Administrative Procedure Act

Administrative Procedure Act

The question you raise relates to what Swiss law calls the principle of promptness. First enshrined in article 29 of our Federal Constitution, this principle guarantees everyone the right to an administrative or judicial decision within a reasonable time. In Geneva, the principle of promptness is also guaranteed by the law on administrative procedure, article 77 of which states that the administrative courts must rule on appeals within one year of their being lodged.However, this time limit should not be seen as a strict rule and, depending on the circumstances, the courts may be allowed more time to reach their decisions, since under the law, an authority only breaches the principle of promptness when it refuses to rule or fails to rule on an appeal within a reasonable time. If an authority wrongly refuses to make a decision or delays in doing so, the law classifies this as silence and the authority thereby commits what is known as a denial of justice. In this context, it should be noted that the authority to which a denial of justice is referred will not rule on the merits of the case by issuing the decision you are awaiting, as its role is limited solely to ruling on the delay in making a decision by the previous authority.As it stands, your proceedings do not appear to be taking an exceptionally long time, as delays of several weeks - or even several months - are quite common between the various stages of a trial, especially in view of current health measures. If your case is not particularly complex, the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Justice should be able to give its decision within a period that is considered reasonable.