Facts
The case concerns a complainant whose income of CHF 2,194 without child allowances is below his subsistence minimum of CHF 2,343.30. Nevertheless, he was obliged to pay the respondent a monthly maintenance contribution of CHF 500 for their common daughter.
The complainant alleges that the High Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft in its decision of May 7, 1996 arbitrarily disregarded the practice of the Federal Supreme Court, according to which the subsistence minimum of the maintenance debtor must not be encroached upon.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that precautionary measures under Art. 145 of the Swiss Civil Code must take into account the principle of proportionality and their content is determined by substantive federal law. In doing so, the limits of the law in the main matter, in particular the provisions of Art. 159 para. 3 and Art. 163 para. 1 of the Swiss Civil Code, must be observed.
Art. 163 para. 1 of the Swiss Civil Code obliges the divorce protection judge to set the maintenance contributions in such a way that the maintenance debtor is left with the part of his income that he needs to cover his subsistence minimum. This limit of financial capacity…