Facts
The Compensation Fund of the Swiss Crafts (Ausgleichskasse des schweizerischen Gewerbes) filed a damages claim against Peter B. and Jules B., former members of the Board of Directors of company P. AG, for a total amount of CHF 304,770. The Insurance Court of the Canton of Aargau dismissed the claim against Peter B. and ordered the Compensation Fund to pay the court costs to him. The Compensation Fund appealed against this decision on the determination of costs.Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court considers that the requirements set by the federal legislator for the appeal procedure before the court of first instance are applicable by analogy to the procedure of the action before the cantonal authority. Although federal law does not contain a provision on the determination of costs in the field of the OASI, the Federal Court can examine whether the application of the relevant cantonal provisions has led to a violation of federal law, in particular the principle of the prohibition of arbitrariness.
In the present case, the Insurance Court of the Canton of Aargau based the determination of costs on the cantonal tariff for lawyers, taking into account in particular the high amount in dispute of CHF 304,770. However, the Federal Court considers that the amount…