Rejection of the Oberland Bankruptcy Office by the majority shareholder of the bankrupt company

Facts

The appellant [A.] , majority shareholder (90%) of the insolvent [C. AG] , requested the rejection of the Oberland Bankruptcy Office as a whole and the appointment of an out-of-canton bankruptcy administration. He in particular accused Ms. [H.] from the Oberland Bankruptcy Office of bias and personal enmity. The Cantonal Court of Bern, the supervisory authority in debt enforcement and bankruptcy matters, did not enter into the request for recusal. [A.] appealed this decision to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that according to case law, grounds for recusal must be invoked immediately after becoming aware of them, otherwise they are deemed to have been forfeited. The appellant had in no way credibly demonstrated that the relevant bankruptcy officials could be biased. Decisions that do not turn out as requested or suffer from a substantive defect must be challenged in the…