Rejection of the set-off raised by the debtor against whom enforcement proceedings have been brought when the offsetting claim is disputed

Facts

On 27 October 2008, B. had a payment order for various sums notified to A. A. filed an objection. The Court of First Instance of Geneva definitively lifted the objection. A. appealed, but the Court of Justice of Geneva dismissed his appeal on the grounds that the validity of the offsetting claim, based on a debt acknowledgement of 19 April 2001, was the subject of pending proceedings in France. A. then appealed to the Federal Tribunal.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal dismissed A.'s appeal. Pursuant to Art. 81(1) DEBA, when enforcement proceedings are based on a judgment, the judge orders the definitive lifting of the objection, unless the debtor proves by title that the debt has been extinguished after the judgment. The extinction of the debt may in particular result from set-off, but the debtor must then provide strict proof of the existence and amount of the offsetting claim.

In the present case, although A. had produced a debt acknowledgement of 19 April 2001, the validity of this title was disputed in pending proceedings in France. However, in the summary proceedings for the…