Facts
The case concerns a dispute between an insured person (S.) and the Compensation Fund of the Canton of Zurich as well as the AHV Appeals Commission of the Canton of Zurich. In proceedings before the Federal Insurance Court, the insured person had relied on a private expert opinion of a specialist physician to demonstrate her ability to work as an employed person. The Federal Insurance Court upheld the insured person's appeal and therefore had to decide on the reimbursement of the costs for this private expert opinion.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court states that, contrary to its previous case law (ZAK 1988 p. 572), the costs for a private expert opinion used in the proceedings before the court fall under the concept of party compensation pursuant to Art. 159 para. 2 of the Organization Act (OG) and must therefore be reimbursed to the prevailing party. The court justifies this by stating that Art. 159 OG, and not Art. 78 para. 3 of the Ordinance on Disability Insurance (IVV), is the relevant legal basis for the award of party compensation. Furthermore, the Federal Insurance Court itself must decide on the allocation of expert costs, which may also include the costs for a private expert opinion.
The Federal Insurance Court considers the private supplementary expert opinion of Dr. I. dated March 8, 1988 to be relevant and noteworthy. Since the lower instance had wrongly considered this opinion to be irrelevant, it was necessary for…