Facts
On March 19, 1987, the President of the District Court of Liestal opened bankruptcy proceedings against P. AG upon the application of F. P. AG filed an appeal to the High Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft. On April 27, 1987, it notified that it had fully paid the owed amount, whereupon the High Court revoked the bankruptcy decree and struck the case as settled. The costs of the High Court proceedings were imposed on P. AG, but the extraordinary costs were set off.
F. then filed a constitutional appeal with the Federal Supreme Court and requested the revocation of the cost ruling and the award of appropriate party compensation to him.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court held that the High Court had wrongly refused to award party compensation. Pursuant to Art. 68 para. 1 GebTSchKG, the judge may, in disputes over the opening of bankruptcy, award the prevailing party appropriate compensation for time lost and expenses, which also includes the costs of representation.
In the present case, special legal knowledge was already required in the bankruptcy opening proceedings, for example for applications for the registration of a restriction on disposition and the preparation of an inventory of assets. Procedural issues also arose in the appeal proceedings, for which the appellant as a layman lacked the necessary…