Facts
On 4 September 2008, X., the owner of a garage business, requested the Debt Collection Office of Basel-Stadt for information on debt collection proceedings and outstanding certificates of loss against Z., residing in Basel. X. requested complete extracts or copies of the relevant seizure protocols. The Debt Collection Office then sent him a detailed extract from the debt collection register but refused to provide the seizure protocols.
X. filed a complaint with the cantonal supervisory authority and demanded that the Debt Collection Office be instructed to hand over copies of the last two seizure files concerning Z. The supervisory authority dismissed the complaint.
X. then filed a civil law appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, which upheld the complaint.
Considerations
According to Art. 8a DEBA, any person who can demonstrate a legitimate interest is entitled to inspect the protocols and registers of the Debt Collection Office and to obtain extracts from them. The Federal Supreme Court decided that the appellant had credibly demonstrated a sufficient interest based on the submitted installment contract and is entitled to a detailed extract from the debt collection register.
The disputed issue was whether the appellant is also entitled to inspect the protocols of the two most recent seizures. The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the appellant, as a non-enforcing creditor who wishes to examine the possibility of bankruptcy without prior debt collection, is entitled to inspect the seizure protocols. This is because the detailed extract from…