Swiss candidate for ECHR faces unprecedented smear campaign

In 2019, the Swiss parliament elected Julia Hänni (left) as a judge at the Federal Court. Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Federal Court judge Julia Hänni almost withdrew her candidacy for the European Court of Human Rights after an anonymous campaign accusing her of plagiarism.

The anonymous campaign put such pressure on Hänni – a member of the Centre party – that she wanted to withdraw her candidacy as a Swiss judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. Hänni was accused of having plagiarised parts of her doctoral and habilitation theses.

Julia Hänni – CV

Hänni, born in 1977, has been a judge at Switzerland’s highest court since 2019. After studying law at the University of Zurich, she completed her PhD at the University of St Gallen, for which she received several awards, and got her habilitation at the University of Lucerne. From 2012 to 2016, she worked as a clerk at the Federal Court. She then became an assistant professor of public law, specialising in energy law, European law and legal philosophy, at the University of Lucerne. Since 2020, she has been an honorary professor of legal philosophy at the University of St Gallen.

Source: Swiss Federal CourtExternal link

“A campaign of this kind is extremely unusual,” says Regina Kiener, an expert on the Council of Europe and on judicial appointments. Since Switzerland ratified the European Convention on Human Rights over 50 years ago – and started sending a member to the ECHR – nothing of the sort has ever happened, she says.

Baseless claims

“Informal interventions in favour of a candidate at the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly – which elects judges to the court – are not unusual; let’s not kid ourselves,” adds Kiener. But an anonymous campaign against a candidate, specifically targeting her academic integrity, is unprecedented, she says.

It is still unclear who is behind the campaign targeting Hänni, pictured. Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Since the Federal Office of Justice had already investigated the accusations and found no evidence they were justified, Hänni decided to carry on. For her, the goal is to stay calm, she says. She does not know who is behind the smear campaign, which has been widely disseminated across media, universities, politics and the civil service.

Did the climate ruling play a role?

Those behind the campaign apparently take issue with the fact that Hänni has spoken in favour of the 2024 ECHR ruling in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women, who argued that the country’s climate policy infringed their rights. Hänni was said to have close ties with the current Swiss judge in Strasbourg, who backed the ruling.

How we reported on the 2024 ruling that resounded far beyond Switzerland:

In this light, is the campaign not about undermining Hänni’s candidacy at all but rather about putting pre-emptive pressure on her not to hand down unwelcome judgements at the ECHR?

Hänni is not the only Swiss judge to have come in for heavy press in the past weeks. Criticism has also been levelled at a federal judge’s long-term working from home arrangement, as well as a romantic relationship between two further judges.

In response to an enquiry, the Federal said there have been isolated instances in the past where media reported on such accusations. However, activity has spiked in recent months, it added.

And the timing is hardly coincidental: federal judges are up for re-election this autumn.

Thick skin required

According to Helen Keller, a law professor who served as a Swiss judge at the ECHR for nine years, the judiciary is becoming increasingly politicised. As a result, the election of judges in Switzerland is also coming under more scrutiny.

Why courts are becoming political

“The politicisation of the judiciary is a trend across Europe,” says Helen Keller. After the Second World War, courts were strengthened, while European law and the links between national courts and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg further boosted national courts, she says.

“Switzerland followed this trend somewhat belatedly because the Federal Court must, in part, also take on case law relating to bilateral treaties – which does not sit well with everyone,” Keller adds. In Switzerland, she adds, the Federal Court often has to fill gaps that politicians deliberately leave open.

Thirdly, there is a systematic attack on institutions going on – and above all on courts – from certain political circles, Keller says. “Individual judges are being discredited in order to weaken the institution,” she adds.

Are smear campaigns in the run-up to such elections becoming the new normal? “That is a danger,” says Keller. However, we should avoid talking about it as normal; “it would be good if judicial elections were as apolitical as possible,” she says. After all, the main quality of judges – aside from their professional qualifications – is their independence.

In future, the job requirements will likely also include another requirement: a thick skin, and this before they are even elected.

Translated from German, sub-edited by Domhnall O’Sullivan