# Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) (178.100) **Jurisdiction:** CH-TI **Canonical URL:** https://legislator.ch/en/law/ch/ti/178.100/178-100-law-on-procedure-for-cases-before-the-cantonal-insurance-court-lptca **Official Source:** https://m3.ti.ch/CAN/RLeggi/public/index.php/raccolta-leggi/legge/num/161 ## Provisions ### Art. 1 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The Cantonal Insurance Court, as a sole instance, adjudicates appeals concerning federal social insurance matters within the meaning of Article 57 of the Federal Law on the General Part of Social Insurance Law (hereinafter referred to as LPGA) and actions relating to occupational provident schemes. 2 It also adjudicates other disputes based on federal law and cantonal law, which are attributed to it by individual statutes. 3 The appeal must be filed within 30 days of the notification of the decision. ### Art. 2 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) The appeal may also be lodged if the insurer or the competent authority, despite the insured's application, does not issue a decision or a decision on an objection or a complaint. ### Article 3 of the Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) The appeal application must be drafted in Italian and contain a) a copy of the contested decision; b) a concise statement of the facts; c) a brief statement of reasons; d) the conclusions of the appellant. Delegated judge ### Art. 4 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The Judge Delegate immediately examines the appeal and is competent to dismiss it if it is late or inadmissible. 2 He decides on appropriate provisional measures to safeguard the factual situation. 3 If the appeal does not meet the requirements established by art. 3, the Judge Delegate returns it to the appellant for completion, assigning a term of 15 days and warning that in case of non-compliance, the Court will not proceed to the merits. ### **Art. 5 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca)** 1. Immediately after examining the appeal or after it has been completed and returned to the Court, the Delegated Judge shall transmit a copy thereof to the administrative authority that issued the challenged decision, setting a deadline of 20 days for the submission of the reply, to which the complete file must be attached. 2. The reply must be drafted in accordance with the requirements prescribed for the appeal. ### Art. 6 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The administrative authority may, until it dispatches its reply, re-examine the contested decision. 2 It shall immediately notify the parties of a new decision and communicate it to the Tribunal. 3 The latter shall continue to hear the appeal insofar as it has not become moot as a result of the new decision; if the new decision is based on significantly different factual or legal elements, the Reporting Judge shall grant the appellant a period of 10 days to take a position. ### Art. 7 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The administrative authority must state all its objections, whether procedural or substantive, in the response document, with the exception of those otherwise regulated at the federal level. 2 The delegated judge may request the appellant to formulate their observations on the procedural or substantive objections raised. ### Art. 8 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) The Delegated Judge may exceptionally order a further exchange of pleadings. Notification of new means of proof ### Art. 9 Lptca Law of Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) The reply brief and any subsequent attachments exceptionally produced are transmitted to the parties, with an assignment of a 10-day period for the notification of means of proof not previously indicated. Consultation of the case file ### Art. 10 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Social Security Court (Lptca) The parties have the right to consult the case files, provided that overriding private interests are protected. ### Art. 11 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) The terms established by law or by authority in days or months do not run a) from the seventh day preceding Easter to the seventh day following Easter inclusive; b) from July 15th to August 15th inclusive; c) from December 18th to January 2nd inclusive. Observance of terms ### Art. 12 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 If a party applies to an incompetent court or administrative authority in due time, the deadline is considered to have been met. 2 The authority that considers itself incompetent must promptly forward the appeal to the Cantonal Insurance Court. ### **Art. 13 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca)** 1 The statutory deadline cannot be extended. 2 The deadline set by the Court may be extended if sufficient grounds exist and if the party requests it before its expiry. 3 The deadline for filing a defense may be extended only once following a reasoned request from the administrative authority. 4 After a deadline fixed in application of this law has expired, the Judge-delegate shall assign a final peremptory deadline; he shall simultaneously stipulate the consequences in case of non-compliance. ### Art. 14 Lptca Procedural Law for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) If the applicant or their representative was prevented, through no fault of their own, from acting within the prescribed deadline, the deadline shall be reinstated, provided that the interested party requests it, stating the reasons, within 30 days from the cessation of the impediment. ### Art. 15 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The procedure before the Court is simple, swift and, as a rule, public. 2 Hearings are public, except in cases where the Judge, ex officio or upon request of a party, deems it necessary to proceed in camera for justified reasons. Evidence. Admissions. ### Art. 16 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1. The Court shall ascertain ex officio, with the cooperation of the parties, the facts relevant to the resolution of the dispute, shall take the necessary evidence and shall freely evaluate it. 2. The Delegated Judge shall direct the preliminary investigation; he shall have the power to resort to means of evidence not indicated by the parties or to waive the taking of means of evidence that the parties have notified. ### Art. 17 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Social Security Court (Lptca) 1 If circumstances justify it, the Judge summons the parties for a hearing. 2 The Cantonal Insurance Court may waive holding an explicitly requested hearing if justified by the circumstances. 3 The hearing of witnesses and experts must be conducted in the presence of the parties. Judicial Expert Opinions ### Art. 18 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1. The Delegated Judge, ex officio or upon request of a party, decides whether an expert appraisal should be ordered and designates the expert or experts. 2. He notifies the parties of the name, and they may challenge the expert for well-founded reasons and submit counter-proposals. 3. The Delegated Judge invites the parties to propose the expert questions within a period of 20 days. 4. He submits, by order, to the expert the questions formulated directly by him and those proposed by the parties, with the exclusion of questions that appear manifestly useless for the resolution of the dispute. ### Art. 19 Lptca Procedural Law for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1. On every finding relevant to the outcome of the dispute made by the Tribunal, the parties have the right to formulate observations. 2. On every relevant document produced by one party, the counterparty has the right to formulate observations. ### Art. 20 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The conclusions of the parties do not bind the Tribunal, which may reform the challenged decision to the detriment of the appellant or grant them more than they have requested. 2 If the Tribunal intends to modify a decision to the detriment of the appellant, it grants them a period of 10 days to express themselves and to decide whether to maintain or withdraw the appeal; if it intends to grant them more than they have requested, it must give the opposing party the opportunity to express themselves on the matter. ### Art. 21 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) The parties and the public may not attend the deliberations of the Court. ### Art. 22 Lptca Law of Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Social Insurance Court (Lptca) The judgment, reasoned and indicating the legal remedies and the names of the members of the Tribunal, shall be communicated in writing to the parties, to any interested third parties, and to the competent federal and cantonal offices. ### Art. 23 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 Disputes concerning benefits subject to the LPGA and other disputes not subject to the LPGA may be settled by judicial transaction. 2 The Tribunal must examine the conformity of the transaction with the factual and legal situation; if it homologates the transaction, it issues a decision of removal from the register. 3 The decision of removal from the register, even if not reasoned, must contain an indication of the legal remedies and state that there are no obstacles to the approval of the agreement. ### Art. 24 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases Before the Cantonal Social Security Court (Lptca) Against decisions of the Cantonal Social Security Court, revision is permitted a) if new facts or new means of proof have been discovered; b) if a crime or an offense has influenced the judgment. ### Art. 25 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The application for revision, specifying the grounds and means of proof, must be submitted within a maximum period of 90 days from the date on which the new circumstances provided for by letters a) and b) of art. 24 became known; in the case of art. 24 letter a), the application for revision must also be filed within 10 years from the notification of the judgment. 2 The form is that established by art. 3; the procedure prescribed by this law applies. ### Art. 26 Lptca Act on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The deciding authority may order, ex officio or upon application by a party, the joinder of third parties who have a legitimate interest in the outcome of the proceedings. 2 The third party joined in the proceedings may exercise the rights pertaining to the parties, and the judgment is in any case enforceable against them. 3 Intervention in the proceedings is excluded. ### Art. 27 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 Parties may be represented, unless they are required to act personally, or they may be assisted by legal counsel. **2 The representative must prove their powers by means of a written power of attorney.** ### Art. 28 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 When the Judge believes that the person is not capable of bringing and discussing their case with the necessary clarity, they shall order them to obtain legal representation within a short period, with the warning of the designation of an ex officio counsel. 2 The rules governing ex officio defense and legal aid are governed by the law on ex officio representation and judicial assistance, with Article 30 para. 2 of the present law to be applied by analogy being reserved. ### Art. 29 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The procedure is free of charge for the parties. 2 The appeal procedure concerning disputes relating to the granting or refusal of disability insurance benefits is subject to costs; the amount of the costs is determined between CHF 200 and CHF 1,000, depending on the procedural costs and without regard to the value in dispute. 3 The party who causes the action through levity or reckless conduct shall be charged the court fee and procedural costs. 4 In other cases, the court fee, when due, is set between CHF 200 and CHF 1,000. [1] [1] Para. introduced by Law of 30.11.2010; in force since 1.1.2011 - BU 2011, 42. ### Art. 30 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) 1 The prevailing plaintiff is entitled to reimbursement of the party costs at the amount determined by the Court. 2 The amount of the party costs is determined in relation to the importance of the dispute and the complexity of the proceedings, without taking into account the value in dispute. 3 Social insurers and authorities prevailing in a lawsuit are not entitled to party costs, unless the procedural conduct of the opposing party proves to be vexatious or if the latter has acted negligently. Subsidiary law ### Art. 31 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) To the extent not established by the present law, the provisions of the Federal Law on the General Part of Social Insurance Law, the federal laws regulating individual matters, and, subsidiarily, the cantonal law of procedure for administrative cases shall apply. ### Art. 32 Lptca Law of Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) Disputes initiated under the regime of the prior procedure remain governed by the latter. Repealing provision ### Art. 33 Lptca Law on Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) This law repeals the Code of Procedure for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court of April 6, 1961. Entry into force ### Art. 34 Lptca Procedural Law for Cases before the Cantonal Insurance Court (Lptca) After the expiry of the time limits for the exercise of the right to a referendum, the present law, with its appendix, shall be published in the Official Bulletin of Laws and Executive Acts. The Council of State shall determine its date of entry into force. [2] Published in OB 2008, 513. [2] Entry into force: 1 October 2008 – OB 2008, 513.