Facts
F., born in 1948, suffered two accidents in 1980 and 1989, which led to persistent health problems. The Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) acknowledged its liability and provided the statutory benefits. However, in 1992, SUVA announced the discontinuation of its benefits, as it did not see a relevant causal link between the health problems and the accidents. F. then filed a complaint and requested further benefits.
The Insurance Court of the Canton of Solothurn dismissed the complaint without holding a public hearing. F. then filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Insurance Court.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court states that the social insurance process must meet the requirements of Article 6, paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which also includes the right to a public hearing. In principle, the holding of a public hearing requires a corresponding request from the party.
In the present case, F. had expressly referred to the right to a public hearing under the ECHR in his complaint. Therefore, the Insurance Court should have examined whether there were grounds that would have justified dispensing with the requested public hearing. The mere fact that the medical documents allowed a…