Facts
On October 10, 1995, Swiss Television DRS aired a critical report on the repatriation transport of a Swiss woman who had fallen ill in Ischia, in the program "Kassensturz". The company "medicall ag", domiciled in Switzerland, was responsible for this.
On January 16, 1996, "medicall ag" appealed against this report to the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI). On May 24, 1996, the UBI did not enter into the submission, as under the Federal Act on Radio and Television (RTVG), legal entities are not entitled to appeal.
On July 5, 1996, "medicall ag" filed an administrative court appeal against this decision. It requests that the contested decision be annulled and the matter be remanded to the Independent Complaints Authority for substantive assessment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal. It adheres to its case law, according to which the regulation of Art. 63 para. 1 RTVG is tailored to natural persons and no longer provides for the right of appeal for legal entities. In contrast to the previous regulation in the Federal Resolution on the Independent Complaints Authority (BB UBI), the legislator has consciously removed the right of appeal for associations.
The Federal Supreme Court justifies this by stating that the program-related supervisory procedure before the UBI does not serve to protect private rights, but rather the public…