Beschwerde · appeal
An appeal is the remedy that brings a decision before a higher authority, ultimately the Federal Supreme Court. In Swiss Italian it is called ricorso, and the court is the Tribunale federale. Fedlex has no English version of the Federal Supreme Court Act: appeal is the usual rendering, and complaint would mislead, since in English it starts a civil action.
Request a demoThe term in four languages
- German
- Beschwerde
- French
- recours
- Italian
- ricorso
- English
- appeal
Definition
An appeal is the remedy by which a party challenges a decision before a higher authority. Before the Federal Supreme Court, the law distinguishes in particular between the appeal in civil matters, the appeal in criminal matters and the appeal in public law matters. Each has its own admissibility requirements. As a rule, an appeal lies against decisions of the last cantonal instance.
Swiss federal acts are published in German, French and Italian, and all three versions are equally authoritative. The English term shown here comes from the Federal Administration's English translation, published on Fedlex for information only. Where there is no translation, it follows common usage.
Full glossaryThe term in an official text
powered by Neur.onDas Bundesgericht beurteilt Beschwerden gegen Entscheide in Zivilsachen.
Le Tribunal fédéral connaît des recours contre les décisions rendues en matière civile.
Source: Fedlex (German text), Federal Supreme Court Act. In Corrext, this segment and the ones around it appear in Fast lookup CHnell, each with its reference.
Related terms
The private tribunal chosen by the parties to decide a dispute.
Strafbefehl · summary penalty orderThe public prosecutor's decision that convicts the accused without a full trial.
Verfügung · rulingThe act by which an authority decides an individual case under public law.