Facts
On 15 September 1999, the X Foundation filed an appeal against the Federal Office of Social Insurance and the Federal Department of the Interior. The X Foundation requested a grant for its Day Centre C for the year 1994. The grant application was submitted on 27 February 1997, i.e. more than six months after the closure of the accounts. The Federal Office of Social Insurance rejected the application due to non-compliance with the six-month time limit provided for in art. 107 al. 1 InvIO.
The parties involved are the X Foundation, the Federal Office of Social Insurance and the Federal Department of the Interior. The Federal Insurance Court was seized of the case.
The dispute concerns the question of whether the six-month time limit for submitting the grant application is peremptory and whether the X Foundation has plausible reasons to justify its non-compliance.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court examined the nature of the time limit provided for in art. 107 al. 1 InvIO. It considered that the time limit in question is peremptory due to the consequences attached to its non-compliance, namely the loss of the right to the grant. The Court also analyzed the purpose of the time limit and found that the peremption is justified by reasons of legal certainty and administrative technique.
The Court then examined the facts of the case and found that the X Foundation did not comply with the six-month time limit and did not request an extension of the time limit. The X Foundation invoked plausible reasons to justify its non-compliance, but the Court considered that these reasons are not valid.
The Court finally examined the question of…