The new franc law. Experts are worried about one thing

August 7, i.e. tomorrow the Swiss franc law enters into force. Its goal is to speed up court proceedings and finally end long-term lawsuits between Swiss franc borrowers and banks.

Swiss franc law from Friday. What will change?

As Dziennik Gazeta Prawna writes, the most important change for borrowers is the introduction of an automatic suspension of the obligation to repay loan installments upon delivery of the lawsuit to the bank until the final conclusion of the proceedings. The solution will operate by operation of law and will not require a separate court decision.

The new regulations expand the possibility of hearing cases at closed sessions, conducting remote hearings of witnesses and giving written testimony by the parties. If the lawsuit or appeal is withdrawn, the proceedings may be discontinued by the court clerk.

The Act also provides that the bank will be able to bring a counterclaim until the end of the proceedings before the court of first instance. Thanks to this, the claims of the borrower and the bank will be able to be examined in one process and resolved in one judgment. This is to reduce the need to conduct two separate court proceedings – one brought by the borrower and the other related to the bank’s claims.

New regulations late? Experts fear a slowdown

According to lawyers, the law is overdue. In their opinion, in the initial period of operation of the regulations, not only will the proceedings not be accelerated, but they will even slow down, which is related to the fact that the courts will have to learn how to apply the new regulations.

– This bill is overdue. It enters into force when the system is operational. Judges know how to conduct Swiss franc cases, and the delay results primarily from the huge number of lawsuits, and not from the fact that individual cases are heard for too long –Karolina Pilawska, lawyer and partner at PZ Adwokaci, representing Swiss franc borrowers, says in an interview with the daily, adding that adapting to the new rules will take time.

Experts accuse the government of missing the best moment to introduce new regulations. They remind us that the landmark judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (case Dziubak v. Raiffeisen Bank, no. C-260/18), which triggered an avalanche of lawsuits against banks, was issued almost seven years ago.

Lawyers also criticize the fact that the law only applies to loans linked to the Swiss franc. However, it does not include those in euro, dollars or yen, which also go to the same judicial departments. – Court departments relieved of Swiss franc cases may, within a few quarters, be filled with proceedings relating to other loans for which the law does not provide any tools. The exchange rate conversion mechanism is similar in these contracts and was also unilaterally determined by the bank – warns Wojciech Bochenek, legal advisor, partner of Bochenek i Wspólnicy Kancelaria Radców Prawnych Spółka Komandytowa

Experts consider the main advantage of the new regulations to be that they simplify the justification of judgments. – Instead of essays of several dozen pages (sometimes taking up the entire working day), judges will be able to take a break and write several or even more short justifications in one day. It is enough for them to refer to the parties’ positions contained in the pleadings and to cite the legal provisions on which the judgment is based. This could be a milestone – convinces Tomasz Konieczny, legal advisor, partner at KPP.