Facts
The Federal Social Insurance Office (INO) appealed against the decision of the Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Aargau of 9 September 2008, which had reversed the cancellation of a half disability pension by the Disability Insurance Office of the Canton of Aargau. The 1964-born [Y.] was 52% disabled in 1994 due to a fibromyalgia syndrome and a generalized tendomyopathy and therefore received a half pension. After a pension review in 2002, the degree of disability was determined to be 51%, which did not result in any change to the pension entitlement. In 2005, another pension review procedure was carried out, which led to the cancellation of the pension, as the degree of disability was determined to be 14%.
The lower court reversed the cancellation of the pension because the insured person's state of health had not improved in a way that was relevant for a pension review and the employment situation had not changed. The INO appealed and argued that the case law on somatoform pain disorder and the amendment to Art. 7 para. 2 GSSLA required a re-evaluation of the pension.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the lower court had rightly reversed the cancellation of the pension. It found that the lower court's determination of the facts was not obviously incorrect and was therefore binding on the Federal Court. The court also examined whether a re-evaluation was permissible from the perspective of a changed jurisprudence and came to the conclusion that the case law on somatoform pain disorder did not provide a reason for reducing or cancelling an ongoing pension.
The court also examined the amendment to Art. 7 para. 2 GSSLA and came to the conclusion that this did not…