Value in Dispute Calculation for Conciliation Authority Competence

In a dispute concerning a rent reduction and inconvenience compensation, the court addressed whether a pre-litigation compensation offer by the opposing party should be deducted when calculating the value in dispute for determining the conciliation authority's competence under Article 212 (1) of the Civil Procedure Code. The court reasoned, based on Article 91 (1) of the Code, that the value in dispute is determined by the relief sought, and a compensation amount offered by the counterparty before the proceedings cannot be subtracted from the total claim when calculating this value unless it had already been paid. Therefore, since the plaintiffs' calculated claim for rent reduction exceeded the stipulated limit of 2,000 Swiss Francs, the conciliation authority exceeded its competence, leading to the annulment of its decision and remittal for issuance of a certificate of inadmissibility.