Documents relating to political funding are subject to the freedom-of-information principle

New rules on transparency in political funding require political actors at the federal level to disclose certain aspects of their financing. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) verifies and then publishes the submitted reports. Following the federal elections of 22 October 2023, the SFAO performed such verifications for the first time. It published a list of audited political actors on its website, and notified each of the 24 affected actors about the audit via an individual confirmation letter.

Michel Huissoud, former director of the SFAO and now a columnist, and a journalist from the research collective WAV requested access to the SFAO letters based on the Freedom of Information Act. The SFAO rejected the request. It claimed that the freedom-of-information principle did not apply under the new transparency rules. The applicants appealed this decision to the Federal Administrative Court (FAC).

Transparency in political funding does not preclude freedom of information
The FAC finds that the transparency rules on political funding do not preclude the release of the letters. Public disclosure of information relating to the funding of political activities serves to inform voters, to improve equal opportunity in political campaigning, and to legitimise democratic processes. These interests can be appropriately balanced with the principle of transparency in public administration under the framework of the Freedom of Information Act.

In particular, the Court rejects the argument that the letters should not be disclosed because they contain broad objections that might give voters a misleading impression about the audited actors’ compliance with the transparency rules. The Court notes that voters can be trusted to recognise ambiguous information as such and to assess it accordingly. The SFAO left open the question of whether other grounds for exception, such as the protection of third-party privacy, precluded the disclosure of the letters. The Court therefore refers the matter back to the SFAO for further review.

These judgments may be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.