Facts
The Dental Technology Association Foundation (the Foundation) was established in 2005 on behalf of the Association of Dental Prosthetics Laboratories of Switzerland. The Foundation created a National Fund for professional training in dental technology, which the Federal Council declared generally binding by decree of 28 November 2006. The Foundation filed an administrative action with the Administrative Court of the Republic and Canton of Geneva against Y. S.à.r.l. and Z. to obtain payment of overdue contributions for the period from 2007 to 2010.
The Administrative Court declared the administrative action inadmissible, considering that the Foundation should have issued administrative decisions to condemn its debtors to pay the due contributions. The Foundation appealed this decision to the Federal Court.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the Foundation had decision-making competence to condemn its alleged debtors to pay the contribution arrears. It considered that the delegation of public tasks to an external body may implicitly include the necessary decision-making power to accomplish these tasks, but that this must be based on sufficient legal grounds.
The Federal Court also examined whether the Foundation had been entrusted by the State to execute an « administrative task » within the meaning of Art. 178 para. 3 Cst. It considered that the creation of a fund for professional training pursues a public interest…