Facts
In the context of various proceedings, the Vice-President of the Civil Court of the Canton of Geneva granted legal aid to B., domiciled in France, and appointed Me [A.] as the court-appointed lawyer. By decision of November 28, 2014, he compensated the court-appointed counsel up to 6,750 CHF without allocating any amount for VAT, on the grounds that the assisted party was domiciled abroad.
Me [A.] appealed against this decision. The Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva dismissed his appeal. The Federal Tribunal finally upheld Me A.'s appeal and set the compensation of the court-appointed lawyer at 6,750 CHF, plus 540 CHF for VAT (at a rate of 8%).
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considered that, in the context of civil proceedings, the granting of legal aid is governed by Articles 117 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC). As in the case of court-appointed defense in criminal matters, the court-appointed legal counsel does not exercise a private mandate, but performs a public law task from which he cannot withdraw and which confers on him a public law claim to be fairly remunerated.
Although the court-appointed counsel provides his services primarily in the interest of the recipient of legal aid, he also does so in the interest of the State. His appointment not only realizes a…