Search results : 187

In a judgment of 29 March 2016, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Bédat v. Switzerland found that a criminal conviction of a journalist, Arnaud Bédat, for having published documents covered by investigative secrecy in a criminal case is no violation of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The Grand Chamber is of the opinion that the Swiss authorities acted within their margin of appreciation and that recourse to criminal proceedings and the penalty imposed on the journalist did not amount to a disproportionate interference in the exercise...

The Swiss Government has submitted an important bill revising national legislation on copyright for consultation by 31 March 2016. Based on the recommendations of the AGUR12 working party (see IRIS 2014-8/15), the aim of the bill is to increase the fight against Internet piracy and to adapt the legal provisions to recent technological developments. The ultimate aim is to strike a fair balance between the interests of performers, the cultural economy, and users of works protected by copyright, in order to promote the development of legal offers on the Internet. To achieve this, the bill proposes...

On 17 December 2013 the Second Section of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled by five votes to two that Switzerland violated the right to freedom of expression by convicting Doğu Perinçek, chairman of the Turkish Workers’ Party, for publicly denying the existence of the genocide against the Armenian people (IRIS 2014-2/1 and IRIS 2014-7/2). After referral, on 15 October 2015 the Grand Chamber confirmed by ten votes to seven the finding of a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In several public speeches, Perinçek had described the...

At the press conference it gave at the International Film Festival in Locarno on 6 August 2015, the Federal Office for Culture (OFC) unveiled new measures to be implemented in support of Swiss cinema. These measures are the embodiment of the ‘Culture Message 2016-2020’ adopted by the Federal Parliament on 19 June 2015, and they will enter into force on 1 January 2016. The Culture Message (‘Message on the financing of the Confederation’s cultural activities’) defines the strategic guidelines of the Confederation’s policy on culture and determines the corresponding financial resources. The Culture...

Swiss telecommunications provider Swisscom is under threat of a sanction under cartel law because of its controversial handling of exclusive rights for the broadcast of certain sports events. In April 2013, the Swiss Competition Commission (Weko) had launched an investigation against Swisscom and its subsidiary Cinetrade (and pay-TV provider Teleclub). The Weko suspected Swisscom of infringing cartel law in relation to, among other things, the exclusive broadcast of certain Swiss football and ice hockey matches on pay TV. The Cinetrade group offers thousands of Teleclub live sports broadcasts each...