Interview with the president of the Federal Supreme Court
President of the Federal Supreme Court 2023/2024
Yves Donzallaz
There is no democracy without an independent judiciary and no judiciary without independent judges.
Three questions to the president of the Federal Supreme Court
Has digitalisation also found its way into the Federal Supreme Court?
Digitalisation is well advanced at the Federal Supreme Court. The files on the more than 7,000 court proceedings that take place every year are now also managed electronically. In the morning, the mail is scanned. Later, the documents can be accessed electronically on the screen. However, the file with the paper documents still exists. The Federal Supreme Court is also participating in the nationwide “Justitia 4.0” project to digitise the Swiss justice system.
Does artificial intelligence (AI) play a role in the judiciary?
At the Federal Supreme Court, AI-based software developed in-house has been in use since 2021 to anonymise judgments before they are published on the internet. The AI application makes suggestions as to which names and references to a person’s identity should be replaced by “A.” “B.” or “C.”. The hit rate is over 90 percent. The rest and the control of the AI suggestions is done by humans.
Is the Federal Supreme Court close to the citizens?
Yes. First of all, there is very broad access to the Federal Supreme Court for citizens. Only in rare exceptional cases is an appeal to the highest court not possible. Moreover, the Federal Supreme Court does not want to be an ivory tower; on our 2023 open days to mark the 175th anniversary of the Federal Constitution, we had many great discussions with visitors. And we are already very much looking forward to a lively and enriching exchange at the 150th anniversary of the Federal Supreme Court in 2025!
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.
