Violation of the personal circumstances of a criminal offender and his relatives through the broadcast of a documentary play on the radio

Facts

The case concerns the lawsuit filed by the son of a convicted and executed criminal offender against the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG. The plaintiff objected to the planned broadcast of a documentary play about the life and death of his father Paul Irniger on the radio, as he feared a violation of his personal circumstances pursuant to Art. 28 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).

The District Court of Zurich upheld the claim and prohibited the defendant from distributing the documentary play. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich confirmed the ban on the radio broadcast, but dismissed the plaintiff's other requests. The defendant appealed against this judgment to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed that the broadcast of the documentary play on the radio would constitute a violation of the plaintiff's personal circumstances pursuant to Art. 28 ZGB.

The court explained that while Paul Irniger as a criminal offender was initially a figure of contemporary history, for whom a deeper exploration of his personality seemed justified. However, the goal of resocialization requires that the normal course of forgetting can take place. Therefore, the person of a criminal offender…