Justice Federal Court approves request for revision of asbestos ruling
The Glarus High Court must re-examine the Jann-Zwicker asbestos case. The Federal Supreme Court has approved the request of the surviving dependants to revise its decision. The European Court of Human Rights had condemned Switzerland in 2024.
10.03.2025, 12:00
SDA
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) criticized the lack of a guarantee of access to a judicial assessment of the case. The Swiss courts had ruled that the absolute statute of limitations had expired and that there was therefore no entitlement to compensation. Under the old law, the time limit was ten years; now it is 20 years.
In its ruling, the ECtHR criticized the date on which the time limit began to run. The Federal Supreme Court has now ruled that the lower court must examine the relative limitation period. This period begins when the damage is established. Under the old law, you had one year to assert claims in court; now it is three years. Under the old and new law, the present case would be time-barred. This now needs to be resolved.
