-
- Art. 5a FC
- Art. 6 FC
- Art. 10 FC
- Art. 16 FC
- Art. 17 FC
- Art. 20 FC
- Art. 22 FC
- Art. 29a FC
- Art. 30 FC
- Art. 32 FC
- Art. 42 FC
- Art. 43 FC
- Art. 43a FC
- Art. 55 FC
- Art. 56 FC
- Art. 60 FC
- Art. 68 FC
- Art. 75b FC
- Art. 77 FC
- Art. 96 para. 2 lit. a FC
- Art. 110 FC
- Art. 117a FC
- Art. 118 FC
- Art. 123b FC
- Art. 136 FC
- Art. 166 FC
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- Art. 11 CO
- Art. 12 CO
- Art. 50 CO
- Art. 51 CO
- Art. 84 CO
- Art. 143 CO
- Art. 144 CO
- Art. 145 CO
- Art. 146 CO
- Art. 147 CO
- Art. 148 CO
- Art. 149 CO
- Art. 150 CO
- Art. 701 CO
- Art. 715 CO
- Art. 715a CO
- Art. 734f CO
- Art. 785 CO
- Art. 786 CO
- Art. 787 CO
- Art. 788 CO
- Transitional provisions to the revision of the Stock Corporation Act of June 19, 2020
- Art. 808c CO
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- Art. 2 PRA
- Art. 3 PRA
- Art. 4 PRA
- Art. 6 PRA
- Art. 10 PRA
- Art. 10a PRA
- Art. 11 PRA
- Art. 12 PRA
- Art. 13 PRA
- Art. 14 PRA
- Art. 15 PRA
- Art. 16 PRA
- Art. 17 PRA
- Art. 19 PRA
- Art. 20 PRA
- Art. 21 PRA
- Art. 22 PRA
- Art. 23 PRA
- Art. 24 PRA
- Art. 25 PRA
- Art. 26 PRA
- Art. 27 PRA
- Art. 29 PRA
- Art. 30 PRA
- Art. 31 PRA
- Art. 32 PRA
- Art. 32a PRA
- Art. 33 PRA
- Art. 34 PRA
- Art. 35 PRA
- Art. 36 PRA
- Art. 37 PRA
- Art. 38 PRA
- Art. 39 PRA
- Art. 40 PRA
- Art. 41 PRA
- Art. 42 PRA
- Art. 43 PRA
- Art. 44 PRA
- Art. 45 PRA
- Art. 46 PRA
- Art. 47 PRA
- Art. 48 PRA
- Art. 49 PRA
- Art. 50 PRA
- Art. 51 PRA
- Art. 52 PRA
- Art. 53 PRA
- Art. 54 PRA
- Art. 55 PRA
- Art. 56 PRA
- Art. 57 PRA
- Art. 58 PRA
- Art. 59a PRA
- Art. 59b PRA
- Art. 59c PRA
- Art. 62 PRA
- Art. 63 PRA
- Art. 67 PRA
- Art. 67a PRA
- Art. 67b PRA
- Art. 75 PRA
- Art. 75a PRA
- Art. 76 PRA
- Art. 76a PRA
- Art. 90 PRA
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- Vorb. zu Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 2 FADP
- Art. 3 FADP
- Art. 5 lit. f und g FADP
- Art. 6 Abs. 6 and 7 FADP
- Art. 7 FADP
- Art. 10 FADP
- Art. 11 FADP
- Art. 12 FADP
- Art. 14 FADP
- Art. 15 FADP
- Art. 19 FADP
- Art. 20 FADP
- Art. 22 FADP
- Art. 23 FADP
- Art. 25 FADP
- Art. 26 FADP
- Art. 27 FADP
- Art. 31 para. 2 lit. e FADP
- Art. 33 FADP
- Art. 34 FADP
- Art. 35 FADP
- Art. 38 FADP
- Art. 39 FADP
- Art. 40 FADP
- Art. 41 FADP
- Art. 42 FADP
- Art. 43 FADP
- Art. 44 FADP
- Art. 44a FADP
- Art. 45 FADP
- Art. 46 FADP
- Art. 47 FADP
- Art. 47a FADP
- Art. 48 FADP
- Art. 49 FADP
- Art. 50 FADP
- Art. 51 FADP
- Art. 54 FADP
- Art. 57 FADP
- Art. 58 FADP
- Art. 60 FADP
- Art. 61 FADP
- Art. 62 FADP
- Art. 63 FADP
- Art. 64 FADP
- Art. 65 FADP
- Art. 66 FADP
- Art. 67 FADP
- Art. 69 FADP
- Art. 72 FADP
- Art. 72a FADP
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- Art. 2 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 3 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 4 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 5 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 6 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 7 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 8 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 9 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 11 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 12 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 25 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 29 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 32 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 33 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 34 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
CODE OF OBLIGATIONS
FEDERAL LAW ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
LUGANO CONVENTION
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON POLITICAL RIGHTS
CIVIL CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON CARTELS AND OTHER RESTRAINTS OF COMPETITION
FEDERAL ACT ON INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
DEBT ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON DATA PROTECTION
SWISS CRIMINAL CODE
CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
- I. History of origins
- II. Comparison of laws
- III. Significance of the provision and content of the provision
- IV. Excursus: Legal protection
- Bibliography
I. History of origins
1 Since the founding of the modern federal state, the seats of the National Council have been distributed among the cantons in proportion to their resident population. In addition to Swiss citizens, foreigners are also counted, but not Swiss citizens living abroad. In the past, there have been various attempts to change the basis for calculating the distribution of seats among the cantons. All parliamentary reform attempts failed. Even the popular initiative (Hochstrasser Initiative) launched by National Councilor Candid Hochstrasser (KK/LU), which demanded that the distribution of seats in the National Council be based on the number of Swiss citizens, failed in 1903 due to both the popular vote and the majority of the cantons.
2 Until the 2011 National Council elections, the basis for the distribution of seats among the cantons was the result of the census of the resident population (census), which was conducted every ten years. With the entry into force of the totally revised Federal Act on the Federal Population Census of 22 June 2007, the census is now conducted as a register survey (Art. 4 para. 1 Census Act). The official registers of persons of the Confederation, the cantons and the communes serve as the data basis (art. 5 para. 2 lit. a Census Act). With the total revision of the Census Act, Art. 16 para. 1 PRA was also revised. According to the revised provision, the seats must be redistributed among the cantons for each total renewal election. The distribution is based on the figures of the register survey conducted in the first calendar year following the last general renewal elections of the National Council. This revised provision has been applied since the 2015 National Council elections.
II. Comparison of laws
3 All cantons that provide for electoral constituencies for the election of their parliament establish rules on the basis for calculating the allocation of seats to the respective electoral constituencies, whereby three variants are conceivable. A majority of the cantons (ZH, BE, LU, SZ, OW, NW, GL, ZG, FR, SO, BS, SH, AR, AI, SG, AG, TG, VD and JU) use the number of permanent residents as the basis for allocating seats to the constituencies, as does the Confederation.
4 A minority of cantons provides for narrower calculation bases for the allocation of seats. In the cantons of Uri, Graubünden and Valais, the permanent Swiss resident population of the electoral districts is decisive for the allocation of seats. In the canton of Basel-Landschaft, the number of voters in the last federal or cantonal referendum held at least twelve months before the election date shall be decisive for the allocation of seats to the electoral districts.
5 In the cantons of Ticino, Neuchâtel and Geneva, the Grand Council (Gran Consiglio or Grand Conseil) is elected in a single electoral district. Therefore, there is no need to allocate seats to the regional constituencies. However, other measures exist in the cantons of Ticino and Neuchâtel to achieve adequate regional representation. In the canton of Ticino, the lists can allocate their own election proposals to constituencies provided for by law in order to ensure regional representation. In the canton of Neuchâtel, the cantonal constitution provides that the law must ensure balanced representation of the various regions of the canton. Therefore, the Neuchâtel law stipulates that each electoral region receives a guaranteed minimum number of seats in the Grand Council. This minimum number of seats is calculated by the State Chancellery on the basis of the cantonal census of the penultimate year preceding the election, based on the resident population of the canton.
III. Significance of the provision and content of the provision
6 Art. 16 and 17 PRA are implementing provisions of Art. 149 para. 4 FC. This constitutional provision states that the 200 seats of the National Council shall be distributed among the cantons according to population, with each canton having at least one seat. Art. 16 PRA regulates the basis of calculation and the responsibility for the distribution of seats among the cantons. Art. 17 PRA describes the actual seat allocation procedure.
A. Para. 1: Basis for calculating the allocation of seats
7 The basis for calculating the proportional allocation of seats to the cantons shall be the resident population and not the number of persons entitled to vote. The decisive figures for the distribution of National Council seats among the cantons are those resulting from the register surveys conducted as part of the census in accordance with the Census Act in the first calendar year following the last general renewal elections to the National Council (Art. 16 para. 1 PRA). The distribution of seats among the cantons is based on their share in the permanent resident population of Switzerland (Art. 6a VPR in conjunction with. Art. 2 lit. d items 1-3 and 19 lit. a Census Ordinance). The permanent resident population includes all persons registered in Switzerland at their main place of residence.
persons of Swiss nationality registered in Switzerland;
foreign nationals outside the asylum process with a residence or settlement permit for at least twelve months or short-stay permits for a cumulative residence period of at least twelve months; and
Persons in the asylum process with a total duration of stay of at least twelve months.
8 In the doctrine, it is argued that for reasons of constitutional and democratic theory, it is best to base the calculation regarding the distribution of seats on the permanent resident population. This is justified by the fact that parliament as a body represents not only those entitled to vote, but rather the entire population. The restriction to the Swiss resident population, on the other hand, is justified by the fact that the latter is the ideological bearer of popular sovereignty. A similar argument is made when the eligible voters are used as the basis for calculation. These are the "legal holders of popular sovereignty". However, the number of eligible voters as a basis for calculation is credited in doctrine with the fact that equality of voting power would thus probably be best preserved. All three bases of calculation are compatible with Articles 8 and 34 FC according to the established case law of the Federal Supreme Court.
9 This theoretical discussion regarding the "best" calculation basis for the allocation of seats is irrelevant for states that elect their parliaments in a single constituency and therefore do not have to allocate seats. Naturally, they escape this "resistance of viewpoints". A single electoral district turns out to be an extremely elegant solution in this respect.
B. Para. 2: Competence of seat allocation
10 Art. 16 para. 2 of the PRA determines which authority is responsible for the distribution of National Council seats among the cantons and on what basis the competent authority is to carry out the distribution. Pursuant to Art. 13, Sentence 1, of the Census Act, the Federal Council establishes the population figures every four years in a binding manner and publishes them in the Federal Gazette. The figures from the register surveys conducted in the first calendar year after the general elections of the National Council are decisive for this (Art. 13 sentence 2 of the Census Act). Based on this determination, the Federal Council shall at the same time determine in a binding manner the number of seats to be allocated to the individual cantons (constituencies) in the following general renewal election of the National Council. This shall be done by ordinance.
11 Most recently, the Federal Council issued the Ordinance on the Allocation of Seats in the Overall Renewal of the National Council based on Art. 16 para. 2 PRA and the Federal Council Resolution on the Maintenance of the Numbers of the Permanent Resident Population at the End of 2020 of 1 September 2021. This Ordinance regulates the allocation of seats pursuant to Art. 17 PRA for the total renewal of the National Council for the 52nd legislative term. The next update of the figures for the permanent resident population will take place at the end of 2024. These figures will be decisive for the allocation of seats for the overall renewal of the National Council for the 53rd legislative term.
IV. Excursus: Legal protection
12 At the cantonal level, the distribution of parliamentary seats among the electoral districts repeatedly gives rise to legal disputes. At the federal level, too, there is a possibility of legal protection with regard to the distribution of National Council seats among the cantons. Admittedly, the ordinance of the Federal Council on the distribution of seats in the overall renewal of the National Council cannot be challenged directly before the Federal Supreme Court on the basis of Art. 189 para. 4 FC. However, it is possible that the Federal Council's ordinance may be reviewed incidentally (by way of preliminary question) in the context of a challenge to the cantonal arrangement of the National Council elections as to its compatibility with higher-level law. Thus, those entitled to vote could, by means of an election complaint to the cantonal government (Art. 77 let. c PRA) or a subsequent appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (Art. 80 para. 1 PRA), namely assert calculation errors.
I would like to thank Benjamin Böhler, auxiliary assistant at the Center for Democracy Aarau, for his assistance in researching the material and for his valuable comments in reviewing the text.
Bibliography
Auer Andreas, Staatsrecht der schweizerischen Kantone, Zürich 2016.
Biaggini Giovanni, Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft, Kommentar, 2. Aufl., Zürich 2017.
Bisaz Corsin, § 2 Wahlorgan, Wählbarkeit und Wahlkreise, in: Glaser Andreas (Hrsg.), Das Parlamentswahlrecht der Kantone, Zürich 2018.
Brunner Arthur/Zollinger Marco, Die richterliche Überprüfung von Rechtsverordnungen, in: LeGes 2021.
Giacometti Zaccaria, Das Staatsrecht der schweizerischen Kantone, Zürich 1941.
Hangartner Yvo/Kley Andreas, Die demokratischen Rechte in Bund und Kantonen der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft, 1. Aufl., Zürich 2000.
Hangartner Yvo/Kley Andreas/Braun Binder Nadja/Glaser Andreas, Die demokratischen Rechte in Bund und Kantonen der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft, 2. Aufl., Zürich 2023.
Markić Luka, Kommentierung zu Art. 17 BPR, in: Glaser Andreas/Braun Binder Nadja/Bisaz Corsin/Tornay Schaller Bénédicte (Hrsg.), Onlinekommentar zum Bundesgesetz über die politischen Rechte, https://onlinekommentar.ch/de/kommentare/bpr17, besucht am 15.6.2023.
Müller Boris, Wahlkreisprobleme, in: AJP 2014, S. 1307–1324.
Thurnherr Daniela, Kommentierung zu Art. 149 BV, in: Waldmann Bernhard/Besler Eva Maria/Epiney Astrid (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Bundesverfassung, Basel 2015.
Weber Anina, Vom Proporzglück zur Proporzgenauigkeit, Zur Verfassungskonformität der geltenden Sitz- und Mandatsverteilungsverfahren im Bund, AJP 2010, S. 1373–1380 (zit. Weber, Proporzglück).
Weber Anina, Schweizerisches Wahlrecht und die Garantie der politischen Rechte, Eine Untersuchung ausgewählter praktischer Probleme mit Schwerpunkt Proporzwahlen und ihre Vereinbarkeit mit der Bundesverfassung, Zürich 2016 (zit. Weber, Wahlrecht).