Exemption from Court Costs for Authorities within their Official Jurisdiction

Facts

In this case, it was about a complaint filed by the Office for Economy and Labour (AWA) of the Canton of Zurich against a decision of the Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Zurich. The AWA had terminated a person's entitlement to unemployment benefits due to insufficient personal job search efforts. The FSCA had to decide whether court costs could be imposed on the AWA as an authority.

Considerations

The FSCA stated that according to Art. 66 para. 4 of the Federal Act on the FSCA (BGG), authorities acting within their official jurisdiction and not in their own financial interest are exempt from court costs. This also applies to the cantonal implementation bodies of the unemployment insurance system like the AWA.

The AWA had acted within its official jurisdiction in this case, as it was about the termination of unemployment benefits. Furthermore, the AWA had no own financial interest in whether the termination was…