Federal Insurance Court

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Gotthard building , seat of the Federal Insurance Court

The Federal Insurance Court (EVG; French Tribunal fédéral des assurances , Italian Tribunale federale delle assicurazioni ) judged disputes in the field of social insurance in Lucerne from 1917 to 2006 . It had to give up its organizationally independent status as a special court on December 31, 2006 and was converted into the two social law departments of the Swiss Federal Court . These are still based in Lucerne.

history

The court began its work in Lucerne in 1917 and became the supreme judicial authority for disputes relating to social accident insurance and military insurance . The Lucerne location was chosen for practical reasons because the headquarters of the Swiss Accident Insurance Institute was also located there.

As early as 1918, over 1,000 complaints were received, more than two thirds of them from the field of military insurance . The peak of incoming complaints from the military insurance sector was reached in 1941 with more than 3,000 complaints, representing over 95 percent of all new cases. Until the end of the Second World War , the court was therefore mainly a military insurance court.

The expansion of social insurance after 1945 increased its position as the highest social insurance court in Switzerland. In quick succession, it became the final court for disputes arising from old-age and survivors' insurance (1948), from voluntary unemployment insurance and insolvency compensation (1952) through family allowances in agriculture (1953), and the income compensation scheme (1953). Disability insurance (1960), health insurance (1996) and supplementary benefits for old-age, survivors' and disability insurance were other insurance areas that were subject to the final court rulings. Finally, it became responsible for disputes arising from occupational pension schemes (1985) and maternity insurance (2005). From the mid-1960s onwards, the main burden of complaints was disputes relating to disability insurance.

The Federal Assembly elected two full-time and three part-time judges in 1917, and then five full-time judges from 1920. As of 1969 there were seven judges. In 1984 a woman was elected to the court for the first time. Most recently there were 11 judges.

The merger of the Federal Supreme Court and the Federal Insurance Court has been proposed time and again. In 2005, on the occasion of the deliberation on the new Federal Supreme Court Act , the Federal Assembly decided to merge the two courts organisationally, albeit spread over the two locations of Lausanne and Lucerne.

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