Facts
X. is under guardianship pursuant to Art. 392 para. 1 and Art. 393 para. 2 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB). The office of the guardian is currently held by an employee of the Winterthur Guardianship Authority. X. and Y. filed a request for a change of the guardian, which the Winterthur Guardianship Authority rejected. Against this rejection, X. and Y. filed a complaint pursuant to Art. 420 para. 2 ZGB with the lower supervisory authority, the Winterthur District Council. The District Council dismissed the complaint, to the extent that it entered into it, and informed X. and Y. that an appeal against its decision could be filed in writing with the High Court of the Canton of Zurich within 10 days of service.
X. and Y. then appealed to the High Court of the Canton of Zurich, requesting that the thirty-day appeal period pursuant to Art. 311 of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (ZPO) be declared applicable instead of the ten-day period, and that the Winterthur District Council be instructed to issue a new decision with corrected information on legal remedies and a new time limit. The High Court dismissed the "complaint".
X. and Y. have filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court against the High Court's judgment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the complaint, to the extent that it enters into it. The decisive factor is that the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (ZPO) only applies to proceedings for judicial orders in voluntary jurisdiction (Art. 1 lit. b ZPO). It does not apply to proceedings that fall within the jurisdiction of a cantonal administrative authority (the Guardianship Authority).
Federal law provides in Art. 420 para. 2 ZGB that decisions of the Guardianship Authority can be appealed to the supervisory authority within ten days of their notification. This…