Imposition of Procedural Costs on a Third Party who is not a Party to the Proceedings

Facts

In this case, the issue was whether procedural costs could be imposed on a third party who was not a party to the proceedings. The lower court had imposed all the second-instance procedural costs on the appellant 1 based on Art. 107 para. 1 lit. f CPC. The appellant 1 objected that this provision does not allow for the imposition of costs on third parties.

The Federal Court found that Art. 107 CPC only regulates the distribution of costs among the parties to the proceedings and does not provide a basis for the imposition of costs on a third party. The lower court should not have imposed the procedural costs on the appellant 1 as a third party based on this provision.

Considerations

The Federal Court then examined whether the allocation of costs could be based on Art. 108 CPC, which provides for the imposition of unnecessary procedural costs on the person responsible.

The Federal Court concluded that the appellant 1, as an outsider, had held a general meeting and elected himself as the sole member of the board of directors, although he was not entitled to do so. This behavior had caused the proceedings between the respondent and the appellant 2. Therefore, it was generally not…