Richter (Switzerland)

A judge holds a public office at a court that performs judicial tasks. As a neutral person , he should exercise impartial justice against everyone.

Judges in Switzerland are elected partly by the federal and cantonal parliaments and partly by the people. In contrast to what is generally the norm, they are only appointed for a period of time - usually four or six, in the canton of Ticino ten years - with re-election possible. An exception is the canton of Friborg , where judges are elected for life, combined with a right of recall. A degree in law is not a requirement in all cantons to run for a judge's office. Only with the introduction of women's suffrage in the 1970s was it possible for women to become judges. The legal bases for the election and appointment of judges are federal laws for judges working in federal courts, and cantonal laws for judges working in cantonal courts.

In Switzerland a distinction is made between professional judges and part-time specialist judges . Specialist judges are part-time judges at the four commercial courts in Switzerland in the cantons of Bern , Aargau , St. Gallen and Zurich . The legal bases are the court constitution laws of these cantons. Like the professional judges working at the commercial courts, they are elected for a specific term of office by the legislative bodies of the respective cantons. At the commercial court of the canton of Zurich, for example, 70 specialist judges and 7 professional judges work and are distributed across 10 chambers according to the subject areas of jurisdiction. The court judges with two professional judges and three specialist judges. The expertise of the skilled judges contributes significantly to the fact that the majority of the cases before this court disputes by comparison is done.

The judges at a military court are also to be regarded as specialist judges .

literature

Georg Grünstäudl: Selection of judges and judge training in a system comparison. Austria, Germany and Switzerland since 1945, Stämpfli 2018, ISBN 978-3-7272-1029-7 .
Mark Livschitz: The judge election in the canton of Zurich. Your factuality at the higher court and at the district courts as a constitutional problem, Zurich 2002.
Felix Matter: The judge and his selection, Zurich 1978, ISBN 978-3-7255-1927-9 .
Anna Rüefli: Specialist judges' participation in the light of judicial and procedural guarantees, Stämpfli 2018, ISBN 978-3-7272-1022-8 .

Individual evidence

↑ Grünstäudl, Georg: Judge selection and judge training in a system comparison. Austria, Germany and Switzerland since 1945 . Stämpfli, Bern 2018, ISBN 978-3-7272-1029-7 , p. 227 ff .

↑ Ludewig, Revital / Weislehner, Kathleen: Entry, rise, development: three generations of female judges in Switzerland . In: Revital Ludewig / Kathleen Weislehner / Evelyne Angehrn (eds.): Between law and justice: judges in the mirror of time . Bern, S. 69-100 .

↑ Anna Rüefli: Participation of specialist judges in the light of judicial and procedural guarantees: with special consideration of selected federal courts and the cantons of Aargau, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Vaud and Zurich . Stämpfli, 2018, ISBN 978-3-7046-7916-1 .

[1] Grünstäudl, Georg: Judge selection and judge training in a system comparison. Austria, Germany and Switzerland since 1945 . Stämpfli, Bern 2018, ISBN 978-3-7272-1029-7 , p. 227 ff .

[2] Ludewig, Revital / Weislehner, Kathleen: Entry, rise, development: three generations of female judges in Switzerland . In: Revital Ludewig / Kathleen Weislehner / Evelyne Angehrn (eds.): Between law and justice: judges in the mirror of time . Bern, S. 69-100 .

[3] Anna Rüefli: Participation of specialist judges in the light of judicial and procedural guarantees: with special consideration of selected federal courts and the cantons of Aargau, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Vaud and Zurich . Stämpfli, 2018, ISBN 978-3-7046-7916-1 .