part-time judge
Bezirk Schwyz
Schwyz
Key information
- Publication date:08 July 2025
- Workload:100%
- Contract type:Unlimited employment
- Place of work:Schwyz
Job summary
Join the Bezirksgericht Schwyz as a part-time judge. Embrace a unique opportunity in a supportive environment.
Tasks
- Maintain independence and impartiality in all court proceedings.
- Engage in extensive case study and preparation before hearings.
- Contribute diverse professional insights to enhance courtroom decisions.
Skills
- Candidates must demonstrate personal, social, and professional competence.
- Strong analytical and interpersonal skills are essential.
- Ability to engage with respect and seriousness towards all parties.
Is this helpful?
Requirements profile and guidance for part-time members of the District Court of Schwyz 1. General requirements - A court member must be independent and impartial (cf. Art. 30 para. 1 BV). They must not give the appearance of bias through their behavior and statements. Judges must ensure that they approach their duties without excessive zeal or anger. They must always maintain the necessary inner distance to the matter and the parties. Balance and objectivity are among the special characteristics. Judges must treat the parties with human respect and take their concerns seriously. Personal, social, and professional competence are essential for a judge.
- Incompatibility: Reference is made to the incompatibility provisions according to §§ 35 ff. of the Justice Act of November 18, 2009 (JG, SRSZ 231.110).
- Availability: In addition to long-term scheduled dates (regular court sessions), there are also exceptional cases that must be attended to relatively at short notice.
- File study: Before a court session, part-time judges are also provided with sometimes extensive case files. Judges must be prepared to read the files in advance of the session and gain an overview of the case material. 2. Special requirements
- A mixed court composed of full-time legal professionals and part-time (predominantly) non-lawyers has the advantage over a court that is exclusively staffed by lawyers as judges, as it represents not only legal knowledge and competence. In addition to various biographies, expertise from different professions is brought into the court. This allows for a lower number of required court expert opinions and facilitates access to and interpretation of court files. Last but not least, one may hope that a mixed composition preserves a certain "grounding" in jurisprudence. - For these advantages to be realized compared to a court exclusively staffed by lawyers, the electoral bodies or their preparatory instances are required to select personalities as judges who meet the aforementioned requirements. Furthermore, they should preferably bring professional knowledge from those areas that concern matters the court frequently deals with. These include, among others, the following professions:
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Construction professionals (engineers and architects); individuals from agriculture; individuals from the legal, financial, accounting, and collection sectors; individuals from human resources, IT, and social professions; individuals from skilled trades; individuals from the healthcare sector (doctors, etc.). This list is not exhaustive, and individuals from most other professions can also fulfill the role of a part-time judge well, provided the general requirements are met. Insufficient consideration of the most important professional groups for civil and criminal justice, as well as an unbalanced representation of genders, could seriously call into question the lay or rather professional judgeship and the functioning of the court in the long term. 3. Time commitment
The District Court of Schwyz currently has three chambers that meet alternately. The regular court day is Wednesday. A regular judge should expect an average of one session per month. These are either half-day or full-day sessions. 4. Compensation
Compensation is provided flat-rate based on time spent with a session fee. The rates are as of July 1, 2016: up to 2 hours: CHF 150.00 up to 3 hours: CHF 225.00 up to 4 hours: CHF 300.00 Daily compensation: CHF 450.00 File study per hour: CHF 50.00 Expense allowance of CHF 35.00 per assignment 5. Further information
Further information about the composition and jurisdiction of the District Court of Schwyz can be found on the homepage of the District of Schwyz (www.bezirk-schwyz.ch). Interested candidates can contact the court president Dr. iur. Michael Frey, Tel.: 041 819 67 68, for more information.
Schwyz, in October 2020
District Court of Schwyz
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