You are the president of the Federal Supreme Court. What does this role involve?
As president, I am the face of the institution and represent it externally. Together with the vice-president and another member of the court, we form the administrative commission. We are entrusted with the responsibility of managing the Court. In addition to the role of president, I remain active as an ordinary judge and participate in the decision-making process of the division to which I belong. This is important because it is the profession we have chosen.
Does the separation of powers work in Switzerland?
We are privileged to live in a country where Parliament, the Federal Council and the Federal Supreme Court respect each other. Each branch of government is aware that it has its own powers and that it must also take into account those of the other branches. The separation of powers exists first and foremost on paper in the Constitution and only becomes a reality through people’s willingness to respect it. For the future of Switzerland and our institution, I hope that the Federal Supreme Court will remain a point of reference and a factor for social peace. This is particularly important at a time when authority is increasingly being called into question.
Will artificial intelligence (AI) help draft judgements in future?
In my view, AI is not suitable for making legal decisions. It is based on probability calculations using existing information, i.e. the past. At the Federal Supreme Court, however, we are constantly confronted with new social issues and thus new legal problems. AI is not suitable for such a task. At the Federal Supreme Court, AI supports, for example, the anonymisation of our judgements, which are all published on the Internet. But it is always our employees who put the finishing touches to them. We are also currently developing an application for translating and summarising texts. In my opinion, AI must remain a tool to support decision-making: the decision itself must always be made by judges, i.e. by women and men who are aware of the human reality of the cases.
The president of the Federal Supreme Court is elected by Parliament for a term of two years. He represents the Federal Supreme Court vis-à-vis the outside world.
