Ordinance of the High Court concerning attestation by municipal bailiffs

The municipal chief officers keep a register of certifications of signatures, copies, extracts, and data from private documents.

Only the registers of the Cantonal Print and Material Center may be used.

1 Every certification must be accompanied by the serial number of the register.

2 The certifications may only be handed out after their entry into the register.

II. Certification of Signatures and Hand Marks

1 Prerequisites and Execution of Attestations

are governed by the provisions of Articles 247–250 EG to the Civil Code4.

2 The attestation is inadmissible

a. for pencil signatures,

b. for signatures on guarantee declarations by natural persons with a liability amount exceeding 2000 Swiss Francs,

c. for signatures and photographs on documents that are likely to create a false impression regarding their significance.

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131.3

Attestations by Municipal Bailiffs

3 The conformity of the person depicted in a photograph with the person named in the document bearing the photograph may only be attested if the attesting person was present at the taking of the photograph themselves, or if this conformity can be established with absolute certainty from a comparison of the image and the person depicted.5

**1 Registration of Signatures and Hand Marks**

1. Anyone requesting the official authentication of a signature or a hand mark must enter their signature or hand mark in the authentication register.

2. If multiple authentications are requested simultaneously, a single control signature is sufficient.

3. If the identity of the person seeking authentication is proven by witnesses, these witnesses must also sign in the authentication register.

4. The signatures or hand marks can also be entered in a separate signature book belonging to the authentication register.

1 Where special circumstances justify it, the municipal president is authorized to exempt a person known to him from personal appearance and to allow the recognition of their signature and the signing in the authentication register to be carried out by an authorized person (§ 247 para. 2 EG zum ZGB4).5

2 The power of attorney must be officially certified and contain a declaration that the issuing person and, if applicable, the company as whose organ they act, shall bear all forms of misuse thereof themselves, waive the assertion of claims for damages against the state, municipality, and municipal president, and undertake to indemnify them against claims from third parties. These powers of attorney are to be kept with the files pertaining to the authentication register.5

3 The municipal president is authorized at any time to request a new power of attorney or to refuse the continued application of this procedure.

1 When authenticating the signature of a representative

of a sole proprietorship, a commercial company

or legal entity, the signatory shall only be named with their own personal details, and

by appropriate restrictions, the impression that the authentication

of the signature also certifies the authority to sign for

the company shall be avoided.

2

Authentications by the Municipal Mayors

131.3

2 This further certification shall only be carried out by the Municipal Mayor

if he is reliably informed about the latest status of the commercial register entry.

If other documents are presented as proof of the power of representation, this fact

shall be certified with an exact description of the documents without drawing any conclusions.

The documents shall be filed with the records of the authentication register.

1 The authentication of signatures is generally performed

according to the following formula

"The authenticity of the foregoing signature, executed in my presence

(... personally acknowledged ... acknowledged by the authorized representative NN...)

of NN, personally known to me

(or) of NN, who identified himself/herself by presenting a ... (description of

identification documents) ...

(or) of NN, whose identity was confirmed by NN, personally known to me, is hereby officially

attested."

Place, date, and signature.

2 To avoid misunderstandings, this formula should, where

appropriate, be supplemented by stating that the authentication of the

genuineness of the signature does not constitute a certification of the content of the document

and does not confirm the validity of the legal transaction. If

the signature to be authenticated is affixed to a blank paper,

the municipal clerk (Gemeindeammann) should mention this in the authentication.

III. Authentication of Copies and Excerpts

1 When authenticating copies and extracts from documents and

books, the procedure set out in §§ 248 and 249 EG zum ZGB4

must be followed.

2 Even photocopies submitted by the parties (due to the

possibility of photomontages) must be compared word for word

with the original document, like copies.

3 To avoid misunderstandings, the authentication formula should,

where appropriate, include a statement that the authentication of a

copy or an extract says nothing about the meaning and validity of

the original document.

4 Special reservations must be made if a copy of a document

written in pencil is submitted for authentication.

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131.3

IV. Securing the Date

Authentications by the Municipal Bailiffs

5 For securing the date of a private instrument, according to

This Ordinance shall enter into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette. It shall be included in the Collection of Laws.

4

1 OS 46, 658 and GS I, 91.

2 LS 131.1.

3 LS 211.1.

4 LS 230.

5 Version according to B of 25 September 2002 (OS 58, 146). In force since 1 August

2003.

6 Version according to B of 3 November 2010 (OS 65, 840; ABI 2010, 2525). In

force since 1 January 2011.

EG zum ZGB4 zu verfahren.

V. Final Provision