235.1 Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection 2 The Commissioner may also advise departments of the Federal Administration in cases where this Act is inapplicable in terms of Art. 2 paragraph 2 c and d. The departments of the Federal Administration may allow the Commissioner to inspect their activities. $UWLFOH Duties relating to medical research 1 The Commissioner shall advise the Commission of Experts on Professional Confidentiality in bis Medical Research (art. 321 Swiss Penal Code (PC)11); 2 In the event that this Commission authorises the lifting of confidentiality, he shall monitor compliance with the related conditions therefor. In this regard, he may conduct investigations in terms of Article 27 paragraph 3. 3 The Commissioner shall have a right of appeal against decisions made by the Commission of Experts to the Federal Data Protection Commission. 4 He shall work towards ensuring that the patients are informed of their rights. 6HFWLRQ)HGHUDO'DWD3URWHFWLRQ&RPPLVVLRQ $UWLFOH 1 The Federal Data Protection Commission is an arbitration and appeals commission in accordance with Article 71 a-c of the Federal Law on Administrative Procedure12. It makes decisions on: a. the recommendations of the Commissioner (Article 29 paragraph 4) that are laid before it; b. appeals against decisions made by Federal authorities relating to data protection matters, with the exception of those decisions made by the Federal Council; c. appeals against the decisions of the Commission of Experts on Professional Confidentiality in medical research (Art. 321 PC)13; d. appeals against cantonal decisions of the final instance that are based on Federal public law provisions on data protection. 2 In the event that the Commissioner establishes, as a result of an enquiry undertaken in accordance with the provisions of Article 27 paragraph 2 or Article 29 paragraph 1, that the person affected may be prejudiced in a manner that would be difficult to rectify, he may apply to the President of the Data Protection Commission for interim measures to be ordered. Articles 79 to 84 of the Federal Law or Federal Civil Procedure14 shall apply by analogy to this procedure. 11 SR 311.0 12 SR 172.021 13 SR 311.0 14 SR 273 10