Refusal to re-register a company struck off the commercial register

Facts

This decision concerns a procedure for re-registration in the commercial register of a company that has been struck off, introduced under Art. 164 of the Ordinance on the Commercial Register (CRO). The plaintiff brought the matter before the Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich, which declared itself incompetent to hear this procedure. The plaintiff then appealed against this decision of incompetence to the Federal Tribunal.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal considers that judicial decisions in non-contentious proceedings, such as the re-registration procedure provided for in Art. 164 CRO, do not fall within the notion of "disputes" under company and cooperative law within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 4 let. b CPC. Indeed, this procedure is not adversarial and does not involve an opposing party, contrary to what the notion of "dispute" used in this article implies.

Consequently, the Federal Tribunal confirms that the Commercial Court is not competent to hear such a re-registration procedure. The decision of incompetence of the Commercial Court is…