- The FDPIC has adopted the pilot test carried out in 2017 with mostly oral conciliation procedures, which has significantly accelerated conciliation procedures.
- The proportion of consensual solutions rose from 40% to 60%, with participant satisfaction remaining the same; successful measures will be maintained in the long term.
The FCO provides for a general right of access to official administrative documents (Art. 6 FCO). If an authority refuses access to requested documents, it must summarily justify this (Art. 12 FCO). Within 20 days of this statement or after the expiry of the period provided for this purpose, an appeal may be lodged with the FDPIC. Request for arbitration (Art. 13 et seq. of the Federal Law on Civil Procedure). On the Arbitration the Administrative Procedure Act is not applicable. It is therefore largely up to the FDPIC to decide on the details, which may, for example, dispense with a conciliation hearing and issue a recommendation within a period of 30 days (Art. 14 FPO). The applicant can then request a decision from the authority, which can be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court (Art. 15 and 16 FCO).
In order to accelerate the conciliation procedure, the FDPIC has Conducted a pilot test in 2017, where
Conciliation requests majority in Conciliation Negotiations be dealt with the persons and authorities involved. In the event of a failure to reach agreement, only a summarily justified recommendation be issued. Direct written procedures should now only be carried out in exceptional cases.
The FDPIC has now evaluated this trial. The conciliation procedures could be greatly accelerated as a result:
| Processing time in days | 2014 until August 2016* | Pilot phase 2017 |
| within 30 days | 11% | 59% |
| between 31 and 99 days | 45% | 37% |
| more than 100 days | 44% | 4% |
Also increased was the percentage of consensual resolutions, from 40% (2013−2016) to 60%. A survey of participants in conciliation hearings indicates that the quality of conciliation hearings is perceived to be about the same (average score of vs. 4.35 (2017) vs. 4.4 (2014) with a maximum of 5).
As a result
the commissioner transfers the pilot test to regular operation. The measures that have been successfully implemented (mostly oral proceedings, summary statements of reasons for recommendations, written proceedings only in exceptional cases) will be retained in their entirety for the conduct of conciliation proceedings. The right to adapt to new developments and findings is, of course, reserved.