SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Yves Klein and Antonia Mottironi, Monfrini Bitton Klein and Ardenter Law
4.2 Service of Proceedings out of the Jurisdiction Courts and authorities’ orders and decisions are served on parties by official channels. Notice by the parties is not considered proper service. Improper service of documents instituting pro - ceedings will entail the nullity of the proceed - ings and of the final decision. Therefore, it is not advisable to circumvent the process of service provided for in international treaties (notably the Hague Convention on Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters) and Swiss domestic law as this would eventually jeopardise the chances of recovery in Switzerland. The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) publishes an online guide on mutual assistance in civil and criminal matters, with a country index, which is frequently updated (www.rhf.admin.ch/rhf/fr/ home/rechtshilfefuehrer/laenderindex.html). All information on requirements for service in each specific jurisdiction is accessible there. The FOJ guide is published for guidance purposes only. For proper civil service, Article 141 paragraph 1 SCCP provides for alternative service by publi - cation in specific circumstances. Service shall be effected by notice in the official gazette of the canton or in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce where: • the whereabouts of the addressee are unknown and cannot be ascertained despite making reasonable enquiries; • service is impossible or would lead to excep - tional inconvenience; and • a party with domicile or registered office abroad has not provided a domicile for ser - vice in Switzerland despite being instructed to do so by the court.
In this respect, the FOJ guide mentions the foreseeable duration of service in the requested state, from a few months to impossibility of ser - vice. Where the FOJ guide mentions that ser - vice in a country is impossible, Swiss case law and practice of courts impose a duty of effec - tive attempt of service through official channels, which can take several months.
5. Enforcement 5.1 Methods of Enforcement
Money judgments are enforced under the DCBA and are executed by local debt collection offic - es. Non-money judgments are enforced under the SCCP, with assistance from the civil courts. Enforcement follows the domestic procedures applicable to money and non-money judgments. If the debtor is domiciled in Switzerland, enforce - ment proceedings will usually be instituted by a simple request to issue an order to pay sent to the local debt collection office. The claim does not need to be documented at this stage. If the debtor opposes to the order to pay, the creditor may file a request to set aside the opposition before the courts, where enforcement of the foreign decision will be requested. If the credi - tor succeeds, seizure of the Swiss assets of the debtor may be requested to and executed by the debt collection office over all the Swiss assets of the debtor up to the amount of the claims, subject to debt collection proceedings. Debt collection proceedings can be preceded by a request for post-trial attachment of Swiss assets if the debtor is domiciled in Switzerland. If the debtor is not domiciled in Switzerland, a request for attachment of Swiss assets must precede the debt collection proceedings in order
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