Facts
The Turkish national X. was wanted by the police in his home country since 1980 and was also listed in the automated search system RIPOL in Switzerland for arrest in 1996. In 1998, he fled to Italy, where he was granted political asylum. The extradition requests from Turkey were rejected there in 1999. In 2000, his wife [Y.] and their daughter [Z.] fled to Switzerland, where they were granted asylum. In 2001, X.'s entry in the RIPOL was deleted, as the offenses were considered time-barred.
In 2004, X. himself applied for asylum in Switzerland. The Federal Office for Refugees then granted him asylum, but pointed out that the protection was only valid for Switzerland. In 2006, X. was arrested at the border crossing to Germany and placed in extradition detention. The Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe declared the extradition inadmissible due to the statute of limitations and lifted the detention.
X., [Y.] and [Z.] then demanded compensation and satisfaction from the Federal Department of Finance, as the Swiss authorities had not informed X. about the Turkish extradition request. The Department of Finance rejected the request, whereupon the complainants filed a complaint with the Federal Administrative Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court overturns the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court and confirms the decision of the Department of Finance. It concludes that there is no causal link between the alleged breach of official duty by the Swiss authorities and the damage suffered by the complainant X.
The Federal Supreme Court states that X., based on his…