The Swiss Federal Audit Office failed to include two affected people in an administrative investigation into the sureties for the Swiss Maritime Fleet and to grant them the right to a fair hearing. The Swiss Federal Administrative Court (FAC) has instructed the Swiss Department for Economic Affairs to remove all sections from the final report that refer to the two complainants.

In 2016, the Swiss Federal Audit
Office (SFAO) had conducted an administrative investigation in the Swiss
Federal Office for National Economic Supply on behalf of the Swiss Federal
Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER). It complied its
findings in the final report about the granting and managing of sureties for
the Swiss Maritime Fleet and transmitted it to the EAER. Several people then
asked the EAER to hand over this report on the basis of the Swiss Freedom of
Information Act.
At the start of 2017, the EAER
informed the people mentioned in the report about the investigation as well as
the requests to view the final report. Two of the people in question contested
the publication of the report and challenged a corresponding ruling before the
Swiss Federal Administrative Court FAC in late 2017.
Right to a fair hearing violated
In its judgements, the FAC found
that the complainants were substantially affected by the investigation. Their
conduct and the exercising of their office were scrutinised, among other
things. The report accused them of various misdeeds and held them responsible
for irregularities that were found. It would have been perfectly possible for
the SFAO to also include the two affected people in the investigation, thereby
granting them the right to a fair hearing. Since the SFAO failed to do so, it
has violated their right to a fair hearing, as laid down in the constitution
and has severely infringed their personal rights.
Owing to the extent to which they
were closely involved, any right to a fair hearing granted later on will not
give the investigation subjects sufficient legal protection. The FAC has
therefore instructed the SFAO to remove all personal information from the final
report that refers to the complainants. The report may be published after this
information has been deleted.
These
judgments may be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Contact
Kommunikation
Rocco R. Maglio
Medienbeauftragter
Tel. + 41 58 465 29 86