Neighbors in court for four years How much legal effort is an "asshole" worth?
A man calls his neighbor an "asshole" - he sues. Four years in court and a 700-page dossier are the result. Insult lawsuits are taking up more and more legal resources.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A man in Binningen felt unjustly accused by his neighbor. In the course of the dispute, he called him an "asshole".
- The neighbor sued - successfully.
- The number of criminal complaints for verbal abuse has doubled in the past 15 years.
- The number went up especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Courts have to examine such cases. More and more legal resources are being concentrated on charges of alleged insults.
When is verbal abuse a simple nuisance and when does it constitute criminal conduct? According to the current trend: faster and faster. In the last 15 years, the number of criminal charges for verbal abuse has doubled.
While some people are not deterred by even the wildest insults, for others even the term "asshole" is worth a complaint. This was also the case with two neighbors in Binningen, as reported by the "Basler Zeitung".
Because a man mistakenly believed that his neighbor was illegally using the visitor's parking space in front of the block, he confronted him. An argument broke out and, in the heat of the moment, the person parking called his subsequent plaintiff an "asshole".
Number of lawsuits for insults on the rise
Whether the complaint was exaggerated or not is a matter of opinion. The fact is that there is a legal guarantee that criminal complaints for insults must be dealt with by the courts. They cannot simply be dismissed.
In recent years, this regulation has led to an immense strain on legal resources. The number of complaints of verbal abuse increased, particularly in the years 2019 to 2022. The additional psychological strain during the coronavirus pandemic is likely to have played a part in this.
In an interview with the "Basler Zeitung" newspaper, Thomas Lyssy, Head of the Settlement Negotiations Office in the Basel region, sees social media as well as the pandemic as the reason why people are less resilient than before. In 2023, an average of more than 30 reports and criminal complaints of verbal abuse were received every day across Switzerland.
It's often testimony against testimony
Very few of them lead to punishment: It is too often a case of testimony against testimony. The case described in Binningen was different: A neighbor confirmed that she had heard the A-word. Although the defense accused her of bias in the case, this was enough to convict her.
The defendant lodged an appeal against the verdict. Now, four years after the incident and after the dossier dealing with the case has grown to 700 pages, he has been sentenced again - to the minimum penalty of 240 francs to be paid in three daily rates.
In the course of the trial, his plaintiff filed further charges - one against the defense lawyer. There was also a civil claim for alleged traumatization caused by the neighbourly conflict. This was dismissed by the court.
