Decision on the Admissibility of a Late Appeal

Facts

The case concerns a legal objection due to lack of new assets, which [X.] had filed against [Z. AG] . After [X.] had withdrawn the legal objection before the District Court of Horgen, the court ordered him to pay the procedural costs, including the costs for a sign language interpreter. [X.] appealed against this cost decision, but the District Court only forwarded the appeal to the Cantonal Court of Zurich on 29 February 2012. The Cantonal Court then dismissed the appeal as late in a decision dated 4 April 2012.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court set aside the Cantonal Court's decision and remanded the case for further consideration. It reasoned that the District Court had acted in an overly formalistic manner by not forwarding the appeal immediately to the Cantonal Court, even though it was recognizable as a legal remedy and the appeal deadline had not yet expired. The Federal Supreme Court saw this as a violation of the principle of fair trial under Art. 29(1) of the Federal Constitution.

The Federal Supreme Court clarified that it reaches this decision regardless of the interpretation of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC). Even if one were to assume that the appeal had been filed late with the incompetent authority (the District Court), the District Court should have pointed this out…