If a creditor has a document in which the debtor confirms the existence of a claim with his signature, he can apply for provisional legal opening if the debtor raises an objection to the debt enforcement proceedings. The law stipulates that a debtor can file an action with the ordinary court to have the creditor’s claim cancelled 20 days after receiving the provisional decision to open legal proceedings.

The Federal Supreme Court (judgement 4A_61/2023 of 25 June 2024) recently had to deal with the question of when this time limit begins if the decision of the judge opening legal proceedings is only unfounded and the reasons are provided at a later date. In civil proceedings, an appeal period usually only begins when a party has a reasoned decision in its hands so that it can deal with the court’s considerations. However, the Federal Supreme Court came to the opposite conclusion for the present constellation.

It was essential that the action for revocation does not constitute a continuation of the legal proceedings. Accordingly, the grounds for the decision to open legal proceedings are not required in order to be able to put forward one’s arguments in the action for revocation. This is certainly true. However, the proceedings are not completely independent of each other. For example, the interest in an action for revocation only exists after the provisional legal opening has been granted. In addition, if an action for cancellation is not filed or is dismissed, the legal opening becomes definitive. However, this interdependence is not sufficient to disregard the need for a speedy procedure. For this reason, the 20-day period begins as soon as the unfounded decision to open legal proceedings is served.