Facts
The appellant, a minor son, was sued by his father in a paternity dispute before the District Court of Waldenburg (Canton of Basel-Landschaft). To safeguard his interests in this proceeding, the guardianship authority of Basel-Stadt appointed a guardian, Y., in accordance with Art. 392 para. 2 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), who in turn commissioned the lawyer Z. to conduct the proceedings. The latter requested the District Court to appoint him as the child's free legal representative, but this request was dismissed. An appeal against this decision was rejected by the High Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft.Considerations
The Federal Court states that the conduct of a paternity dispute requires legal knowledge, which is usually only possessed by lawyers. Therefore, a legally inexperienced person only needs no lawyer in such a proceeding if the case does not present any particular difficulties and is conducted in the investigation procedure. However, the High Court has doubts whether the latter applies in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft.
Furthermore, the Federal Court finds that according to Art. 379 ZGB, a person who is suitable for the fulfillment of the assigned tasks is to be appointed as a guardian. Since the guardian has to replace the legal representative in the matter concerned, he must be able to conduct the proceedings himself. The guardianship authority may not appoint a guardian who is incapable of conducting the proceedings and leave it to the court to appoint a legal aid lawyer to properly safeguard the interests of the person under guardianship in the proceedings.
In the present case, if the appointed guardian, the official guardian, is…