Denial of justice and undue delay of justice
Denial and delay of justice involve a typical issue of Swiss family and procedural law. For the legal assessment, what matters is not catchphrases or personal attributions but the established facts, the relevant legal basis and the concrete effects of the requested or ordered measure.
Courts must distinguish between parties' submissions, documented facts, evidence and the court's own findings. An application does not in itself prove its factual prerequisites. Conversely, a relevant, substantiated fact must not be disregarded solely because it was submitted by a party.
In family law, the child's welfare is at the centre in matters concerning children. At the same time, procedural guarantees such as the right to be heard, access to the files, a comprehensible justification and an appropriate assessment of the evidence apply. Interventions must be suitable, necessary and proportionate.
Good legal documentation therefore specifies the date, document type, author or official role, the content of the specific act and its procedural status. It avoids motives that are not substantiated and explicitly indicates whether something is a party’s allegation, an act by an authority, a judicial finding or an editorial classification.
For those affected, it is regularly crucial to keep a complete chronology of their case, to retain filings and served documents, and to ensure requests are clear. Where the facts change, it must be examined whether new facts can still be introduced in the ongoing proceedings and which remedies are available.
Further posts
Editorial expert article. Not individual legal advice. Prior to publication, the status of legislation and case law and the sources must be checked again.