Search results : 187

The Federal Court recently rejected an administrative appeal by a textile manufacturer and 24 other applicants against a decision by the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television. The items complained of were shown in the news review programmes, Schweiz aktuell, Tagesschau and 10 vor 10 , on Swiss Television (DRS) in 1994. They were concerned with a labour dispute in the Kollbrunn cotton mill and stated that the plant owner had lost an action against the Weltwoche in the Zurich Commercial Court. The Federal Court considered that these items sometimes had unnecessarily contemptuous...

The communities of Val d'Anniviers in Switzerland had established an association under public law with the objective of retransmitting foreign television programmes for reception by their inhabitants. To finance the retransmission of foreign programmes, one of the communities decided to impose an annual television tax upon all owners and all potential users of television sets. The applicant opposed to this taxation arguing that he did not own a television set and consequently did not use the service offered by the association. On 28 June 1995, the Second Court of Public Law explained that the...

Even though a person may not be receiving the Swiss television channels free of disturbance, he must still pay the full licence fee. A case on this point brought by a viewer who only watched foreign television channels, received using a parabolic reflector, was rejected by the Federal Court. The uniform charge did not violate Article 4 of the Federal Constitution, as this follows on from the right to use the State telegraphic utilities; this right is granted equally to all. It is up to the individual to decide what advantage to make of it, ie which and how many channels to receive, whether and...

Anyone wishing to receive radio and television programmes requires a licence from the post, telephone and telegraph authorities and must pay a reception fee (Art.55-1 of the Radio and Television Act (RTVG)). According to Article 55(a) of the Federal Constitution, the service is directed at the public electronic media system as a whole; in principle, therefore, individuals cannot make a claim against the State in respect of terrestrial reception of a given channel. While it is true that it a fundamental concern in the RTVG that radio and television channels should reach the largest possible area,...

Events should always be "correctly" presented. The diversity of events and viewpoints should be reported in an appropriate manner. Moreover, views and comment should always be made recognisable as such. Reports must remain objective and this requires that the listener and the viewer be able to have as reliable a picture of the facts as possible through the details and views portrayed and also be put into a position where he can come to his own conclusions. The principle of truthfulness obliges the broadcaster to present facts objectively. Controversial facts should be presented in such a way that...