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Valloni / News  / CONCILIATION PROCEEDINGS IN SWITZERLAND
13 February 2025

CONCILIATION PROCEEDINGS IN SWITZERLAND

Conciliation is a formal, confidential, efficient and neutral proceeding for resolving disputes in Switzerland outside the ordinary courts system, under Article 213 of the Swiss Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO).

Generally speaking, it is the first step in litigation in Switzerland.

Conciliation is mandatory for most civil disputes, but there are some exceptions, such as debt collection, commercial disputes and summary procedures. Also, in disputes exceeding Sw. Frs. 100,000, can mutually opt to bypass conciliation under Article 199, ZPO.

The claimant files a request for conciliation with the conciliation authority concerned.

The conciliation authority is appointed by the Cantons. In Zurich, for example, the local justice of the peace is the authority, acting pursuant to the provisions of Article 197, ZPO.

In the case of rental and lease disputes, there is a specialised conciliation authority, which is linked to the District Court (Article 200, ZPO).

The request for conciliation must include:

  • a description of the dispute;
  • details of the counterparty; and
  • the relief sought.

At the conciliation hearing, the parties in dispute appear in person, or with a legal representative.

The role of the conciliator is to assist the parties in trying to reach a settlement of their dispute.

If they do so, the conciliation is successful and that is the end of the matter.

If they do not, the claimant receives an ‘authorisation to sue’ and may pursue the claim in court or by arbitration within three months (Article 209, para 3, ZPO).

If the claimant fails to pursue the claim within the time limit, the claim lapses.

It should be noted that in Swiss conciliation and legal proceedings generally, time limits are strictly enforced, as a recent Swiss Federal Supreme Court Decision rendered on 9 September 2024 has shown (Case 4A_409/2024).

Conciliation proceedings in Switzerland have been in operation for over a century and have proved to be useful because of their procedural flexibility, confidentiality and relative speediness.

We represent clients in conciliation proceedings and further information is available from either Dr Lucien Valloni or Noemi Delli Colli at ‘valloni@valloni.ch’ and ‘dellicolli@valloni.ch’respectively.