Facts
On June 30, 1969, the Rorschach communal council decided to grant a loan of 385,000 Swiss francs to the Interessengemeinschaft Bootsbetrieb Rorschach-Rheineck to finance a new motorboat. Dr. Kaiser filed an appeal against this decision with the St-Gall cantonal government, requesting the annulment of the decision and the obligation for the communal council to submit the loan application to a mandatory referendum. The cantonal government rejected the appeal on August 19, 1969.
Dr. Kaiser then filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Court, alleging a violation of his constitutional rights and requesting the annulment of the cantonal government's decision. The city of Rorschach and the St-Gall cantonal government requested the dismissal of the complaint, arguing that the plaintiffs had not exhausted the cantonal instances.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the question of whether the plaintiffs had exhausted the cantonal instances before filing their constitutional complaint. According to Article 86 of the FJA, plaintiffs must have exhausted all cantonal instances before filing a constitutional complaint.
The Federal Court found that the plaintiffs had not exhausted the cantonal instances, as they had not filed an appeal with the cantonal administrative court. The Federal Court also found that the plaintiffs had not alleged having filed a request for cassation or minority, which could have been an exception to the obligation to exhaust the cantonal instances.
The Federal Court decided to refer the complaint to the cantonal administrative court, as the plaintiffs had requested this referral and…