Facts
The plaintiffs Klaus Jochims and Bernd Dieter Niebuhr were members of the "Working Group on Critical Journalism" (AKP), which had published a document on the Swiss Tagesschau in 1973. The "Information Group Switzerland" published articles in its information bulletin that associated the plaintiffs with the Swiss Communist Youth Association (KJVS). The plaintiffs felt that this violated their personal circumstances and sued the Information Group Switzerland and its director Ernst Cincera.
The District Court of Zurich dismissed the claim. In the appeal before the High Court of the Canton of Zurich, all plaintiffs except Jochims and Niebuhr withdrew their appeal. The High Court dismissed the appeal of the two remaining plaintiffs.
Jochims and Niebuhr appealed this decision to the Federal Supreme Court, requesting that their claim be upheld.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that a violation of personal circumstances within the meaning of Art. 28 ZGB (Swiss Civil Code) is only unlawful if it is based on an unlawful interference. Unlawful conduct is behavior that violates the rules of the legal system that serve to protect the violated legal interest.
The Federal Supreme Court finds that the defendants wanted to create the impression through the publication that there was a connection between the plaintiffs and the KJVS. This impression was inaccurate, as the plaintiffs were not members or sympathizers of the KJVS. However, since the plaintiffs, according to the binding findings of the lower courts,…