Facts
The case concerns a Swiss citizen who is entitled to an old-age and survivors' insurance (AHV) pension and has applied for supplementary benefits. Pursuant to Art. 2 Para. 1 ELG, Swiss citizens residing in Switzerland with an AHV pension are entitled to supplementary benefits insofar as their attributable annual income does not exceed a certain limit amount. The attributable income is calculated according to the provisions of Art. 3 et seq. ELG, whereby income and assets to which a renunciation has been made in order to obtain supplementary benefits are also to be taken into account (Art. 3 Para. 1 lit. f ELG in the original version).
The appellant had renounced the continuation of an annuity on 18 November 1983. This renunciation also had an effect after 1 January 1987, when the revised version of Art. 3 Para. 1 lit. f ELG entered into force. The question arises as to whether the old law or the new version of this provision is to be applied.
Considerations
The Federal Court decided that Art. 3 Para. 1 lit. f ELG in the version in force from 1 January 1987 is also to be applied in the sense of an improper retroactive effect to cases in which the act of renunciation took place before the entry into force of this provision, but which still had an effect after 1 January 1987.
According to the transitional provisions for the revision of the ELG of 4 October 1985, an ongoing supplementary benefit may not be reduced during the first year after the entry into force of the law due to the amendment of Art. 3 Para. 1, 2 and 4 and Art. 4 Para. 1 letters a and b. Although this regulation is not directly applicable in the present case, where it is a matter of the initial granting of supplementary benefits, it can be concluded from this that the…