Robes, Romance, and a Demoted Chief

Even in Switzerland, where state institutions pride themselves on frictionless administrative decorum, personal entanglements occasionally breach the legal sanctuary. The assembly of all forty federal judges in Lausanne has withdrawn its support from Federal Supreme Court President François Chaix. Two years after his triumphant election to the presidency, the FDP judge with fifteen years of service on the highest bench finds himself dropped by his colleagues, who instead recommend SVP judge Thomas Müller for the supreme post.

This unprecedented maneuver is the direct fallout of a judicial soap opera that began in April, when reports exposed a romantic relationship between SVP judge Beatrice Van de Graaf and independent judge Yves Donzallaz. Federal law explicitly forbids a permanent cohabitation between two members of the highest court. While Donzallaz publicly rejected the characterization of their bond as a permanent cohabitation, the court commissioned an external investigation to clarify whether statutory boundaries had been crossed. Both judges are standing for re-election regardless.

Instead of resolving the matter with transparent authority, the management of the scandal only bred further dissatisfaction within the court. The resulting investigation report was quietly handed over to parliament, strictly withheld from the public domain. Outside the judicial walls, the handling drew sharp criticism when the parliamentary Judicial Committee opted to delay the election, shifting the vote from the autumn session to the winter.

Discretion, it turns out, has its limits when forty judges decide that protecting the institution's image requires sacrificing its leader. The decision now rests with the Federal Assembly, which will formally vote on the court's presidency in December. Whether replacing the presiding officer will restore quietude to a bench entangled in romantic and legal definitions remains an open question for parliamentarians to dissect.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com