Facts
By submission dated November 25, 2016, the association KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and four individuals approached the Federal Council, the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). They criticized various omissions in the area of climate protection and requested the issuance of an order on factual acts. The authorities addressed rejected the request by order dated April 25, 2017.
The applicants appealed this decision to the Federal Administrative Court, which dismissed their appeal. By appeal in public law matters dated January 21, 2019, the applicants requested the Federal Supreme Court to set aside the decision of the Federal Administrative Court and to remand the matter for substantive assessment to the Department, or alternatively for re-assessment to the Federal Administrative Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that the term "actions" within the meaning of Art. 25a of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVG) is to be interpreted broadly and also includes generally abstract factual acts. Beyond the wording of the law, official omission can also be criticized. However, the claim for an order under Art. 25a VwVG requires that the applicant is affected in their personal legal sphere with a certain intensity.
The appellants are - like the rest of the population - not affected by the alleged omissions with sufficient intensity in the invoked (fundamental) rights. Their request is therefore to be assessed as…