Facts
The OAO B., a Russian insurance company, sued the A. Ltd, a Swiss reinsurance company, before a Russian arbitration court. The court upheld the claim and dismissed the counterclaim of the A. Ltd. The A. Ltd appealed against the decision, but all appeals were dismissed. Thereupon, the OAO B. applied to the District Court of Zurich for the recognition and declaration of enforceability of the Russian court decision in Switzerland.
The A. Ltd opposed this request and argued that the decision had been obtained in violation of essential principles of Swiss procedural law, as the OAO B. had bribed the Russian judges. However, the Cantonal Court of Zurich dismissed the appeal of the A. Ltd, as it had raised the allegations of bribery only in the recognition proceedings and not already in the Russian substantive proceedings.
The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Cantonal Court. It stated that the allegation of the A. Ltd that the Russian judges had been bribed was contrary to the principle of good faith and an abuse of rights. The A. Ltd had consciously accepted the jurisdiction of the Russian courts, had gone through the proceedings up to the final judgment, and had only then raised the allegations of bribery in the recognition proceedings in Switzerland. This conduct contradicts the principle of good faith and the prohibition of abuse of rights.
Considera…