Federal Act
on the Amendment of the Swiss Civil Code
(Part Five: The Code of Obligations)

¹ Un­der a con­tract of surety, the surety un­der­takes as against the cred­it­or of the prin­cip­al debt­or to vouch for per­form­ance of the ob­lig­a­tion.

² A con­tract of surety pre­sup­poses the ex­ist­ence of a val­id primary ob­lig­a­tion. A fu­ture or con­di­tion­al ob­lig­a­tion may be guar­an­teed by means of a con­tract of surety provided that the primary ob­lig­a­tion takes ef­fect.

³ A per­son stand­ing surety for per­form­ance of an ob­lig­a­tion res­ult­ing from a con­tract that is not bind­ing on the prin­cip­al debt­or as a res­ult of er­ror or in­ca­pa­city to make a con­tract is li­able for such ob­lig­a­tion, sub­ject to the con­di­tions and doc­trines of the law gov­ern­ing surety, if he was aware of the de­fect viti­at­ing the con­tract at the time he gave his com­mit­ment. The same ap­plies to any per­son who stands surety for per­form­ance of an ob­lig­a­tion that is time-barred for the prin­cip­al debt­or.

⁴ Un­less the law provides oth­er­wise, the surety may not waive in ad­vance the rights con­ferred on him un­der this Title.