Facts
This decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal concerns a request for recusal of a judge presiding over a chamber of the Rent and Lease Tribunal. The applicants (H.X. and F.X.) contested the judge's decision to reject their request for recusal, citing friendship ties between the judge and certain lawyers who had worked for the tenants' association (Asloca), of which the judge was previously a member.
The Federal Tribunal examined the issue from the perspective of the guarantees of the judge's independence and impartiality provided for in the Federal Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. It reiterated that recusal is only admissible when the objective circumstances are such as to raise doubts about the judge's impartiality, and not on the basis of mere subjective impressions.
The Federal Tribunal confirmed its case law according to which the mere fact that a judge has previously worked as a lawyer for a tenants' association is not sufficient to justify his recusal, provided that he has ceased all activity for that association and has not been involved in the proceedings in question. Similarly, the mere fact that the judge maintains good contacts with former lawyer colleagues does not in itself constitute a ground for recusal, in the absence…