Administrative Law
Facing an authority, the roles are unequal — the procedure is not. We make sure your arguments are heard, and take a decision further where it does not hold.
What we do for you.
Decisions and Objections
We review a decision for jurisdiction, procedure and substance and draft the objection within the running deadline.
Appeals and Complaints
Representation before departments and the cantonal government, before cantonal administrative courts and before the Federal Supreme Court.
Public Procurement
Review of tender documents, objections during the procedure and appeals against an award — for bidders and for contracting authorities.
Permits and Charges
Hospitality, building and trade permits, concessions as well as fees, causal charges and contributions.
Public Employment Law
Dismissal, salary questions and disciplinary measures in employment with a canton, municipality or school.
File Access and Transparency
Enforcing the right to inspect files in proceedings and requests under federal and cantonal freedom-of-information acts.When Administrative Law Comes into Play
Administrative law governs the relationship between the state and private parties. It covers far more than dealings with officialdom in the narrow sense: a building permit, a tax assessment, a decision on contributions, the withdrawal of a driving licence, employment with a municipality, a public contract. The state acts here by formal decision — a sovereign individual act that establishes rights and duties and must carry a notice of appeal rights.
Procedure and Deadlines
A common route looks like this: objection or appeal to the deciding or the superior body, then a complaint to the cantonal administrative court, and finally — where admissible — an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (Art. 82 et seq. Federal Supreme Court Act). That is an example, not a fixed path: the sequence of instances and the deadlines follow the applicable statute. At federal level the Administrative Procedure Act applies, in the cantons the respective procedural statutes.
In every case the deadline is decisive — and it is not the same everywhere. In the Canton of St. Gallen the deadline for an appeal is fourteen days from notification, and five days for interim and enforcement measures (Art. 47 Administrative Justice Act); the same rules apply by analogy to a complaint to the administrative court (Art. 64). Before federal authorities and the Federal Supreme Court it is thirty days (Art. 50 Administrative Procedure Act, Art. 100 Federal Supreme Court Act). Your first look therefore belongs to the notice of appeal rights at the end of the decision: it names the deadline, the form and the competent authority. If you are unsure, have the decision reviewed at once — not shortly before it expires.
Legal Protection and Procedural Guarantees
The Federal Constitution protects those affected: the right to equal and fair treatment and to a decision within a reasonable time (Art. 29(1)), the right to be heard and to inspect the files (Art. 29(2)), and the guarantee of access to a court (Art. 29a). Alongside come the principles of state action: legal basis, public interest, proportionality and good faith (Art. 5). A considerable share of successful appeals rests not on the substantive question but on procedural error.
Public Procurement
Anyone awarding public contracts is bound by procurement law: at federal level the Public Procurement Act, in the cantons the Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement and the cantonal implementing legislation. For bidders we review tender documents and the suitability and award criteria, raise defects in good time and lodge appeals against exclusion or award. Contracting authorities we support in setting up legally sound procedures. Deadlines here are particularly short, and suspensive effect usually has to be applied for separately.
Administrative Law in Eastern Switzerland
We represent private clients, companies and institutions before municipalities, cantonal offices and federal authorities — from our offices in Wil SG, Teufen AR and Zurich, with the cantonal particularities of St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Thurgau and Zurich in view.
