The Use of English Before Swiss Courts: The Current Debate

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum in 2016 and the withdrawal of the UK from the EU on 31 January 2020, several jurisdictions established so-called «international commercial courts», at which English is the standard language. Thus far, there have been few such initiatives in Switzerland. However, according to the ongoing revisions to both the Federal Act on International Private Law and the Swiss Civil Procedure Code, it is intended to allow the use of English in certain situations. Unsurprisingly, this has given rise to a wideranging debate in multilingual Switzerland. The present contribution outlines this discussion and proposes several practical solutions on how to deal with this delicate political issue.