Can a Swiss university/research institute investigate misconduct without hearing the complainant or asking for evidence? I am trying to understand how investigations into alleged scientific/research misconduct are supposed to work in Switzerland. Suppose someone files a formal complaint about potential scientific misconduct at a Swiss university or publicly funded research institute and states that they have documents and other evidence supporting the allegations. Can the institution legitimately conduct and close an investigation without: interviewing or hearing the person who filed the complaint; asking the complainant to provide their evidence; interviewing witnesses proposed by the complainant; giving the complainant an opportunity to respond to statements made by the person accused; providing the complainant with the investigation report or even a factual summary of the findings; and providing any possibility to challenge or appeal the outcome? I understand that a complainant may not necessarily have the legal status of a formal “party” to an investigation. However, I am struggling to understand how the underlying facts can be properly investigated if the investigators never ask the person making the allegations for their evidence. For example, if Person A alleges misconduct by Person B and says, “I have documents demonstrating what happened,” could an institution simply ask Person B and a few other people for their version of events, never request Person A’s documents, and then conclude that there was no misconduct? Is there any Swiss law, administrative-law principle, university regulation, or scientific-integrity standard that governs this? I am particularly interested in the distinction between: the right to be heard ( rechtliches Gehör ); whether a complainant has party status in a scientific-integrity proceeding; and the institution’s independent duty to establish the relevant facts and examine available evidence , even if the complainant is not formally a party. If anyone has experience with Swiss university/research-integrity procedures or Swiss administrative law, I would appreciate references to specific laws, regulations, court decisions, or institutional rules. I am mainly interested in understanding the legal/procedural principles, rather than discussing any particular institution or individual. submitted by /u/Peterjardin
Originally posted by u/Peterjardin on r/Switzerland