Dismissal of the appellant's appeal due to lack of capacity to act as a party

Facts

Since the end of July 2009, divorce proceedings had been pending between [C.] (respondent) and [A.] (appellant) before the District Court of Hinwil. In these proceedings, the appellant was appointed a necessary representative under § 29 para. 2 of the former Code of Civil Procedure of the Canton of Zurich by order dated 6 October 2011. The appellant personally filed an appeal against the divorce judgment issued on 18 October 2018 with the Cantonal Court of Zurich. The Cantonal Court, by decision of 6 May 2019, did not enter into the appeal, as the appellant was not capable of acting as a party and was necessarily represented.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Cantonal Court. It stated that the Cantonal Court had to examine the appellant's capacity to act as a party, as he had filed the appeal personally. The Cantonal Court could rely on the finding of the appellant's incapacity to act as a party made in the first instance proceedings, as this finding remained valid until a contrary decision was made. The appellant was unable to demonstrate that his situation had changed in the meantime.

Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court held that…