Right to a lawful judge

The right to a lawful judge prevents manipulation of jurisdiction and court composition. In Switzerland it requires that the competent court, allocation rules and participation of judges be based on legal norms or predetermined objective rules. Authorities may not create special tribunals or select decision-makers for a specific outcome. The guarantee covers subject-matter, territorial and functional jurisdiction as well as proper court composition. Administrative allocation systems are acceptable if they are transparent enough and leave no room for arbitrary case assignment.