Type of refusal
Non-enforcement with a counterparty in Switzerland
A judgment or award exists, but the counterparty in Switzerland has stopped paying, delivering, or complying with an order. This sits inside the broader non-enforcement pattern. Two facts are fixed by treaty status, not by choice. Switzerland applies the Lugano Convention regime for EU/EFTA judgments instead of Brussels Ia [N130], and it has not joined the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention [N131]. Everything else in this file depends on the paperwork on record.
Who is actually on the other side
Type O8 covers a counterparty that has a payment or delivery obligation and does not perform it. In Switzerland that counterparty is usually a registered legal entity, sometimes a branch of a foreign one, occasionally an individual acting through a personal account. The public commercial register shows legal form, registered seat, current signatories, and whether the entity is still active or has been struck off. It does not show pending disputes, frozen assets, or an informal restructuring already underway. A search there confirms the entity exists and who can legally bind it. It does not confirm that the entity can pay. General background on registration and status in Switzerland is covered on the Switzerland jurisdiction page.
What to secure before the counterparty reacts
Once a counterparty senses that non-performance is being treated as a legal matter, records move, accounts get restructured, and signatories change. Before that happens, take a few concrete steps. Collect the full paper trail in one place: the contract, any side letters, payment confirmations, and the correspondence in which performance was refused or went silent. Keep the originals, not just copies. Record the exact date performance was due and the exact date it was missed or refused, since both dates carry weight later. Identify every entity and individual who signed on the counterparty's side, not only the one named on the contract cover page.
If someone has already approached you offering to recover the funds for a fee, verify who they are before sending them anything. The page on checking a law firm's registration sets out what to look for.
Where a judgment would have to be enforced
Switzerland has not joined the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention [N131], so a judgment from a state outside that framework cannot rely on it here. Where the original decision comes from an EU or EFTA state, the Lugano Convention regime applies instead of Brussels Ia [N130]. Documents from a state party to the Apostille Convention are accepted with that certification, subject to the reservation Switzerland has declared, in force since 11 March 1973 [N404].
Direction changes the route. Enforcement running into Switzerland is covered on a separate page for that direction. The reverse movement, out of Switzerland into Portugal or into the UK, follows different regimes again, as does a file moving from the UAE into Switzerland. The general mechanics of cross-border recognition are set out on the enforcement and recognition service page. This firm does not work on a contingency fee, and its registration sits in the public record linked in the footer.