Facts
On June 24, 1993, around 300 Kurds demonstrated in front of the Turkish Embassy in Bern. During the course of the demonstration, various persons entered the embassy premises. Subsequently, embassy staff shot at the demonstrators, injuring several demonstrators as well as a police officer. One of the demonstrators died from his injuries. Among the injured was D., who suffered an open fracture of the lower leg and had to be treated in the hospital from June 24 to July 14, 1993.
On June 2, 1995, D. filed a request for compensation and satisfaction in accordance with the Federal Act on Assistance to Victims of Crimes (Victim Assistance Act, OHG). On March 18, 1996, the Justice, Municipal and Church Directorate of the Canton of Bern awarded him compensation of CHF 656.-- and satisfaction of CHF 2,000.--. D. appealed against this to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern, which partially upheld the appeal and set the compensation at CHF 1,056.--. D. filed an administrative court appeal against the administrative court's decision, requesting that he be awarded satisfaction of at least CHF 6,000.--.
Considerations
The Federal Court states that according to Art. 17 OHG, the cantonal appeal instance has a free power of review, i.e. it can not only review the findings of fact and the application of the law by the issuing authority, but also the appropriateness of the contested decision. However, the appeal instance must respect the discretion of the administration in matters of discretion, as the amount of satisfaction compensates for an intangible, non-monetary damage and its amount depends on the assessment of various assessment criteria.
The Federal Court considers it permissible that the Administrative Court, in assessing the satisfaction, took into account the behavior of the appellant, even though he cannot be accused of "significant contributory negligence" within the meaning of Art. 13 para. 2 OHG. Although the OHG does not contain any express provisions on the assessment of the satisfaction amount, the…