Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (Switzerland) Case
| Date | 24 Abril 1951 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 178 |
| Court | Regional Court (Germany) |
War — Effects of — On Treaties — Non-Political Treaty — Hague Convention on Civil Procedure, 1905 — One Party to Treaty Involved in War — Another Party Neutral — Whether Treaty Binding on Occupant of Former Country after Conclusion of Hostilities.
Belligerent Occupation — Nature and Effects of — Non-Political Treaties between Occupied Country and Neutral Country — Hague Convention on Civil Procedure, 1905 — Whether Continuing to be Applicable between Switzerland and Germany — Whether Binding on Occupant — Enforcement of Order of Swiss Court.
The Facts.—In 1939 a Swiss court gave a judgment in favour of a Swiss national against a debtor resident in Germany, and ordered the latter to pay the costs of the proceedings. By virtue of the Hague Convention on Civil Procedure of July 17, 1905, to which both Germany and Switzerland were parties, the Swiss creditor Was entitled to enforce the order for costs in Germany without “additional requirements”. Some time after 1945, and while Germany was an occupied country, he accordingly applied for payment under the order. The debtor contended that the Hague Convention was no longer applicable between Switzerland and Germany; alternatively, that even if it was, he could not be compelled to make payment under the order without the prior consent of the exchange control authorities.
Held: (i) that the Hague Convention on Civil Procedure continued to be applicable between Switzerland and Germany;
(ii) that, although the Convention was binding on occupied Germany, it was not binding on the Occupant, and that as the exchange control laws were laws enacted by the Occupant they took precedence of the Convention;
(iii) that, this being so, and the exchange control laws providing that foreign judgments could not be satisfied without the prior consent of the exchange control authorities, such consent was required, notwithstanding that the Convention provided for the execution of foreign judgments without “additional requirements”. The Court...
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