SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Pascal Hachem, Nadja Jaisli Kull and Aurélie Conrad Hari, Bär & Karrer AG
Bär & Karrer AG Brandschenkestrasse 90 CH-8002 Zurich Switzerland Tel: +41 58 261 50 00 Email: zurich@baerkarrer.ch Web: www.baerkarrer.ch
The Swiss Arbitration Environment Switzerland remains one of the world’s most reliable and sophisticated arbitration hubs. Its legal market offers world class counsel and arbitrator expertise in large full-service firms as well as in specialised boutiques. Swiss law remains a particularly popular choice for international commercial contracts. Equally, Switzerland continues to be among the top choices as a seat of international arbitrations, even though other jurisdictions have emerged among the traditional arbi - tration hot spots. A key reason for Switzerland’s strength is the legal certainty, predictability, swiftness and respect for the finality of arbitral awards it provides. Arbitral awards rendered by a Swiss seated tribunal can only be chal - lenged before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. The appeal period is 30 days, the grounds for review are narrowly defined, set-aside proceedings are typically completed within six months, and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has consistently shown great restraint in setting awards aside. Successful set-aside applica - tions typically make up for only a single-digit percent - age of all set-aside applications filed. Furthermore, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court reli - ably respects the jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals and very rarely intervenes. In 2024 the Swiss Federal Supreme Court had decidedly restated Switzerland’s arbitration friendliness, when it refused to follow the CJEU’s Achmea and Komstroy decisions and con - firmed a Swiss-seated arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction to adjudicate an intra-EU investment dispute on the basis of Article 26 of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Conversely, the extension of an arbitration agreement to a non-signatory party is an exception to the rule,
as the Swiss Federal Supreme Court confirmed in a decision of 10 March 2025. The party seeking to join a third party must demonstrate that it would be contrary to good faith to enforce privity of the arbitration agree - ment (4A_460/2024). The court confirmed its practice that a joinder will primarily occur where the third party intervened in the performance of a contract containing an arbitration clause. Finally, Switzerland’s infrastructure, short commutes, reliable public transportation, and quick access to international airports remain strong benefits for parties looking to resolve disputes in swift and cost-efficient arbitral proceedings. The Swiss Arbitration Centre’s reported 25% increase in newly commenced cases in 2025, bringing it to a record number of 125 newly commenced arbitrations, confirms the strengths of the Swiss arbitration envi - ronment. With the 2025 release of the Swiss Arbitra - tion Centre’s Supplemental Rules for Trust, Estate and Foundation Disputes, we expect Swiss arbitration to become even more attractive given that these rules are tailored to fields that are part of Switzerland’s core global wealth management business. Disruptions in supply chains and price volatility – renewed focus on traditional Swiss contract law concepts While global supply chains became more resilient in 2025 compared with the immediate crisis manage - ment years of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, businesses continued to face significant disruptions resulting from geopolitical ten - sions, sanctions, trade restrictions, inflation, volatile energy markets, and increasing tariffs.
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