Facts
Appellants [A.] and [B.] approached the Commission for Mediation in Civil, Criminal and Juvenile Criminal Matters of the Canton of Fribourg (the Mediation Commission) to obtain a decision or guarantee recognizing their ability to practice family mediation within the judicial framework, without needing to be formally authorized, and to be able to claim fees for this activity from the competent authorities. They also requested to be registered in the register of sworn mediators of the Canton of Fribourg. The Mediation Commission found that [A.] and [B.] could not be admitted to the function of mediator without having been previously authorized by it. [A.] appealed this decision to the Cantonal Court of the Canton of Fribourg, which dismissed the appeal. [A.] then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Tribunal.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considered that Arts. 213 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC) do not allow the cantons to generally subject the exercise of civil mediation within the judicial framework to the obtaining of prior authorization. Although the cantons have the competence to regulate the activity of civil mediator within the judicial framework, they cannot make the right to exercise this function conditional on the granting of such authorization. However, the Federal Tribunal acknowledged that the cantons may establish a list of qualified persons in the field of mediation and make the…