The Federal Council wants to make it easier for people to participate in civil proceedings abroad

Anyone who participates in civil proceedings abroad from Switzerland will be able to do so in the future may be interviewed by telephone or video link without official permission. Parliament can decide on the necessary amended legal basis for this.

The Federal Council adopted the proposal on Friday. In concrete terms, the Act on Private International Law and the Swiss Declaration on the Hague Convention on the Collection of Evidence (HBewÜ) need to be amended.

Today, if a person in Switzerland is to be heard or interrogated by telephone or video in a civil proceeding abroad, the Federal Office of Justice must give consent in each individual case. Against the background of digitalization, these regulations are increasingly experienced as cumbersome, writes the Federal Council.

Those affected must agree

With the simplification now proposed, the Federal Council wants to implement a mandate from Parliament. Official approval for conversations via electronic means of communication should no longer be necessary. However, certain conditions must be met to protect those affected and preserve Swiss sovereignty.

For example, the hearing or interrogation must be reported to the Swiss authorities. The responsible cantonal legal aid authority should be able to participate in the conference if it so wishes.

Just like today, those affected must give permission to participate in the conversation. Anyone who is interrogated or listened to has the right to speak their native language.

The regulation should now also cover hearings outside the evidence procedure. According to the Federal Council, this point was criticized in individual statements during the consultation. And it should also apply to states that are not party to the 1970 Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence.

Sources

(hkl/sda)