign law on the parties rather than on the State, though this argument is not entirely convincing, as the court can still make the losing party bear the cost of research on foreign law: see Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 150, no 375.

  71. 71.

    Note that the court need not rely on the parties in this regard, particularly when the court has sufficient knowledge of the applicable foreign law: see 1P_390/2004 of 28 October 2004. See also Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 151, no 378–79.

  72. 72.

    This exception does not apply to foreign conflict of laws rules, which the court must ascertain ex officio. See Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 150, no 376.

  73. 73.

    See also Bucher, A. and Bonomi, A., Droit international privé, 3rd ed., Basel, 2013, p. 128, no 467. See also Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 152, no 381. In ATF 128 III 346, 352, the defendant, which had its registered office in the foreign State, was expected, based on its relationship to the foreign State, to produce information regarding the content of the foreign State’s law.

  74. 74.

    Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 153, no 385. This could otherwise have the effect of circumventing the mandatory conflict of laws rules through the application of Article 16, paragraph 2 of the Federal Private International Law Act. Moreover, it could result in the imposition of an excessive burden on a weak party, such as a maintenance creditor.

  75. 75.

    ATF 124 I 49, 52. Budgetary and human resource constraints make it illusory to solicit information from the Swiss Federal Department of Justice or foreign / Swiss embassies: see Bucher, A., ed., Loi sur le droit international privé, ad. Art. 16, p. 226, no 5.

  76. 76.

    Bucher, A., ed., Loi sur le droit international privé, ad. Art. 16, p. 226, no 5.

  77. 77.

    See Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International Law, Preliminary Document No 9A of March 2008; Feasibility Study on the Treatment of Foreign Law: Summary of the Responses to the Questionnaire, available at http://www.hcch.net/upload/wop/genaff_pd09ae2008.pdf (26.07.2008).

  78. 78.

    SR 425.1.

  79. 79.

    See Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 148, no 368.

  80. 80.

    In response to a questionnaire sent in 2010 to the SICL, Dr. Lukas Heckendorn, Head of the Scientific Division, indicated that only 7 out of the 12 jurists employed at the time by the SICL had bar admissions or experience in courtroom / trial representation: see Lalani, S., Doubt Develops where Certainty Ceases: Foreign Law in Domestic Courts, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Lausanne, 2011.

  81. 81.

    See the website of the SICL, available at www.isdc.ch (25.01.2014).

  82. 82.

    See Article 36 of the Statutes of the OdA and Article 27 of the Swiss Federal Law on the Free Movement of Lawyers, 2000, SR 935.61. Note that if the member is admitted to and in good standing with the Bar of another State in which he or she continues to be under regulatory supervision, the admission is subject to the discretion of the Council of the OdA having regard inter alia that the professional activity is conducted concretely and preponderantly in Geneva, the duration of this activity, as well as the private domicile of the lawyer in the Canton.

  83. 83.

    SR 272, Articles 150 and 157.

  84. 84.

    In the Swiss Supreme Court case, 1P_390/2004 of 28 October 2004, the Court stated that its freedom to take advice on the content of foreign law does not exempt it from acting in accordance with fundamental principles of procedure and from choosing an impartial and independent officer though that person may be related to one of the parties such that he or she does not appear objectively impartial and independent.

  85. 85.

    In 1P_390/2004 of 28 October 2004, the court recognised the SICL as an autonomous institution funded by the federal government to provide legal information on foreign law to administrative and judicial authorities, as well as to lawyers and other interested persons (see Message du Conseil fédéral sur la création d’un Institut suisse de droit comparé, FF 1976 I 813). The court went on to describe the legal opinions emanating from the SICL as always being in writing, mentioning only the relevant and applicable rules of foreign law, leaving conclusions for the requesting body to draw from the legal information provided. The court specified that the scientific staff of the SICL does not offer legal advice and cannot be compared to lawyers or legal advisors appointed under the rules of private law to give legal advice to fee-paying clients.

  86. 86.

    This was the case, for instance, in ATF 135 III 92 and ATF 126 III 327. In these cases, the Swiss Supreme Court assessed the reliability of legal information provided by the SICL respectively on the law of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Lebanon. The Court found the information to be accurate and reliable. Similarly, in ATF 114 V 258, the Swiss Supreme Court favourably cited the legal information provided by the SICL on the question of insurance law in European countries.

  87. 87.

    ATF 130 I 337, c. 5.4.2. See also Bohnet, F. et al. Code de procédure civile commenté, Bâle, 2011, p. 633, no 19.

  88. 88.

    SR 272, Articles 106–108. See also Bohnet, F. et al., Code de procédure civile commenté, p. 412, no 12.

  89. 89.

    See Facturation des expertises on the website of the SICL, available at http://www.isdc.ch/fr/expertises-juridiques.asp/4-0-13490-5-4-0/ (24.01.2014).

  90. 90.

    “Statistique,” Federal Department of Justice, International Mutual Legal Assistance, available at https://www.bj.admin.ch/dam/data/bj/sicherheit/rechtshilfe/rhf-statistik-d.pdf (23.09.2016).

  91. 91.

    See SR 0.274.131, SR 0.274.132 and SR 0.274.133. These countries include Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg.

  92. 92.

    See Bucher, A., Droit international privé, p. 149, no 373. See also Desch, E., Best Practices Survey of the European Convention on Information on Foreign Law, CDCJ (2002) 15 (Strasbourg: CDCJ, 30 April 2002) and Rodger, B.J. & Van Doorn, J., Proof of Foreign Law: The Impact of the London Convention International and Comparative Law Quarterly (1997) 46, pp. 151–173.

  93. 93.

    For example with Austria, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Fiji, Great Britain, Kenya, Netherlands, Nauru Republic, Poland, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, and Uganda. See SR 0.274.12.

  94. 94.

    For example, with Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Pakistan, Slovakia and Turkey.

  95. 95.

    EUROJUST, available at http://eurojust.europa.eu/Pages/home.aspx (15.01.2014). See also Swiss Federal Department of Justice, Statistics, available (only in German) at https://www.bj.admin.ch/dam/data/bj/sicherheit/rechtshilfe/rhf-statistik-d.pdf

  96. 96.

    Institut suisse de droit compare, Rapport Annuel 2015.

  97. 97.

    See Meier, A., Substantive Law Applied by Arbitrators and Courts: Is It the Same?, in C. Müller et al. (eds.), New Developments in International Commercial Arbitration 2015, Zurich, Basel, Geneva, 2015.

  98. 98.

    See Bachand, F., The Proof of Foreign Normative Facts Which Influence Domestic Rules, Osgoode Hall Law Journal (2005) 43, pp. 270–287. See also Sommerlad, K. & Schrey, J., Establishing the Substance of Foreign Law in Civil Proceedings, The Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business (1992), pp. 145–165; Graveson, R.H., Comparative Aspects of the General Principles of Private International Law (1963) 109 Recueil des cours, pp. 1–164; Lalani, S., Establishing the Content of Foreign Law: A Comparative Study, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (2013) 20, pp. 75–112; Lalani, S., A Proposed Model to Facilitate Access to Foreign Law, in A. Bonomi & G.P. Romano (eds.), Yearbook of Private International Law, Vol. XIII, Munich 2011, pp. 299–313. Contrast Esplugues, C. et al., eds., Application of Foreign Law, Munich, 2011.

  99. 99.

    This would, for instance, have been useful in Mastercard International Inc. v. Fédération Internationale de Football Association, 464 F. Supp. 2d 246 (2006), vacated in part, 239 Fed. Appx. 625 (2d. Cir. 2007), where a United States District Court had to weigh expert evidence on Swiss contract law. See also the remarks of Judge Posner in Bodum USA, Inc. v. La Cafetière, Inc., 621 F. 3d 624 (7th Cir. 2010), as they relate to the usefulness of legal materials published in English.

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  1. Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Ilaria Pretelli (Legal Adviser)

  2. University of Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France

    Shaheeza Lalani (Senior Researcher)

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  1. Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Yuko Nishitani

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Pretelli, I., Lalani, S. (2017). Switzerland: The Principle Iura Aliena Novit Curia and the Role of Foreign Law Advisory Services in Swiss Judicial Practice. In: Nishitani, Y. (eds) Treatment of Foreign Law - Dynamics towards Convergence?. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56574-3_18

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