Facts
In this case, it was about a lease agreement between [A. AG] as the tenant and [B.] as the landlord. On August 18, 2014, [A. AG] terminated the lease agreement extraordinarily effective as of August 25, 2014. [B.] disputed the effectiveness of this termination and requested the Conciliation Authority to determine that the termination was ineffective and abusive.
The Rental Court of Zurich declared itself competent, as it was a case of protection against termination within the meaning of Art. 243 para. 2 lit. c CPC. [A. AG] then appealed to the High Court of the Canton of Zurich, which dismissed the appeal and confirmed the competence of the Rental Court.
[A. AG] filed a civil law appeal against this decision of the High Court with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It concluded that this was a case of protection against termination within the meaning of Art. 243 para. 2 lit. c CPC, as [B.] had challenged the termination by [A. AG] not only as ineffective, but also as abusive within the meaning of Art. 271 CO.
The Federal Supreme Court stated that, interpreted in good faith, [B.] 's request to the Conciliation Authority was to be understood as a challenge within the meaning of Art. 273 CO, even though [B.] later amended the wording of its request…