Facts
The complainant, Jorane Althaus, lives with her parents in the German-speaking Bernese municipality of Mörigen. Her mother is a native French speaker and speaks French with Jorane at home. Jorane attended kindergarten in Mörigen and was enrolled in the first grade of the French-speaking primary school Mühlefeld in Biel in August 1995. Jorane's father subsequently requested permission to leave his daughter in this school and undertook to bear all financial consequences. The municipal council of Mörigen rejected the request and ordered that Jorane attend the primary school in Mörigen as of January 8, 1996.
Jorane filed a complaint with the Education Directorate of the canton of Bern, which dismissed the complaint and ordered Jorane to attend the primary school in Mörigen as of the 1996/97 school year. Jorane lodged a constitutional complaint and requested that the decision of the Education Directorate be set aside.
Considerations
The Federal Court upheld the complaint. The language freedom guaranteed by Art. 116 Cst. and Art. 15 KV/BE protects the use of the mother tongue or a closely related language. The territoriality principle, which is enshrined in Art. 116 Cst., allows the cantons to take measures to maintain the traditional boundaries of language regions and their homogeneity.
However, the Federal Court found that the municipality of Biel is willing to admit Jorane to a French-speaking school, provided that the school fees are reimbursed, and Jorane's parents are willing to bear all financial consequences. Under these circumstances, the contested decision, which requires Jorane to attend school in Mörigen, constitutes a restriction on language freedom that cannot be justified by the public interest in a cost-effective organization of the school system.
The Federal Court also found that the municipality of Mörigen has no legally…