With Order of March 18, 2020 The Federal Council declared a legal standstill for the first time pursuant to Art. 62 of the Debt Collection Act (SchKG), starting at 19:2020 a.m. on March 07, 00, until April 4, 2020. Since there are already debt enforcement holidays from April 5 to April 19, 2020, the legal standstill will therefore last until April 19, 2020 (cf. Art. 56, paragraph 2 of the Debt Collection Act). Debt enforcement holidays and legal standstills cannot prevent the suspension of deadlines. However, if the end of a deadline falls during the legal standstill, the deadline is extended until the third day after the expiration of the legal standstill or the debt enforcement holidays, in this case until April 22, 2020 (cf. Art. 63 of the Debt Collection Act). The provisions on closed periods, debt enforcement holidays, and legal standstill pursuant to Art. 56 et seq. of the Debt Collection Act are aimed at Debt enforcement officials and all other authorities who have a decisive influence on the course of the debt enforcement. The enforcement authorities therefore also include Bankruptcy officials, bankruptcy and bankruptcy judges, and their regulators. It is essential that enforcement actions are prohibited during this period. In BGE 115 III 6 E. 5, the Federal Supreme Court defined enforcement actions as "all actions of the enforcement authorities - prosecution and bankruptcy officials, supervisory authorities, court opening and bankruptcy judges - aimed at the initiation or continuation of proceedings aimed at satisfying the creditor by way of execution from the debtor's assets, and which interfere with the legal position of the debtor (...).» In order to examine whether a particular measure constitutes an enforcement action, it must be asked whether the debt enforcement falls within a advanceds Stadium The central question is therefore whether an action brings the creditor/enforcer closer to his goal (cf. BGE 115 III 6 E.5 and BGE 121 III 284 E. 2a). If an enforcement action is undertaken during the enforcement holidays or during the legal standstill, the effectiveness of the untimely enforcement action is postponed – except in cases of nullity and contestability. Accordingly, the enforcement action is deemed to have been undertaken on the first day after the expiration of the legal standstill. Due to this temporal component, however, the action is neither void nor contestable. The following are not to be counted as enforcement actions: request of the creditor, such as a request for enforcement proceedings or a request for legal relief. While the issuance of the payment order by the debt enforcement office does not constitute an enforcement action, the payment order may not be served on the debtor during a legal standstill or a debt enforcement holiday (cf. Art. 69 para. 1 SchKG and Art. 71 para. 1 SchKG). This also prevents the debt enforcement offices from becoming suddenly overloaded after the legal standstill has expired, because the incoming debt enforcement requests mean they can process the payment orders to the extent that they only need to be served. The issuance of a certificate of loss and attachment proceedings also do not constitute enforcement actions. Ultimately, the ordered legal standstill does not change the existence of the debt claims. In particular, the legal standstill does not suspend the accrual of interest.
