Facts
On 19 October 1994, M. filed a complaint with the Uster district court against the extract from the register of debts of the Y. debt collection office and requested the deletion of the entry relating to lawsuit No. ... from the register of debts, so that it would no longer appear on the extract. He justified his request by explaining that this lawsuit had been initiated in error by the creditor, which the creditor confirmed.
The Uster district court dismissed the complaint by decision of 6 December 1994. An appeal was filed against this decision, but the Zurich cantonal court also dismissed it on 5 January 1995.
M. then filed an appeal with the Chamber of Debt Collection and Bankruptcy of the Federal Court, requesting the annulment of the decision of 5 January 1995 and the deletion of the lawsuit for the public.
In its response, the creditor confirmed the error in initiating the lawsuit and stated that it had requested the Y. debt collection office to delete it.
Considerations
The Chamber of Debt Collection and Bankruptcy of the Federal Court admitted the appeal. It considered that the deletion of a lawsuit based on an error by the creditor must be carried out in a manner analogous to that of a null lawsuit, as provided for in ATF 115 III 24 ss.
The chamber estimated that the entry in the register must be accompanied by the remark that the lawsuit was initiated due to an error by the creditor. The lawsuit with such a remark should no longer be mentioned in the extracts from the register.
The chamber also considered that the person concerned has a significant personal interest in ensuring that an unjustified lawsuit is not brought to the attention of third parties, and that nothing prevents a lawsuit based on an error…