Therapy order and consent

An order for therapy and consent concerns a typical question 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 their own findings. An application does not yet prove the factual prerequisites it asserts. Conversely, a relevant, substantiated fact must not be disregarded solely because it was submitted by a party.

In family law, the child’s best interests are central in matters concerning children. At the same time, procedural guarantees apply, such as the right to be heard, access to case files, comprehensible reasoning and an appropriate assessment of evidence. 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 administrative action, a judicial finding or an editorial classification.

For those affected it is regularly crucial to keep their own chronology completely, to retain filings and notifications, and to pay attention to clear motions. Where the factual situation changes, it must be examined whether new facts can still be introduced in the ongoing proceedings and which remedies are available.

Therapy order and consent

Further reading