Facts
The Swiss Federal Railways SBB (appellant) had prohibited the display of a poster with the theme of Israeli-Palestinian politics in a train station. The display had been carried out by the General Poster Company (APG) on behalf of A. (respondent). The lower court, the Federal Administrative Court, had ordered the SBB to allow the display of the poster. The SBB requested the Federal Court to overturn this judgment.
The SBB argued that the train station was administrative property and not a public asset in general use. They relied on their regulations, which governed the handling of advertising messages and prohibited advertisements/messages on foreign policy sensitive topics. The respondent and the lower court were of the opinion that the ban on the poster constituted an inadmissible restriction on freedom of expression.
Considerations
The Federal Court first examined whether the dispute was a matter of public law. It concluded that the regulation of the right to extraordinary use of public property was a matter of public law and that the appeal was therefore admissible.
The court found that freedom of expression also included the right to display posters with foreign policy content in train stations. It stated that the SBB, as a public-law corporation, was bound by fundamental rights and had to respect the respondent's freedom of expression.
The court examined the requirements for…