Facts
A., a journalist from SonntagsZeitung/Le Matin Dimanche, requested access to the 2013 and 2014 Outlook calendar of the former Head of Armaments B. from the Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse) based on the Federal Act on the Principle of Public Access to Government Information (BGÖ). armasuisse denied access, whereupon A. filed a mediation request with the Federal Data Protection and Public Access Commissioner (EDÖB). The EDÖB recommended granting access to the Outlook calendar.
By order dated December 1, 2014, armasuisse determined that A. had no entitlement to access the Outlook calendar. Without acknowledging a legal obligation, an excerpt in the form of a weekly overview with individual redacted entries was provided to him. A. filed a complaint, which the Federal Administrative Court partially upheld and referred the matter back to armasuisse for re-evaluation.
armasuisse appealed to the Federal Supreme Court in public law matters and requested the annulment of the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court and the confirmation of its order of December 1, 2014.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal.
It first notes that armasuisse is entitled to file the appeal, as the application of the BGÖ is a cross-sectional task that affects the entire Federal Administration.
Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court concludes that the Outlook calendar of the former Head of Armaments constitutes an official document within the meaning of the BGÖ. An exception to the…