Swiss Supreme Court Orders Case Revision Over Judges' Relationship

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has unanimously approved a revision request regarding a case decided by a panel that included judges in a romantic relationship. The court established during a public deliberation that Federal Judge Yves Donzallaz and Federal Judge Beatrice van de Graaf had lived in a permanent shared household, which violated legal rules governing judicial incompatibility.

The decision originates from an application filed by a man convicted of attempted intentional homicide whose appeal was decided by the court in May. After learning of the relationship between Donzallaz and Van de Graaf—the latter having served on the deciding panel—the convicted man requested the annulment of the verdict on the grounds that the court panel was unlawfully constituted.

Under the Swiss Federal Supreme Court Act, judges are prohibited from maintaining a permanent cohabitation in order to prevent any appearance of bias. The court ruled that the rule applies regardless of which division the judges serve in, thereby rendering the composition of the panel in the pilot case contrary to regulations. The finding creates a legal precedent for more than a dozen other pending revision applications linked to the relationship.

The relationship was brought to public attention in April following a report by the publication Die Weltwoche. In his defense during the proceedings, Donzallaz stated that he viewed the scrutiny as part of a political effort by the Swiss People's Party (SVP) to replace him with a party loyalist to ensure the primacy of national law over European Union law. He also described Van de Graaf, who is ten years younger and cannot yet take retirement, as collateral damage in the dispute.

Following the court's ruling, the parliamentary Judicial Committee is set to meet in November to deliberate on candidate recommendations for the highest court. Both Donzallaz and Van de Graaf are standing for re-election in the parliamentary vote scheduled for December, which had been postponed from an earlier session to allow time for formal clarifications.

Written by Freya Stensrud freya.stensrud@alpineweekly.com