Facts
On December 15, 1969, the Government Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, as the supreme supervisory authority over foundations, decided to dismiss the Foundation Board of the Johanne Schaller Company Pension Fund and to delete the members of the Foundation Board from the Commercial Register. The foundation and the dismissed members of the Foundation Board filed an administrative court appeal against this.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court took up the appeal, as the provisions of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) on foundation supervision grant the supervisory authority the competence to intervene ex officio in foundation matters. Thus, the decision of the Government Council is based on public law within the meaning of Art. 5 of the Federal Act on Administrative Procedure (VwG) and is therefore subject to an administrative court appeal to the Federal Supreme Court pursuant to Art. 97 para. 1 of the Federal Act on the Organization of Federal Judicial Authorities (OG).
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the legislative amendment of December 20, 1968 aimed to expand the administrative jurisdiction at…