Facts
On April 2, 2012, Y. filed a request for interim measures with the Tenancy and Rental Tribunal of the Canton of Geneva against X. By order of May 22, 2012, the tribunal declared itself incompetent, considering that the contractual relationship between the parties could not be qualified as a tenancy contract. Referring to Art. 17 of the former Geneva law of November 28, 2010 on the application of the Swiss Civil Code and other federal civil laws (aLaCC), the tribunal ruled without levying any fees or awarding costs.
X. appealed against this decision, challenging only the issue of costs. The Tenancy and Rental Chamber of the Court of Justice dismissed the appeal, also ruling without costs. X. then filed a civil law appeal and a subsidiary constitutional appeal to the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal first considered that the civil law appeal was admissible under Art. 74 para. 2 let. a LTF, as the question of whether Art. 116 para. 1 CPC allows cantonal law to exclude the allocation of costs raises a fundamental legal issue that has not yet been decided by the Federal Tribunal.
On the merits, the Federal Tribunal ruled that Art. 116 para. 1 CPC allows cantonal law to provide for more extensive exemptions than federal law, both in terms of court fees and costs. The preparatory work shows that the federal…