Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Night-time cowbell dispute keeps Swiss courts busy

Dispute over night-time cowbell ringing occupies the courts
Dispute over night-time cowbell ringing occupies the courts Keystone-SDA

The nocturnal ringing of the bells of cows on a nearby farm will continue to bother two landowners in canton Fribourg. The Federal Court has rejected their application for the bells to be taken off at night.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The two landowners brought an action before the civil court to have the bells removed from the animals on the pastures adjacent to their property between 10pm and 7am. They kept a noise diary and took noise measurements themselves.

The civil court partially approved their requests, but the Fribourg cantonal court overturned this decision. It referred the case back to the civil court so that a noise report could be drawn up. It refused to issue precautionary measures. This is the result of a ruling by the Federal Court published on Thursday.

+ Complaints spark wave of support for cowbells in Bern village

Correct preliminary decision

The opponents of the cowbells tried to have the precautionary measures ordered by the cantonal authorities during the ongoing proceedings before Switzerland’s highest court. Specifically, they wanted the bells to be removed from the animals at night.

+ Church bells must cut back at night in Swiss town

However, nothing will come of this. The Federal Court confirmed that the cantonal court had not violated the appellants’ right to be heard and had correctly assessed the “private noise report” they had prepared. There was therefore nothing to criticise about the rejection of precautionary measures.

For this decision, the two landowners represented by a lawyer have to pay court costs of CHF4,000 ($4,550) to the Federal Court.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Volunteers collect plastics and other rubbish on the shores of Lake Geneva in 2018.

More

Swiss court suspends Geneva plan to ban single-use plastics

This content was published on A Geneva court has suspended a ban on the sale of single-use plastics in the city, which was due to be introduced on January 1. This follows an appeal by Swiss retailers to the Federal Court.

Read more: Swiss court suspends Geneva plan to ban single-use plastics
Inflation eases in 2024

More

Swiss inflation settled in 2024

This content was published on Consumer prices fell last year in Switzerland, new figures show. Higher rents and electricity prices were partially offset by lower prices for gas and prescription drugs.

Read more: Swiss inflation settled in 2024
Seasonal flu continues to gain ground

More

Flu cases soar in Switzerland

This content was published on New data from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) shows that flu cases doubled in Switzerland between mid and late December.

Read more: Flu cases soar in Switzerland

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR