Questão jurídica principal
Whether the appeal was admissible despite the counterclaim amount being left entirely to judicial discretion.
Decisão extraída
No. Because the counterclaim was not quantified before the cantonal appellate court, the appellant had to state whether the maximum amount reached at least CHF 4,000; failing to do so made the appeal ineffective.
Fundamentação extraída
The amount in dispute for federal appeal cannot be obtained by adding the main claim and counterclaim. For the counterclaim, the decisive amount is what remained contested before the last cantonal instance. If the party leaves the sum wholly to the court's discretion without indicating a minimum or maximum, Art. 63 No. 1 OG requires a statement whether the claim reaches the jurisdictional threshold.