Facts
The corporate law firm A. SA, headquartered in Zurich, applied to the Geneva Bar Association for approval for several of its members to practice law within its future Geneva branch. However, the Bar Association rejected this application on the grounds that one of A. SA's partners was not registered in a cantonal register of lawyers, which did not allow for the guarantee of the independence and respect of professional secrecy of the lawyers.
A. SA and the Competition Commission appealed this decision to the Federal Tribunal. The Geneva Court of Justice had previously rejected A. SA's appeal, considering that a corporate law firm controlled by a majority of registered lawyers did not provide the same guarantees of independence as a firm entirely controlled by registered lawyers.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal examined the issue from the perspective of the Federal Act on the Domestic Market (LMI). It considered that, in this case, Article 2(4) LMI was applicable, and not Article 2(6) LMI invoked by the Competition Commission. Indeed, the present situation concerned the freedom of establishment in another canton, which is governed differently than the freedom of access to the market for goods, services and work.
The Federal Tribunal then examined the compliance of the Geneva Court of Justice's decision with federal law, in particular the Federal Act on the Free Movement of Lawyers (LLCA). It considered that, according to Article 8(1)(d)…