Facts
On November 16, 1962, Heusser, insured with the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA), was killed in a road traffic accident. SUVA paid benefits to the widow and children of the victim, for a capitalized amount of 105,000 francs. The vehicle involved in the accident was insured by Winterthur-Accidents, which acknowledged owing 114,000 francs in compensation for the damage, after reducing this amount by one-third due to the victim's fault.
SUVA intends to exercise its recourse against Winterthur for the full amount of its benefits, i.e., 105,000 francs, less the 48,000 francs already received. Winterthur considers itself fully discharged by this payment of 48,000 francs. The parties have referred the dispute to the Federal Tribunal for a ruling.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the dispute concerns the extent of SUVA's subrogation into the rights of the persons it has indemnified, which constitutes a civil dispute within the meaning of Art. 41(2) of the Federal Judicial Organization Act (OJ).
According to Art. 88 of the Federal Road Traffic Act (LCR), when an injured party is not fully covered by insurance benefits, their insurer can only assert its right of recourse against the person civilly liable or against the liability insurer of…