Facts
In a disability insurance proceeding pending before the Insurance Court of the Canton of St. Gallen, the appellant Pfeiffer withdrew his appeal on the substantive issue in dispute after the Compensation Fund of the Wholesale Trade had amended the contested decision. The Insurance Court awarded Pfeiffer party compensation of 700 Swiss francs. Contrary to the instructions on legal remedies, Pfeiffer's lawyer did not file an administrative court appeal with the Federal Insurance Court, but rather an administrative court appeal with the Administrative Court of the Canton of St. Gallen, requesting that party compensation of 3,081 Swiss francs be awarded. The Administrative Court granted this request.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court set aside the decision of the Administrative Court. It stated that under federal law, only a single cantonal appeal instance, namely the Insurance Court, is provided for in the field of disability insurance. A second cantonal instance to assess the amount of party compensation would be contrary to federal law, as it would contradict the requirement of a simple and expeditious procedure under Art. 85 para. 2 lit. a AHVG. The Insurance Court must therefore decide on the party compensation as the sole cantonal instance.
Since the appellant Pfeiffer did…