Switzerland: Legal Environment

In this page: Business Contract | Intellectual Property | Legal Framework of Business | International Dispute Resolution

Business Contract

General Observation: The role and responsibility of the vendor (including methods of quality control and packaging details) should be clearly mentioned. Due diligence of the company with whom you are signing the business contract is generally suggested. Although any company listed in the Swiss Trade Register is considered to be a legitimate company and is required to keep accounts and to maintain a balance sheet. However, the register does not reveal information about a company’s financial status and business practices.
Law Applicable to the Contract: Swiss Code of Obligations (“CO”)
Advisable Incoterms: Choose CIF or FOB.
Language of Domestic Contract: German, French, Italian or Romansch. English is generally used in all international contracts.
Other Laws Which Can Be Used in Domestic Contracts: Generally the laws and courts of America and other European countries including England are likely to be accepted by any Swiss supplier.
The parties are free to choose the governing law of a contract. If not expressly agreed on by the parties, the applicable law is that of the country in which the party performing the characteristic obligation under the agreement in question resides.

Intellectual Property

National Organisations: The body in charge of the protection of intellectual property in Switzerland is the Federal Institute of the Intellectual property (IGE).
Regional Organisations: Convention on Grants of European Patents (European Patent Convention of 1973).
International Membership: Member of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
Signatory to the Paris Convention For the Protection of Intellectual Property
Membership to the TRIPS agreement - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

National Regulation and International Agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International Agreements Signed
Patent Swiss Patent Law of 1954; revised in 2007	20 years	Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Trademark Swiss Federal Trademark Statute	10 years; extendable for another 10 years.	Trademark Law Treaty Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design Swiss Federal Statute on the Protection of Designs and Industrial Models	5 years; extendable up to 25 years.
Copyright Swiss Federal Copyright Statute	Life long; 50-70 years after death of person.	Berne convention For the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms Rome ConventionFor the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations WIPO Copyright Treaty WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
Industrial Models Swiss Federal Statute on the Protection of Designs and Industrial Models	5 years; extendable up to 25 years.

Legal Framework of Business

Equity of Judgments

Equal Treatment of Nationals and Foreigners: Federal laws are applied uniformly in the country. Foreign nationals can expect a free trial from the country’s judicial system.
The Language of Justice: The judicial languages used in the country are: German, French and Italian.
Recourse to an Interpreter: Possible
Legal Similarities: The main source of the law is the Constitution of 1848, amended completely in 1874 and 2000.

The Swiss federal system is characterised by substantial decentralisation. The cantons and half-cantons have control over much of economic and social policies having their own laws, with the federal government's powers largely limited to foreign affairs and some economic policy.
The country’s legal system is based on civil law system influenced by customary law and judicial review of various legislative acts.
Switzerland accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, but with reservations.

The Different Legal Codes

Overview of Swiss laws

Swiss Laws

Checking National Laws Online: Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
Other Useful Resources: Swiss Federal Constitution
Swiss Federal Court
CH - CH, The Swiss Portal.
Country Guides: LexMundi, Guide on the legal environment in Switzerland

The Jurisdictions

Canton courts

Each canton has several courts of primary jurisdiction (in larger cantons so-called district courts) and one court of appeal. They usually cover civil and criminal cases. Administrative matters are heard by a special court. The courts of primary jurisdiction normally consist of five or three members. In the four cantons of Zurich, Bern, Aargau and St. Gallen civil matters are heard in commercial courts if they involve commercial transactions of a certain value of the matter in dispute. In some cantons specialized courts exist for labor disputes and for rent tribunals.

Certain matters such as disputes about industrial property law and other specialized matters are heard before the court of appeal as first instance.

Federal Court (Tribunal fédéral/Bundesgericht)

It is the highest court and the final court of appeal in Switzerland. The main location is in Lausanne and the primary function is to provide for a uniform application of federal law throughout the country.

A Federal insurance court (Tribunal fédéral des assurances/Eidgenössisches Versicherungsgericht), located in Lucerne, has appellate jurisdiction for certain disputes involving social security and insurance matters.

In April 2004, the new Federal criminal court (Tribunal pénal fédéral/Bundesstrafgericht), located in Bellinzona, took up its functions as the federal court of first instance and the court of appeal in certain criminal matters.

In 2007 the Federal criminal system was completed by the addition of a Federal administrative court (Tribunal administratif fédéral/Bundesverwaltungsgericht) with seat in St. Gallen.

The members of the Federal courts are elected in a joint session of the National Council and the Council of States.

Court Officials

Judges: The members of the Federal courts are elected in a joint session of the National Council and the Council of States. Public elections (judges of trial courts) and parliamentary elections (judges of cantonal appellate courts) determine which of the candidates put forward by the political parties will become judges. There are strict rules concerning the impartiality of judges, and, in general, a judge may be rejected if circumstances indicate that he/she could be biased in any way.
Public prosecutors: In Switzerland the role of the Public Prosecutor is performed by a representative of the Criminal Commission. The structure, appointment methods and the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor’s office vary from canton to canton. In certain cantons, the power to appoint public prosecutors lies in the executive while in others it lies in the legislature.
Attorneys at law: Any person wishing to enter the profession of attorney must graduate from a Swiss school of law. In addition he/she should be a member of Swiss Bar Association. But to be admitted to the Bar, he/she must "apprentice" in a canton, for a period of nearly two years under the supervision of a qualified lawyer, followed by passing the bar examination for that canton (there is no "federal" bar examination in Switzerland).

International Dispute Resolution

Arbitration: Due to security, political stability, a highly developed infrastructure and neutrality, Switzerland has a long tradition as a place for international arbitration. A number of chambers of commerce offer arbitration services. Among these, the most important are the Zurich and the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, but also the Swiss-German or the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce. Each of these chambers offer their own arbitration rules designed for international arbitration cases.
Arbitration Law: Chapter 12 of the Private International Law Act 1987.
Conformity to International Commercial Arbitration Rules: Party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
Party to the Geneva Protocol on Arbitration Clauses.
Party to the Geneva Convention of the Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
Appointment of Arbitrators: The arbitration panel generally consists of three arbitrators. Each party has the right to choose one arbitrator, and these two arbitrators elect the chairman.
Arbitration Procedure: Swiss arbitration tribunals frequently use arbitration rules such as the ICC Rules of Arbitration or the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. However, the parties to the arbitration are free to choose the rules governing the arbitral proceedings as well as the law governing the subject matter in dispute. International arbitrations are governed by Chapter 12 of the PIL Act, which applies to all arbitration cases where the arbitral tribunal has its seat in Switzerland and at least one of the parties had no domicile or habitual residence in Switzerland at the time when the arbitration agreement was concluded.
Permanent Arbitration Bodies: ICC International Court of Arbitration
Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCIG)
Zurich Chamber of Commerce

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