SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Yves Klein, Monfrini Bitton Klein
Conclusion Now, more than ever, the judgment is not the finish line in cross-border litigation. It is one milestone within a wider recovery process that begins when the dispute is first assessed. Asset tracing, evidence preservation, interim measures, recognition analysis and budgeting must be considered before proceedings are launched, not after liability has been established. Switzerland illustrates this transformation particularly clearly. Its procedural law does not offer general pre- action discovery or a worldwide freezing injunction. It does, however, provide powerful and precise mecha - nisms when the correct gateway is identified: provi - sional evidence measures, judicial assistance, court support for arbitration, attachment of Swiss assets, recognition of foreign judgments and awards, and co- ordination with insolvency or criminal proceedings.
For practitioners, the necessary change is conceptual as much as procedural. Litigation should no longer be organised around the production of a judgment alone. It should be organised around the prospect of a meaningful recovery. The most valuable judgment is not necessarily the one awarding the largest sum or expressing the most favourable legal conclusion. It is the judgment that can be converted into payment, restitution or control of the relevant property.
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