Decree No. 75 / 1959 Coll.
Declaration on the Convention between the Czech Republic and the Swiss Confederation on Social Security
Valid
Effective from 01.12.1959
75
Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs
of 9 November 1959
concerning the Convention between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Swiss Confederation on Social Security
On 4 June 1959, the Convention between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Swiss Confederation on Social Security was negotiated in Bern.
The President of the Republic ratified the Convention on 21 October 1959 and the instruments of ratification were exchanged in Prague on 28 October 1959.
Pursuant to Article 18 of the Convention, the Convention entered into force on 1 December 1959.
The Czech version of the Convention is published in the Annex to the Collection of Laws. *)
David v. r.
Annex to Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs No 75 / 1959 Coll., on the Convention between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Swiss Confederation on Social Security
CONVENTION
BETWEEN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND THE SWITZERLAND CONFEDERATION ON SOCIAL SECURITY
The President of the Czechoslovak Republic and the Swiss Federal Council, led by a desire to regulate social security relations between the two countries, agreed to conclude the Convention and appointed to that end their representatives:
President of the Czech Republic
Mr Evžena Eban,
the President of the State Social Security Office;
Swiss Federal Council
Dr. Arnold Saxer,
Director of the Federal Social Security Office.
After the exchange of their full powers, which have been found to be in good and proper form, the representatives have agreed on these provisions.
General provisions
1. This Convention shall apply to the following legislation:
1. in Switzerland:
(a) Federal legislation on insurance for old-age and survivors;
(b) Federal legislation on occupational and non-occupational insurance and occupational disease;
2. in the Czechoslovak Republic:
(a) the legislation on occupational retirement provision;
(b) legislation on pension insurance for members of single agricultural cooperatives, individual farmers and other self-employed persons;
(c) legislation on preventive and therapeutic care of workers in respect of Article 10 of this Convention.
2. This Convention shall also apply to all legislation codifying, amending or supplementing the legislation referred to in paragraph 1. By contrast, the Convention shall apply:
(a) legislation establishing a new social security sector only if agreed between the Contracting States;
(b) to legislation extending the existing social security sector in one Contracting State to new categories of persons only if, within three months of the official publication of such legislation, no contrary declaration has been made to the Government of the other State.
The Czechoslovak and Swiss citizens shall be assimilated to the rights and obligations of the social security sector referred to in Article 1, unless otherwise provided in this Convention and the Appendices thereto.
1. Citizens of one Contracting State who are employed in the territory of another State shall be subject to the legislation of that Contracting State, even if their proper residence, their employer or the registered office of the undertaking which employs them, is in the territory of the first Contracting State.
2. The following exceptions shall apply from this principle:
(a) staff members who are seconded temporarily to the territory of the other State by an undertaking established in one of the two Contracting States shall remain subject to the legislation of the Contracting State in which the undertaking is established during their employment in the other State;
(b) staff employed by private or public transport undertakings having their registered office in one Contracting State in the territory of the other State and not being nationals of that State shall be subject to the legislation of the State in whose territory the undertaking has its registered office;
(c) the staff of the diplomatic and consular councils shall be subject to the legislation of the State which they represent where they are citizens. The same applies to workers in the personal services of such workers when they are citizens of that State.
The competent administrative authorities of both Contracting States may, by mutual agreement, provide for derogations from the principles referred to in Article 3.
1. Czechoslovak and Swiss citizens who are entitled to benefits under the legislation referred to in Article 1 shall receive these benefits in full and without shortening if they reside in the territory of one of the two Contracting States. If any allowances and increases are paid, which are introduced by one contracting State, to their own citizens in the other State, such allowances and increases shall be granted on the same terms and to the same extent to the citizens of the other State residing in it.
2. Benefits granted by one of the two Contracting States under the legislation referred to in Article 1 shall be payable to citizens of the other Contracting State who reside in the territory of a third State under the same conditions and in the same measure as their own citizens residing in a third State with which the social security convention has not been concluded.
The provisions on the reduction or deduction of benefits in the course of their coexistence, contained in the legislation of one Contracting State, shall apply only to benefits the provision of which is governed by the law of that State.
Specific provisions
Benefits in the event of old age and death
1. Czechoslovak citizens who are or have been involved in Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance are entitled to proper pensions under the same conditions as Swiss citizens if, when the insurance case arises, they are entitled to a full pension
(a) for a total of at least five full years, have paid Swiss insurance contributions to the elderly and survivors; or
(b) they have lived in Switzerland for a total of at least 10 years - of which at least five years immediately and continuously before the insurance case - and have paid Swiss insurance contributions to the elderly and survivors for at least one full year.
2. If a Czechoslovak citizen who fulfilled the conditions of paragraph 1 (a) or (b) dies, his survivors shall be entitled to a proper pension from Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance.
3. Czechoslovak citizens who, on the occurrence of an insurance case, do not fulfil the conditions of paragraph 1 (a) or (b), as well as their survivors, are entitled to the benefits paid by the insured person to the old-age and survivors' insurance, provided that:
(a) they live in Czechoslovakia and are entitled or are entitled to benefits from Czechoslovak social security exclusively on the basis of Czechoslovak legislation or taking into account the provisions of this Convention;
(b) they reside in Switzerland or in a third State and are entitled, or are entitled to, to social security benefits under Czechoslovak legislation exclusively.
4. If the conditions for the transfer of contributions referred to in paragraph 3 above are not met, the contributions shall be refunded to the insured person or his survivors.
5. After the transfer or refund of the contributions, Czechoslovak citizens and their survivors may no longer claim any claims against Swiss insurance to the elderly and survivors on the basis of these contributions.
1. In determining the pensions provided for under the Czechoslovak legislation in the event of old age or death, the periods of insurance obtained in Swiss insurance shall be taken into account for old-age and survivors, provided that these periods are at least six months in total and do not overlap with the periods of Czechoslovak social security.
2. Where a benefit is granted from Czechoslovak social security, taking account of the periods of Swiss insurance referred to in paragraph 1, it shall be calculated as follows:
(a) Czechoslovak social security shall determine the amount of benefit to which the creditor would be entitled if all the periods to be taken into account under paragraph 1 were obtained in the Czechoslovak social security itself;
(b) on this basis, the Czechoslovak social security provides for the benefit which it is obliged to provide, in proportion to the length of the period completed in Czechoslovak social security, to the total period obtained in both Contracting States, without taking account of the periods of Swiss insurance, if they coincide with the periods of Czechoslovak social security;
(c) if, pursuant to Article 7 (3) of this Convention, the contributions paid to the Swiss old-age and surviving insurance have been transferred to Czechoslovak social security, the levy shall be fixed only in accordance with the previous provisions of point (a).
3. If the eligible conditions for entitlement to a pension are met in the event of old age or death under the legislation of both Contracting States and exceed the amount of the pension to which it could claim under the Czechoslovak legislation itself, the sum of the pensions resulting from the application of the previous paragraphs 1 and 2, the beneficiary may claim from Czechoslovak social security an allowance equal to that difference.
1. Transitional pensions under Swiss legislation on insurance for old-age and survivors shall be granted to Czechoslovak citizens residing in Switzerland under the same conditions as Swiss citizens if they have lived continuously in Switzerland for a period of 10 years prior to the application of the entitlement and there has not been a transfer or refund at that time.
2. Social pensions under Czechoslovak social security legislation shall be granted to Swiss citizens living in Czechoslovakia under the same conditions as to Czechoslovak citizens.
Benefits in respect of accidents and occupational diseases
A person who is secured under the legislation of one Contracting State in the event of an accident and an occupational disease and suffers an accident or is affected by an occupational disease in the territory of another State may require the necessary treatment from the competent authority of the Contracting State in whose territory he resides. In this case, the competent authority of the Contracting State whose legislation this person is subject to shall be obliged to pay the costs of the treatment of the authority which provided them.
Miscellaneous provisions
1. Competent administrative authorities
(a) agree on the necessary implementing provisions for the application of this Convention. In particular, they may agree that the two States shall designate intermediate bodies which shall be in direct contact with each other;
(b) inform each other of any measures they take to implement the Convention;
(c) inform each other as soon as possible of any changes to their legislation.
2. The competent administrative authorities within the meaning of this Convention shall be:
in the Czechoslovak Republic:
for the field of legislation referred to in Article 1 (1) (2) (a) and (b):
State Social Security Office in Prague; for the field of legislation referred to in Article 1 (1) (2) (c):
Ministry of Health in Prague;
in Switzerland:
Federal Social Insurance Office in Bern.
1. In implementing this Convention, the competent authorities and authorities shall assist each other as if they were applying their own social security legislation.
2. The competent administrative authorities shall, by mutual agreement, lay down in particular medical and administrative checks on persons benefiting from benefits under this Convention.
3. The authorities of the Czechoslovak Republic will facilitate the implementation of Swiss voluntary insurance of Swiss citizens residing in Czechoslovakia.
1. The fee and commission exemptions or reductions provided for in the legislation of one Contracting State for documents and documents to be submitted under this legislation shall also apply to documents and documents to be submitted under the legislation of the other State.
2. The competent authorities and the authorities of both Contracting States shall refrain from requesting diplomatic or consular verification of the documents and documents to be presented in the implementation of this Convention.
(3) The documents, documents, submissions and letters to be submitted in connection with the implementation of this Convention may be drawn up in the official language of any of the two Contracting States.
Applications, declarations and appeals to be lodged within a certain period of time with an authority of one of the two Contracting States shall also be deemed to have been lodged in due time if they are lodged within the same period with the corresponding authority of the other State. In this case, that authority shall forward applications, declarations and appeals to the competent authority of the other State without delay.
1. The institutions to make payments under this Convention shall be exempt from this obligation by payment in the currency of their country.
2. The vouchers to be made in the implementation of this Convention shall be made in accordance with the payment agreement applicable between the Contracting States at the time of the voucher.
3. Should foreign exchange be restricted in one or the other Contracting State, the two Contracting States shall, by mutual agreement, immediately take measures to ensure the vouchers of amounts due from both Parties under the provisions of this Convention.
1. Any difficulties arising in the implementation of this Convention shall be settled by the competent administrative authorities of the two Contracting States by mutual agreement.
2. If this cannot be resolved within six months, the dispute shall be brought before an arbitration panel whose composition and manner of action shall be determined by mutual agreement of the Government of the two Contracting States. The arbitration panel shall act in the sense and spirit of the Convention.
Transitional and final provisions
1. The provisions of this Convention shall apply from the date of its entry into force even in cases previously brought about.
2. The application of the provisions of this Convention shall take account of periods of insurance or employment acquired before its entry into force. The same applies to periods of residence in Switzerland within the meaning of Article 7 (1) (b) and Article 9 (1).
3. Cases in which benefits have not yet been granted under the national legislation of the Contracting States shall be redecided in accordance with the provisions of this Convention. Any benefits will be provided under national statute of limitations, but at the earliest since the entry into force of this Convention.
1. This Convention, together with the Final Protocol, which forms an integral part thereof, requires ratification. The instruments of ratification will be exchanged as soon as possible in Prague.
2. This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the exchange of instruments of ratification.
This Convention shall be concluded for a period of one year. It shall be tacitly extended from one year to the next unless one of the two Contracting States is denounced in writing three months before the end of the annual period.
2. If this Convention is terminated, the rights acquired under its provisions shall be retained. Waiving obtained under the provisions of this Convention shall be governed by agreements between the two Contracting States.
To prove it, the representatives of both Contracting States signed this Convention and sealed it.
Written in Bern on 4 June 1959, in duplicate, each in the Czech and German languages; the two texts are equally authentic.
For
Czech Republic
Erban v. r.
For
Swiss Confederation
Saxer v. r.
FINAL PROTOCOL
At today's signing of the Convention between the Czech Republic and the Swiss Confederation on Social Security, the authorised representatives of both Contracting States made the following declarations:
1. Czechoslovak citizens in Switzerland or in a third State may claim claims under this Convention only if they produce a valid proof of their citizenship, issued by the locally competent diplomatic or consular representative of their home state. The Convention does not apply to persons who have been deprived of Czechoslovak citizenship by Czechoslovak law.
2. The following shall be ascertained:
(a) that the Swiss Federal legislation does not contain any provisions under which Swiss and Czechoslovak citizens would be assessed differently as regards the rights and obligations under the legislation on sickness and tuberculosis insurance which are not affected by this Convention;
(b) that the Czechoslovak legislation does not contain any provisions under which Swiss and Czechoslovak citizens would be assessed differently in terms of rights and obligations under the legislation on occupational sickness insurance.
Both Parties declare that they agree to maintain this same assessment as far as possible.
3. The Swiss Party declares that it is fundamentally willing to include them in the Convention after the introduction of the disability insurance and to conclude, for that purpose, an agreement under Article 1 (2) (a) of the Convention.
The Czechoslovak Party declares that, pending the conclusion of such an agreement, Swiss citizens living in Switzerland or in a third State will be granted disability pensions from Czechoslovak social security, the amount of which will be governed by the Czechoslovak regulations on the payment of pensions abroad.
4. The following shall be excluded from the principle of the same assessment under Article 2 of the Convention:
from the Czechoslovak side:
provisions on personal and flight pensions,
provisions on the maintenance of rights in the event of interruption of employment for a period of more than two years in cases where no invalidity or partial invalidity pension is granted, as well as provisions on the setting-up of periods of employment or insurance in a third State;
from the Swiss side:
provisions on voluntary insurance for old-age and survivors for Swiss citizens abroad.
5. Article 3 (2) (a) and (b) of the Convention shall apply to all seconded staff, irrespective of their nationality.
6. Staff members who are not employed in the other Contracting State for more than three years shall be deemed to have been seconded temporarily within the meaning of Article 3 (2) (a) of the Convention. Exceptionally, if employment in the other State exceeds that period, the responsibility for the social security of the first State shall continue to be maintained if the competent administrative authorities of both States so agree.
7. For periods of residence in Switzerland within the meaning of Articles 7 (1) and 9 (1) of the Convention, residence periods shall also apply before 1 January 1948.
8. The periods in which Czechoslovak citizens in Switzerland have been excluded from insurance under the legislation on insurance for old-age and survivors shall not be considered as periods of residence within the meaning of Articles 7 (1) and 9 (1) of this Convention.
9. A Czechoslovak citizen residing in Switzerland who, during the last five years prior to the occurrence of the insurance case, has left Switzerland in each year for a period not exceeding two months, did not interrupt his stay in Switzerland within the meaning of Article 7 (1) (b) of the Convention. This adaptation shall apply mutatis mutandis to the 10-year period laid down in Article 9 (1) of this Convention.
10. Czechoslovak citizens who have been granted a temporary pension under Article 9 (1) of the Convention from Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance, may not request the transfer or repayment of contributions under Article 7 (3) and (4) of the Convention.
11. Repayment of contributions paid to the Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance before the entry into force of the Convention shall not prevent the provision of transitional pensions under Article 9 (1) of the Convention; in such cases, however, the contributions paid back will be settled with the pension granted.
12. Czechoslovak and Swiss citizens residing in Switzerland whose claims on Czechoslovak social security arose before 1 January 1957, pensions will be paid up to date from the date of entry into force of the Convention, at least equivalent to 100 Swiss francs per month for an old-age pension, 80 Swiss francs for a widow's pension and 40 Swiss francs for an orphan's pension.
13. Where the payment of Czechoslovak pensions to Swiss citizens residing outside Czechoslovakia has rested due to a lack of contractual reciprocity arrangements, their payment shall be renewed with retroactive effect from the date of entry into force of the Convention at the time of termination of the payment.
14. From the Czechoslovak side, it is claimed that Swiss citizens living in Czechoslovakia, Switzerland or a third State are equal to Czechoslovak citizens in which State as regards the satisfaction of claims from former corporate pension institutions.
This Protocol shall form part of the Convention signed today; enter into force under the same conditions and for the same period as this Convention.
This Protocol has been signed by the representatives of both Contracting States to prove it and sealed.
Written in Bern on 4 June 1959, in duplicate, each in the Czech and German languages; the two texts are equally authentic.
For
Czech Republic
Erban v. r.
For
Swiss Confederation
Saxer v. r.
On page 157.
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Decree No. 75 / 1959 Coll., on the Convention between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Swiss Confederation on Social Security |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | - |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 15.12.1959 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 01.12.1959 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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