Where can I sue my debtor?
Where can I sue my debtor?
"I work as a healthcare professional in Geneva. I want to take legal action against a patient who hasn't paid his bill. What address should I note on the request for legal action, given that he works in Geneva as an employee and lives in neighbouring France?
If it's the address in France, how do you go about it?
Nella
Pursuant to articles 46 et seq. of the Swiss Federal Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act (LP), where the debtor is a natural person, the place of jurisdiction is the debtor's domicile. It is only when the debtor has no fixed domicile either in Switzerland or abroad that he can be sued at his place of residence in Switzerland. In accordance with the principle of sovereignty, a debtor domiciled abroad cannot therefore be pursued by a Swiss debt collection office, in the absence of the latter's international jurisdiction, unless the debtor elects domicile in Switzerland or has an establishment there and the debt is related to that establishment.
A Swiss creditor who wishes to obtain an order for the payment of a sum of money from a debtor domiciled abroad must therefore summon that person to appear before the competent court, designated by the rules of the forum of the State in which that person is domiciled.
However, you should be aware that sequestration, governed by article 271 et seq of the Swiss Civil Code, is a protective measure aimed at freezing certain assets of the debtor, particularly when the latter does not live in Switzerland, provided that the claim has a sufficient link with our country (for example, in your case, care provided in Geneva) or that it is based on an enforceable judgement, an acknowledgement of debt or a deed of default. Subject to these conditions, this "sequestration of foreigners" makes it possible to take legal action against a debtor who is not domiciled in Switzerland, but who owns movable or immovable property, bank accounts or assets there, subject to the assets considered unseizable set out in articles 92 and 93 LP. The special feature of sequestration is that it creates a forum for proceedings in Switzerland, more precisely at the place where the objects have been sequestered, even though the debtor has no domicile in Switzerland, thanks to the mechanism of article 52 LP.n domicile.
