Facts
The complainant, a lawyer, was disciplined by the supervisory authority over the lawyers of the canton of Lucerne because he had expressed unsubstantiated criticism of authorities, parties, fellow lawyers, and judges on the website of a foundation whose board of trustees he is. The High Court of the canton of Lucerne confirmed the disciplinary penalty and the instruction to remove certain names from the website. The complainant applied to the Federal Court to overturn the decisions.
The parties involved are the complainant, [X.] , and the supervisory authority over the lawyers of the canton of Lucerne. The proceedings began on 27 August 2010 and ended on 24 May 2011.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the complaint in public law matters and came to the following conclusion:
The lower court did not violate the independence of the High Court as an appellate instance. The complainant's objections to the independence of the High Court and the bias of the judges are unfounded.
The disciplinary penalty for violating professional rules is not time-barred. The supervisory authority only became aware of the objectionable…