Introduction to the

Swiss Constitutional System

Embassy of Switzerland in Indonesia

Lukas Eberli
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Embassy of Switzerland in Indonesia

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 Overview

• 1. The constitution of Switzerland

• 2. The system and form of Swiss government
• 3. Political parties and the election system
• 4. Democratic participation rights
• 5. The court system
• 6. The Education System & Scholarships

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 1. The constitution of Switzerland
- Principle of subsidiarity (Art. 3 and 5a; Federal State principle)
- More details in Art. 42-53)
- 4 national languages (Art. 4; German, French, Italian, Romansh)
- Fundamental rights (Art. 7-36)
- Enumeration of federal competences (Art. 51-135)
- Political Rights (Art. 136-142)
- Popular Initiative (Art. 138-139b)
- Referendum (Art. 140-141)
- Federal Authorities (Art. 143-191c)
- Parliament & its election (Art. 148-173)
- Federal Council & Administration (Art. 174-187)
- Federal Courts (Art. 188-191c)
- Additional provisions regarding constitutional revision (Art. 192-195)
- Transitional provisions (Art. 196-197)
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 2. The system and form of Swiss government

Establishment of the Swiss Confederation in 1848

 Confederation of States  Swiss federal State

3 federal levels
- Federal government (“Bund”)
- Regional entities (“Cantons”; today 26 Cantons)
- Municipalities

Federal law > law of the Cantons > municipal law

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 2. The system and form of Swiss government

Parliament (Legislative)
- National Council (popular representation)
- 200 national council members
- Council of States (representation of regions)
- 46 representatives
- 2 per Canton, 1 for “semi-Cantons” (through historic separation)

- Federal Council (Executive)

- 7 members
- President of the Federal Council (“primus inter pares”)

-- Federal Court
-- No constitutional jurisdiction (Art. 190 Swiss Constitution)
- Parliament
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 3. Political parties & the election system

Elections (on the federal level only Parliament)

- All 4 years  next 20 October 2019
- Both National Council and Council of states are directly elected by
the people
- The voting districts are the Cantons
- Council of State representatives are elected by majority vote
- National Council members are (usually) elected by proportional vote

- Federal Council & Federal judges are elected by both chambers of

Parliament in majority vote

- The Canton and municipal level reflect the federal level but foresee
the direct election of the executive and usually also judiciary by the
people
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 3. Political parties & the election system

Political Parties in Federal Parliament (based on federal

elections 2015)

- Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP; national conservatives; 29,4%)

- Sozialdemokratische Partei (SP; social-democratic; 18,8%)
- Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei (FDP; market-liberal; 16,4%)
- Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei (CVP; conservative democratic;
11,6%)
- Grüne Partei Schweiz (GPS; green-left; 7,1%)
- Grünliberale Partei (GLP; green-liberal; 4,6%)
- Bürgerlich-demokratische Partei (BDP; conservative; 4,1%)

 Principle of consociationalism («Konkordanz»)

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 3. Political parties & the election system

Political Parties in the Federal Council

- Alain Berset (SP; President (always for 1 year)

- Ueli Maurer (SVP; Vice-president (always for 1 year)
- Doris Leuthard (CVP)
- Simonetta Sommaruga (SP)
- Johann Schneider-Ammann (FDP)
- Guy Parmelin (SVP)
- Ignazio Cassis (FDP)

 Principle of collegiality
 Principle of “primus inter pares”

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 4. Democratic participation rights

- Active and passive right to vote

- 18 years old
- 1 Canton foresees 16
- Swiss citizen
- Some municipalities provide local voting rights to long-
term foreign residents
- Swiss abroad are entitled as well
- Referendum
- Popular Initiative

All these instruments are foreseen on the Federal and the Canton
level, most even on the municipal level

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 Referendum (Art. 140-141)
- mandatory (Art. 140)
- Amendments to the Federal Constitution
- Accession to organizations of collective security or to supranational
communities (e.g. NATO, EU)
- Emergency federal acts that are not based on a provision of the
Constitution and whose term of validity exceeds one year

- optional (Art. 141; 50’000 signatures)

- Federal acts
- Emergency federal acts whose term of validity exceeds one year
- Federal decrees, provided the Constitution or an act so requires
- most international treaties

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 Popular Initiative (Art. 138-139b; to change the
constitution)
- partial or total revision
- legal proposal (no real limits to content)
- Consistency of form
- Consistency of subject matter
- Does not infringe upon mandatory provisions of international law
(“ius cogens”)
- 100’000 signatures by Swiss citizens required to be initiated
- Government has option of counter-proposal
- indirect (law)
- direct (constitution)
- adoption
- requires a majority of the people
- and the Cantons
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 Statistics
- 461 popular initiatives since 1874
- 1/3 fails to achieve 100’000 signatures
- Only 4,% get approved by the people
- ¼ is withdrawn in favor of a counter-proposal
- ø 45% voter turnout

Examples

Next vote:
25 November 2018

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5. The court system

Based on Federal Law

st
- Federal court of 1 instance
- Federal Supreme Court

Based on Canton or municipal law

- District Court
- Canton Supreme Court
- Federal Supreme Court

 ECtHR (based on ECHR)

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 6. Education & Scholarship
- Competence of Cantons (therefore different systems)
- HarmoS (minimum uniform standards)
- Federal competence for polytechnic universities
- Primary school (6 years; starting age 7)
- Secondary school (3 years)
Apprenticeship (3-4 years; vocational training & education)
Vocational high-school-diploma
Studies at University of Applied Sciences
 High School (4-6 years)
Studies at University

Specialties of Swiss Education System:

- High permissibility
- Close matching of education and job market
 High innovation, low unemployment
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 Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship
- PhD
- Post-Doc
- Art students
- Alternative: university-specific scholarships

Find more information here:

https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/en/home/bildung/scholarships-and-
grants/swiss-government-excellence-scholarships-for-foreign-scholars-
an.html
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 Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpHDBWURJNA

Find more information here:

https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/en/home/bildung/scholarships-and-
grants/swiss-government-excellence-scholarships-for-foreign-scholars-
an.html
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 Helpful links
- www.ch.ch
- www.admin.ch
- www.parlament.ch
- www.bger.ch
- www.swissinfo.ch
- www.myswitzerland.ch
- www.swissuniversities.ch

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 Thank you for your attention

Embassy of Switzerland in Indonesia

Lukas Eberli, Team Diplomatic Tasks