Judges’ affair deepens crisis at Switzerland’s top court

A dispute over a romantic relationship between Federal Supreme Court judges Yves Donzallaz and Beatrice van de Graaf has escalated, with Donzallaz losing a recusal bid, a revision request failing on a deadline and the court declining to nominate its president, François Chaix, for another term. SRF spoke to justice researcher Michele Luminati about why the events are unusual.

Fifteen people sought revisions of rulings after the relationship became public. Grégory Bovey, the presiding judge in the chamber handling the requests, sought views from other division presidents on legal questions and informed Donzallaz, who was involved in the proceedings.

According to court documents, Donzallaz went to Bovey’s office that day and challenged him over the proceedings. Bovey ended the encounter and informed the court leadership. Donzallaz then sought Bovey’s recusal, arguing that his actions showed he could no longer handle the revision cases impartially.

The court rejected the recusal requests in all three proceedings, finding them clearly unfounded. It said Bovey’s conduct did not indicate a lack of impartiality or self-control, and that Donzallaz should not have tried to discuss an ongoing case directly with the chamber president.

Luminati, a professor of legal history and legal theory and director of the Obwalden Institute for Justice Research at the University of Lucerne, said the court had experienced internal tensions and romantic relationships before. What made this case exceptional, he said, was its scale and escalation.

He said the court’s leadership had failed to address rumours about the relationship. The court’s decision not to nominate Chaix again showed it no longer trusted its leadership, Luminati said. The full court was split into two camps; as far as was known, judges from the Swiss People’s Party, or SVP, had mainly supported punishing the president. Luminati said this reflected growing political divisions within the court.

Donzallaz left the SVP in 2022. Asked whether the party’s former member was being pushed out for that reason or because of his personality, Luminati said he did not know Donzallaz personally. But the court documents, he said, described a confrontation that could provide material for a play: Donzallaz went to Bovey’s office to challenge him, and Bovey told him to leave.

Luminati described Donzallaz as a strong character who had not allowed his former party to dictate to him. He said the court used to attract more individualistic figures, but judges today were more standardised and often followed career paths entirely within the courts. Donzallaz, a former lawyer, was an exception. Luminati said the lack of varied professional experience was a problem for the justice system.

He also called for radical reforms to clarify disciplinary powers. At present, he said, the Federal Supreme Court and Parliament were passing responsibility back and forth: the court says it lacks disciplinary measures and Parliament should act, while Parliament’s judicial commission is waiting for the court’s decisions on the revision requests.

Luminati noted that earlier controversies involving judges had also raised questions about discipline, including a case in which Federal Supreme Court judge Martin Schubarth spat at a journalist. He said neither the court leadership nor Parliament could impose disciplinary measures in such cases.