Facts
The appellant challenged the imposition of court costs of CHF 12,000 and the award of party compensation of CHF 9,000 in favor of the respondent. The Federal Supreme Court partially upheld the appeal. Regarding the court costs, the Federal Supreme Court found that the non-consideration of the claim due to non-payment of the advance on costs can generally be associated with costs. However, the lower court should have reduced the court fee to a greater extent, as the effort for the court in the present case was extremely low. The Federal Supreme Court considered a fee of CHF 12,000 to be arbitrarily high. With regard to the party compensation, the Federal Supreme Court stated that the opposing party in the application proceedings for legal aid does not have party status. Therefore, she is also not entitled to party compensation, even if she was invited to submit a statement and made use of it. The lower court had violated the principle of disposition in this respect, as the respondent had not made a corresponding application.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first made it clear that the non-consideration of a claim due to non-payment of the advance on costs can generally be associated with costs. However, the lower court should have reduced the court fee to a greater extent, as the effort for the court in the present case was extremely low. The Federal Supreme Court considered a fee of CHF 12,000 to be arbitrarily high.
With regard to the party compensation, the Federal…