Peter Zihlmann (lawyer)

Peter Zihlmann (born May 29, 1938 in Basel ) is a Swiss lawyer and journalist .

Life

After studying in Basel , New York and Paris, Zihlmann worked first as a legal consultant for a chemical company and then in a trading company, from 1973 as an independent lawyer , notary and part-time judge in Basel, from 1980 to 2000 as extraordinary president of the tenancy court. He specialized in criminal defense, defended the financier André Plumey in his criminal proceedings from 1986 to 2003 and led the Swiss judiciary to fight for the granting of fundamental rights in criminal proceedings.In 1991, he won Switzerland's conviction in Strasbourg for violating the European Convention on Human Rights due to the lack of a judge .

Through publications, appeals to criminal judges and the campaign “Buy a year of freedom for people in need”, he campaigned to ensure that fines that could not be paid are not converted into imprisonment. During the Basel judicial affair in 1998, he defended Graziella Klages , who had been abused by the judicial authorities as an informant , in court. Since 2004 he has been campaigning successfully through publications and campaigns vis-à-vis authorities and the public to ensure that a Kosovar woman who was wrongly expelled from Switzerland was allowed to return to Switzerland with her family in 2010.

From 1994 to 2004 he worked for the non-profit Gérard Kraemer Foundation as a “private ombudsman” and advised people in need. In 2012 he and Norbert Brakenwagen presented the TV series "Law and Injustice" on TimeToDo on Switzerland 5.

Since 2002 he has been a founding member of the International Association Against Psychiatric Assault (IAAPA) in Basel, which opposes so-called “forced psychiatry”.

In addition to specialist legal books, especially on tenancy law, he published numerous books and articles in magazines. His works are characterized by expert knowledge and criticism of the judiciary, fundamentally question the law and deal with the issues of law and justice. He took the side of the oppressed, persecuted and unjustly treated people.

Works

• The Plumey case, the truth. Slatkine, Geneva 1995, ISBN 2-05-101428-0 ( L'affaire Plumey , translated by Anne Toia).
• The magistrate's daughter. The first prosecutor's last case - Jusitizroman. Basler Zeitung, Basel 1998, ISBN 3-85815-323-0 .
• Justice in error. Breach of law and legal verdict in Switzerland. Schulthess, Zurich 2000, ISBN 3-7255-3982-0 .
• Does punishment make sense? Seven questions and twelve stories about law and justice. Schulthess, Zurich / Basel / Geneva 2002, ISBN 3-7255-4394-1 .
• The law above the law. Guide for seekers of law and justice. Schulthess, Zurich / Basel / Geneva 2003, ISBN 3-7255-4661-4 .
• The stock market guru. The rise and fall of Dieter Behring. Orell Füssli, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-280-05144-4 .
• Dr. Guido A. Zäch. Doer or benefactor? Orell Füssli, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-280-06096-4 .
• Basel – Pristina or the blood revenge in Switzerland. Orell Füssli, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-280-06084-1 (By Alain Godet in the DOK films Am helllichten Tag , 2008, and fatal shots in Basel , 2010, filmed in collaboration with the author for SF 1 and 3sat) .
• Judge Hartmann's last notes on the Basel justice affair. From the estate of the judge who was hard on himself. Arte Legis, Basel 2009, ISBN 978-3-03-751212-8 .
• The judge and the girl. Stämpfli, Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7272-1169-0 .
• Three tears for Jerry. Requiem for a fallible. Arte Legis, Basel 2014, ISBN 978-3-906293-00-4 .
• Hassan and Marion - An unequal couple. Arte Legis Editions, Basel 2017, ISBN 978-3-906293-06-6 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Peter Zihlmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website by Peter Zihlmann