Facts
On 27 February 1953, Paul Born caused an accident in which the passengers Walter Brechbühler and Walter Wyss were killed. The Disability, Widow's and Orphan's Insurance Fund for the permanent civil servants, employees and workers of the Biel Municipal Corporation (Biel Insurance Fund), with which both the deceased were insured, subsequently sued the insurance company "Alpina" as Born's liability insurer and Born himself for damages. The defendants disputed the plaintiff's standing.
Rosa and Alfred Brechbühler, the surviving relatives of the deceased, intervened in the proceedings to support the rejection of the plaintiff's standing, as they themselves wanted to claim damages against Born.
The Cantonal Court of Bern issued an interlocutory decision affirming the plaintiff's standing. Rosa and Alfred Brechbühler appealed and filed a nullity complaint against this interlocutory decision.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court did not enter into the appeal or the nullity complaint. On the one hand, Rosa and Alfred Brechbühler were not proper interveners, but merely pursued the goal of denying the plaintiff's standing in order to then proceed against Born themselves. This was not a permissible intervention, but required an independent…