Facts
The Federal Supreme Court ruled on a complaint against an ordinance of the Cantonal Government and the High Court of the Canton of Zurich on psychiatric and psychological expert opinions in criminal and civil proceedings (PPGV). The ordinance provides that only specialist physicians for psychiatry and psychotherapy as well as psychotherapists with a cantonal license for independent practice may be registered as court experts. Non-medical psychotherapists are excluded from preparing certain expert opinions.
The complainants, consisting of professional associations and a psychotherapist, requested the abolition of these restrictions. They argued that psychotherapists have equivalent competencies to specialist physicians and should therefore not be excluded from expert activities.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the complaint. It stated that expert activities for state authorities are not an economic but a sovereign activity that is not subject to the protection of economic freedom. Therefore, the restriction to specialist physicians and certain psychotherapists cannot be regarded as a violation of economic freedom or the principle of equality before the law.
The Federal Supreme Court also saw no violation of the primacy of federal law. The materials on the SCC suggest that psychiatrists should generally be responsible for the expert opinions in question, but there is no qualified silence of the federal legislator that would also allow non-medical…