Admissibility of the Collocation Process for Public Law Claims

Facts

The facts concern a bankruptcy of Monagal AG, in which the Canton of Ticino and the municipality of Massagno had filed claims. The Solothurn Trade Bank complained to the cantonal supervisory authority against the inclusion of these claims as secured by collateral in the collocation plan. The supervisory authority partially upheld the complaint and dismissed the appeal of the Canton of Ticino.

The Canton of Ticino then appealed the matter to the Federal Supreme Court. It argued that the assessment of the collocation of its public law claims was exclusively the responsibility of the competent administrative authorities and courts, and not the bankruptcy judge.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court has abandoned its previous case law, according to which the collocation process for public law claims should be excluded. It now holds that a collocation process in accordance with Art. 250 DEBA is also admissible for public law claims.

The decision on the substantive justification of a public law claim must be distinguished from…