Facts
On August 10, 1994, the District Court of Munich (Germany) ordered X. to pay his ex-wife [Y.] the sum of 1,645 euros as alimony. On October 1, 2007, [Y.] requested the continuation of enforcement proceedings against her ex-husband for an amount of 35,523 CHF 20, plus interest at 5% from March 15, 2007, on average. According to the exchange rate used by the creditor (i.e., 1 euro = 1.6611 CHF), the monthly alimony of 1,645 euros corresponds to the sum of 2,732 CHF 50. X. filed an objection to the payment order that was served on him.
On December 20, 2007, [Y.] requested the District Court of the Canton of Geneva to recognize and enforce the judgment of the District Court of Munich, as well as the definitive lifting of the objection filed by her ex-husband to the payment order. The District Court recognized and declared the German judgment enforceable in Switzerland and ordered the definitive lifting of the objection to the payment order - without, however, specifying the amount.
X. filed a civil appeal against this latter decision, concluding with the rejection of the request for definitive lifting.
Considerations
According to case law, established facts, which do not need to be alleged or proven, are those whose existence is certain to the point of convincing the judge, whether they are facts known generally to the public (allgemeine notorische Tatsachen) or only to the judge (amtskundige oder gerichtskundige Tatsachen).
Nowadays, the exchange rate between currencies is an established fact, which does not need to be alleged or proven. It can indeed be verified on the internet, through official publications and in the press; it is therefore accessible to everyone. The internet also allows quick access to the exchange rate in force on a given…