Facts
The case concerns the exclusion of several musicians from the Swiss Musicians' Association (SMV) due to their participation in a Eurovision broadcast that had been prohibited by the association. The excluded individuals filed a lawsuit against the association and its officials with the aim of overturning the exclusion and obtaining compensation and satisfaction.
The plaintiffs were members of the Collegium Musicum Basel (CMB), a chamber orchestra organized as an association, which had concluded a contract with Swiss television to participate in a Eurovision broadcast. The SMV had previously prohibited its members from participating in such broadcasts in order to negotiate a satisfactory fee arrangement with the television organizations. When the plaintiffs participated in the Eurovision broadcast of April 27, 1956 despite the prohibition, they were immediately excluded from the SMV by the central executive board.
Considerations
The Federal Court ruled that the lawsuit against the exclusion was inadmissible, as the plaintiffs had not exhausted the internal appeals process of the association. According to the SMV statutes, the final decision on exclusions rested with the Delegates' Assembly, to which the plaintiffs should have appealed before taking legal action.
Even though the exclusion had taken immediate effect, this did not change the necessity to first exhaust the internal legal remedies of the association. The Federal Court justified this by stating that this was the only way to preserve the autonomy of associations in regulating their internal affairs, as intended by the legislator.
However, the Federal Court did not rule out the possibility that the plaintiffs could assert claims for compensation and satisfaction due to the unlawful exclusion. For this, they would have to prove either a procedural irregularity in the exclusion process or an obvious abuse of rights.
The Federal Court examined these aspects in detail and concluded that…