Judges, dogs, rioters (Swiss Press Text 2013, by Christine Brand) - Swiss Press Award

NZZ am Sonntag

Christine Brand

Nowhere else is society held up to such a clear mirror, nowhere else are local stories about the worries and problems of ordinary people gathered in such abundance: It's not serious crimes, but rather minor everyday offenses that characterize the work of the Bern Regional Court. For a week in November, the author followed the smaller cases in court at the Bern Municipal Court building, cases that received little media attention, but in which decisions were nevertheless made about individual fates. A court report of a different kind – one that shows that intuition, insight into human nature, and humanity are just as crucial for judges as knowledge of the legal code.