Facts
In May 2017, B. initiated an action against A. Ltd for payment of 253,750 CHF plus interest. On September 29, 2017, the defendant A. Ltd filed a response memorandum, limited to admitting or contesting the plaintiff's allegations. On September 10, 2018, A. Ltd, now represented by a lawyer, requested an extension to respond to the claim and submit documents. The court then set a deadline of October 1, 2018 for A. Ltd, pursuant to Art. 56 CPC, to complete its response memorandum.
On October 1, 2018, A. Ltd filed a document intended to cancel and replace the response of September 29, 2017, including a counterclaim for payment by the plaintiff of 34,375 CHF plus interest. The plaintiff objected to these counterclaim conclusions.
By order of October 11, 2018, the court rejected the counterclaim conclusions of A. Ltd, on the grounds that they had been filed late. The Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva subsequently declared the appeal filed by A. Ltd against this decision to be inadmissible.
Considerations
According to the Federal Tribunal, Art. 224 para. 1 CPC clearly provides that the defendant may file a counterclaim in its response. This norm is understood to mean that a counterclaim is no longer possible after the filing of the response, even when the judge has set a deadline for the defendant, pursuant to Art. 56 CPC, to clarify or complete its response.
The purpose of Art. 56 CPC is to prevent a party from being deprived of its…