The wider court landscape of Zurich

The Obergericht

The Obergericht of the Canton of Zurich is the canton’s highest court in civil and criminal matters. Apart from the Commercial Court it comprises two civil chambers, which hear appeals against the district courts, and three criminal chambers, of which two decide criminal appeals and the third hears complaints, with the compulsory measures court attached to it.¹ For the financial centre the civil chambers matter as appeal courts in banking disputes involving private clients, in inheritance and trust litigation and in enforcement matters. The Obergericht is also the Zurich juge d’appui for domestic arbitration. Under the Zurich implementing rules it decides applications concerning the appointment and challenge of arbitrators and related matters under Article 356(1) and (2)(a)–(b) CPC, while the single judge of the district court handles the assistance measures under Article 356(2)(c).²

The district courts, the rent courts and the justices of the peace

At first instance, civil justice in the canton is administered by twelve district courts, the Bezirksgerichte. In 2024 they received 48,061 civil and 7,839 criminal cases, figures that illustrate the volume of ordinary litigation behind the specialised work of the Commercial Court.³ The district court of Zurich, the largest of them, hears the commercial disputes that fall outside the Commercial Court’s jurisdiction, for example claims by private clients against their banks, and most matters concerning debt enforcement, including applications to set aside an objection to a payment order and attachment orders. A rent court is attached to each district court and decides disputes under the law of tenancy. Its role in the financial centre is indirect but real, since commercial leases of office space in the city centre generate a steady flow of litigation.⁴ Labour courts, also attached to the district courts, decide employment disputes, including those of bankers and asset managers over bonuses and dismissals.⁵

Before most civil actions can be filed, federal law requires an attempt at conciliation. In the canton of Zurich this task falls in most matters to the justices of the peace, the Friedensrichter, whose 164 offices serve the 160 municipalities of the canton.⁶ The office of the justice of the peace remains a distinctive feature of Swiss procedure. For international commercial disputes the conciliation stage has become less relevant since 2025, because proceedings before the commercial courts no longer require it and parties to larger disputes may waive it by agreement.

Notes

1. Obergericht des Kantons Zürich, Rechenschaftsbericht 2024, https://www.gerichte-zh.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/obergericht/Rechenschaftsberichte/Rechenschaftsbericht_2024/RB2024.pdf. ↩
2. Delos Dispute Resolution, Guide to Arbitration Places (GAP), 2nd edn. 2024, chapter “Switzerland”, https://lk-k.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Delos-GAP-2nd-edn-Switzerland.pdf, section on competent courts in Zurich. ↩
3. Obergericht des Kantons Zürich, Rechenschaftsbericht 2024, loc. cit. ↩
4. Obergericht des Kantons Zürich, Rechenschaftsbericht 2024, loc. cit. (one Mietgericht attached to each district court). Since 1 January 2025 disputes concerning residential and agricultural leases are expressly excluded from the commercial courts by Art. 6 para. 2 CPC. ↩
5. Zurich GOG (LS 211.1), § 3 para. 1 lit. a (“In jedem Bezirk ein Bezirksgericht mit Arbeits-, Miet- und Jugendgericht”) and § 15 on the composition of the labour court, text as reproduced by humanrights.ch, https://www.humanrights.ch/cms/upload/pdf/2020/200806_GOG_ZH.pdf. ↩
6. Obergericht des Kantons Zürich, Rechenschaftsbericht 2024, loc. cit. (164 Friedensrichterämter in 160 municipalities). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.