Enforcement of a foreign decision against an undivided inheritance

Facts

The appellant [A.] filed a request for attachment against the inheritance of his deceased brother B. with the District Court of Zurich. At the same time, he applied for the declaration of enforceability of a foreign judgment against B. The District Court and the High Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the request for attachment, as there was no debt collection proceedings pending in Switzerland at the time of B.'s death and therefore no enforcement was possible. [A.] then filed a civil law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court. The Federal Supreme Court set aside the decisions of the lower courts and remanded the case to the District Court for a new decision.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court stated that according to Art. 39(2) of the Lugano Convention (LugC), the jurisdiction of the Swiss courts for the declaration of enforceability of a foreign judgment is based either on the domicile of the debtor or on the place where enforcement is to be carried out. The latter is determined by national law, which includes in particular the place of attachment under Art. 52 of the Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (DEBA). The Federal Supreme Court clarified that an attachment against an undivided inheritance is possible, even if the attachment was…