Facts
The [A. GmbH] (appellant) brought an action against [B. SA] (respondent) before the Civil Court of Basel-Stadt. The Civil Court did not consider the action with a decision of 24 November 2019. The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal of the Canton of Basel-Stadt and requested a grant of free legal aid for the appeal proceedings. The presiding judge of the Court of Appeal rejected this request and ordered the appellant to pay an advance of costs of CHF 600.--. After the appellant failed to pay the advance of costs, the Court of Appeal did not consider the appeal. The appellant appealed to the Federal Court.
The appellant complained that the lower court had wrongly refused her free legal aid for the cantonal appeal proceedings and had wrongly not considered her appeal because she had not paid the advance of costs.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the appeal and found that the time limit for appeal had been observed. However, it considered that the appeal was not sufficiently substantiated, as the appellant had not addressed the grounds for the contested decision and had not shown where a violation of federal law lay.
The Federal Court stated that the lower court had rightly refused free legal aid, as the appellant had not shown that the only asset was at stake and the legal claims did not appear to be without prospect of success. The appellant had also not sufficiently engaged with the lower court's arguments.
The Federal Court also rejected the appellant's complaint that the lower court had arbitrarily not…