Vincent Augustin new President of the UBI
The Federal Council has elected Graubünden lawyer Vincent Augustin as the new President of the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (UBI). This is the first time that a Rhaeto-Romanic has headed this authority. The UBI also has three new members.
59-year-old Vincent Augustin, who chaired the Lia Rumantscha for eight years, holds a doctorate in law and is a former member of the Graubünden cantonal parliament. He has been a member of the UBI since 2013 and succeeds Roger Blum as President, who is stepping down at the end of the year because he has reached the age limit of 70. Of the previous presidents, four (Oskar Reck, Jörg Paul Müller, Felix Auer and Roger Blum) came from German-speaking Switzerland and three (Bernard Béguin, Ursula Nordmann and Denis Barrelet) from French-speaking Switzerland. For the first time, a Rhaeto-Romanic is now heading the appeals body.
The Federal Council also elected three new UBI members, namely 57-year-old Ticino lawyer and former RSI journalist Edy Salmina, 51-year-old Zurich lawyer and communications specialist Maja Sieber and 35-year-old Lucerne lawyer and legal advisor Mascha Santschi Kallay from the Bern region, former clerk of the supreme court and local radio journalist. The three new members will replace Paolo Caratti and Carine Egger Scholl, who have reached the permitted total term of office of 12 years, and Roger Blum. The Federal Council confirmed Zurich-based NZZ legal consultant Claudia Schoch Zeller, Geneva-based media law professor and data protection officer Stéphane Werly, Neuchâtel-based lawyer and journalist Suzanne Pasquier Rossier, Solothurn-based lawyer Catherine Müller and Zurich-based lawyer and journalism trainer Reto Schlatter as current members.
