-
- Art. 3 FC
- Art. 5a FC
- Art. 6 FC
- Art. 13 FC
- Art. 10 FC
- Art. 16 FC
- Art. 17 FC
- Art. 20 FC
- Art. 22 FC
- Art. 29a FC
- Art. 30 FC
- Art. 32 FC
- Art. 42 FC
- Art. 43 FC
- Art. 43a FC
- Art. 55 FC
- Art. 56 FC
- Art. 60 FC
- Art. 68 FC
- Art. 75b FC
- Art. 77 FC
- Art. 96 para. 2 lit. a FC
- Art. 110 FC
- Art. 117a FC
- Art. 118 FC
- Art. 123b FC
- Art. 136 FC
- Art. 166 FC
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- Art. 11 CO
- Art. 12 CO
- Art. 50 CO
- Art. 51 CO
- Art. 84 CO
- Art. 97 CO
- Art. 98 CO
- Art. 99 CO
- Art. 100 CO
- Art. 143 CO
- Art. 144 CO
- Art. 145 CO
- Art. 146 CO
- Art. 147 CO
- Art. 148 CO
- Art. 149 CO
- Art. 150 CO
- Art. 701 CO
- Art. 715 CO
- Art. 715a CO
- Art. 734f CO
- Art. 785 CO
- Art. 786 CO
- Art. 787 CO
- Art. 788 CO
- Transitional provisions to the revision of the Stock Corporation Act of June 19, 2020
- Art. 808c CO
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- Art. 2 PRA
- Art. 3 PRA
- Art. 4 PRA
- Art. 6 PRA
- Art. 10 PRA
- Art. 10a PRA
- Art. 11 PRA
- Art. 12 PRA
- Art. 13 PRA
- Art. 14 PRA
- Art. 15 PRA
- Art. 16 PRA
- Art. 17 PRA
- Art. 19 PRA
- Art. 20 PRA
- Art. 21 PRA
- Art. 22 PRA
- Art. 23 PRA
- Art. 24 PRA
- Art. 25 PRA
- Art. 26 PRA
- Art. 27 PRA
- Art. 29 PRA
- Art. 30 PRA
- Art. 31 PRA
- Art. 32 PRA
- Art. 32a PRA
- Art. 33 PRA
- Art. 34 PRA
- Art. 35 PRA
- Art. 36 PRA
- Art. 37 PRA
- Art. 38 PRA
- Art. 39 PRA
- Art. 40 PRA
- Art. 41 PRA
- Art. 42 PRA
- Art. 43 PRA
- Art. 44 PRA
- Art. 45 PRA
- Art. 46 PRA
- Art. 47 PRA
- Art. 48 PRA
- Art. 49 PRA
- Art. 50 PRA
- Art. 51 PRA
- Art. 52 PRA
- Art. 53 PRA
- Art. 54 PRA
- Art. 55 PRA
- Art. 56 PRA
- Art. 57 PRA
- Art. 58 PRA
- Art. 59a PRA
- Art. 59b PRA
- Art. 59c PRA
- Art. 62 PRA
- Art. 63 PRA
- Art. 67 PRA
- Art. 67a PRA
- Art. 67b PRA
- Art. 73 PRA
- Art. 73a PRA
- Art. 75 PRA
- Art. 75a PRA
- Art. 76 PRA
- Art. 76a PRA
- Art. 90 PRA
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- Vorb. zu Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 2 FADP
- Art. 3 FADP
- Art. 5 lit. d FADP
- Art. 5 lit. f und g FADP
- Art. 6 para. 3-5 FADP
- Art. 6 Abs. 6 and 7 FADP
- Art. 7 FADP
- Art. 10 FADP
- Art. 11 FADP
- Art. 12 FADP
- Art. 14 FADP
- Art. 15 FADP
- Art. 19 FADP
- Art. 20 FADP
- Art. 22 FADP
- Art. 23 FADP
- Art. 25 FADP
- Art. 26 FADP
- Art. 27 FADP
- Art. 31 para. 2 lit. e FADP
- Art. 33 FADP
- Art. 34 FADP
- Art. 35 FADP
- Art. 38 FADP
- Art. 39 FADP
- Art. 40 FADP
- Art. 41 FADP
- Art. 42 FADP
- Art. 43 FADP
- Art. 44 FADP
- Art. 44a FADP
- Art. 45 FADP
- Art. 46 FADP
- Art. 47 FADP
- Art. 47a FADP
- Art. 48 FADP
- Art. 49 FADP
- Art. 50 FADP
- Art. 51 FADP
- Art. 54 FADP
- Art. 57 FADP
- Art. 58 FADP
- Art. 60 FADP
- Art. 61 FADP
- Art. 62 FADP
- Art. 63 FADP
- Art. 64 FADP
- Art. 65 FADP
- Art. 66 FADP
- Art. 67 FADP
- Art. 69 FADP
- Art. 72 FADP
- Art. 72a FADP
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- Art. 2 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 3 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 4 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 5 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 6 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 7 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 8 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 9 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 11 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 12 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 25 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 29 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 32 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 33 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 34 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
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- Art. 2 para. 1 AMLA
- Art. 2a para. 1-2 and 4-5 AMLA
- Art. 3 AMLA
- Art. 7a AMLA
- Art. 8 AMLA
- Art. 8a AMLA
- Art. 14 AMLA
- Art. 15 AMLA
- Art. 20 AMLA
- Art. 23 AMLA
- Art. 24 AMLA
- Art. 24a AMLA
- Art. 25 AMLA
- Art. 26 AMLA
- Art. 26a AMLA
- Art. 27 AMLA
- Art. 28 AMLA
- Art. 29 AMLA
- Art. 29b AMLA
- Art. 30 AMLA
- Art. 31 AMLA
- Art. 31a AMLA
- Art. 32 AMLA
- Art. 38 AMLA
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
MEDICAL DEVICES ORDINANCE
CODE OF OBLIGATIONS
FEDERAL LAW ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
LUGANO CONVENTION
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON POLITICAL RIGHTS
CIVIL CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON CARTELS AND OTHER RESTRAINTS OF COMPETITION
FEDERAL ACT ON INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
DEBT ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON DATA PROTECTION
SWISS CRIMINAL CODE
CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
COMMERCIAL REGISTER ORDINANCE
FEDERAL ACT ON COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING AND TERRORIST FINANCING
- I. The Principle: Freedom of Form
- II. Types of Formal Requirements
- III. Extent of Formal Requirements
- IV. Legal effects
- V. International Private Law
- Bibliography
I. The Principle: Freedom of Form
1 In accordance with the general principle of freedom of contract, Art. 11 para. 1 CO establishes the freedom of form as the default rule. Contracts, therefore, only (but still) require a special form if such form is expressly required by (federal) law.
2 Formal requirements have multiple purposes.
3 If for the validity of a legal act a specific form is required, the parties have to comply with the formal requirement irrespective of whether its purpose (as described above) is otherwise guaranteed in the case at hand. Adherence to the formal requirements is to be assessed and examined separately and independently of the substantive validity of the legal act and its interpretation.
4 Statutory formal requirements are to be interpreted narrowly based on the principle of favor negotii.
II. Types of Formal Requirements
A. Simple Written Form
5 Simple written form (“einfache Schriftlichkeit”, “forme écrite simple”) is the mildest of all formal requirements. It is required that the declarations of intent are made in writing on a physical object of any kind or at least that the declaration is recorded in a way that allows permanent, unchanged reproduction in the form of text.
6 Further specific requirements are set out in an exhaustive manner in Art. 12-15 CO.
B. Qualified Written Form
7 Qualified written form ("qualifizierte Schriftlichkeit", “forme écrite qualifiée”) necessitates to observe additional formal or contextual requirements such as the signature in manuscript of an entire text (e.g. in case of a testament, Art. 505 para. 1 CC) or the requirement to use specific forms provided by the authorities (e.g. when terminating residential or commercial leases, Art. 266l para. 2 and Art. 269d CO).
C. Public Certification
8 Public certification or notarisation ("öffentliche Beurkundung", “forme authentique”) is the strictest formal requirement. The parties' agreement (or the legal act) has to be recorded by a person officially entrusted with this task by the state (e.g. a judicial or administrative authority or a notary public) pursuant to the applicable procedures.
9 This formal requirement usually applies whenever the legal act is the basis for a (mandatory) entry in public registers (e.g. for real estate transactions) or is particularly sensitive (e.g. for marital agreements or contracts of succession).
10 It is not federal but cantonal law that regulates the manner in which public deeds are drawn up in their territory (Art. 55 para. 1 of the final title of the CC).
III. Extent of Formal Requirements
11 The extent to which formal requirements apply is governed by federal law.
12 Whereas the law in some cases extends the formal requirements to a specific legal act as a whole (e.g. for the sale of immovable property, which is subject to public certification pursuant to Art. 216 para. 1 CO), formal requirements may also only affect certain parts/clauses typically included in a broader contractual framework (e.g. non-competition clauses within employment contracts, cf. Art. 340 para. 1 CO
13 That being said, only the so called objectively or subjectively essential parts of an agreement (essentialia negotii) are subject to formal requirements.
14 Formal requirements also apply to amendments of the main contract (cf. Art. 12 CO) and may even extend to ancillary agreements, if such agreements are linked to the main contract.
IV. Legal effects
A. In General
15 Compliance with the formal requirements of simple or qualified written form does not lead to an increased probative value. No conclusions as to the accuracy of the document's content or to the authenticity of the signatures can be drawn on the basis of this circumstance alone.
16 However, pursuant to Art. 9 CC, public deeds constitute full proof of the facts evidenced by them, unless their content is shown to be incorrect.
B. In case of Failure to Comply with Form Requirements
17 Legal acts or contracts which fail to meet applicable formal requirements
18 According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court invalidity means nullity. Such nullity has to be taken into account ex officio and may be invoked at any time (without becoming time-barred) and also by third parties which are not directly involved in the invalid legal relationship.
19 If only certain parts of a contract fail to meet formal requirements, partial nullity may be assumed in analogous application of Art. 20 para. 2 CO (except if the parties would not have entered into the agreement at all without the invalid part).
20 If a contract is (irreversibly) invalid due to non-compliance with the formal requirements, no party can request performance or claim compensation (except for special cases such as culpa in contrahendo)
21 However, should both parties have fulfilled their obligations under the contract despite it being invalid (and in full knowledge thereof
22 Finally, if a formally invalid legal act meets all the requirements of another type of contract, it may, in some cases,
V. International Private Law
23 Pursuant to the general rule of Art. 124 PILA,
Bibliography
Bucher Eugen, Schweizerisches Obligationenrecht, Allgemeiner Teil, 1988.
Gauch Peter/Schluep Walter R./Schmid Jörg, OR AT, Schweizerisches Obligationenrecht Allgemeiner Teil, vol. I, 11. Edition, 2020.
Gauch Peter/Stöckli Hubert: Präjudizienbuch OR, die Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts (1875-2020), 10. Edition, 2021 (cit. [Author], Präjudizienbuch).
Honsell Heinrich (ed.), Kurzkommentar Obligationenrecht, 2014 (cit. KUKO OR-[Author]).
Furrer Andreas/Schnyder Anton K. (eds.), Handkommentar zum Schweizer Privatrecht, Obligationenrecht, Allgemeine Bestimmungen, 3. Edition, 2016 (cit. CHK-[Author]).
Müller Christoph, in: Obligationenrecht, Allgemeine Bestimmungen, Art. 1-18 CO (…), 2018 (cit.: BK-Müller).
Tercier Pierre/Pichonnaz Pascal, Le droit des obligations, 6. Edition, 2019.
Thevenoz Luc/Werro Franz (eds.), Commentaire romand, Code des obligations I, 3. Edition, 2021 (cit. CR CO I-[Author]).
Widmer Lüchinger Corinne/Oser David (eds.), Basler Kommentar, Obligationenrecht I, 7. Edition, 2020 (cit. BSK OR I-[Author]).