Are there specialist courts in Switzerland to which competition law cases are assigned?
Civil competition actions are assigned to the normal civil courts and commercial courts respectively (if any). As every Swiss Canton is competent to establish its courts, the court before which civil competition actions have to be brought is assigned by Cantonal law. However, federal law requires that there is only one single court in each Canton which handles competition cases. Usually, the Cantonal rules assign civil competition actions to a higher Cantonal court. Some Cantons (Zurich, Berne, Aargau, St. Gallen) have established special courts for commercial matters whose judges have special knowledge with respect to commercial matters. These commercial courts are also the competent courts for civil competition actions. However, they are not specialised in competition law cases only, but more generally in commercial matters, including e.g. intellectual property. 1.5 Who has standing to bring an action for breach of competition law and what are the available mechanisms for multiple cl
