-
- 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
-
- 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
-
- 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
-
- 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
-
- 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. Significance of the provision
- III. Inspection of election proposals
- Bibliography
- Materials
I. History of origins
1 The provision was introduced in 1976 when the PRA was enacted. According to the Federal Council's dispatch, it standardised the previous practice as approved by the Federal Supreme Court with regard to the freedom to vote in a decision from 1972. In order to eliminate any ambiguities, the decision was incorporated into the new law as a legal norm.
II. Significance of the provision
A. General
2 The provision states that the voters of the electoral district may inspect an election proposal and the names of the signatories. Voters have a right not only to know the individual candidates but also to know who the authors of an election proposal are. In practice, the provision is of little significance, since it is usually publicly known which group or which persons are behind an election proposal.
B. Legal comparison
3 Most cantons have practically identical provisions in their parliamentary election law.
III. Inspection of election proposals
4 According to the wording of the law, "the voters of the electoral district" are entitled to inspect the election proposals. The right to inspect the election proposals explicitly refers to "the election proposals" and "the names of the signatories". The competent electoral authority under cantonal law must grant access.
5 Interested voters may inspect the election proposals and the lists of signatories "at the competent authority". There is no entitlement under federal law to be given a copy of the relevant documents. It seems permissible, for reasons of data protection, to cover the home addresses of the candidates and signatories when granting access, as long as the purpose of the access (identification of the persons behind an election proposal) is not prevented.
6 Inspection of election proposals on the basis of Art. 26 PRA shall be granted after the expiry of the registration deadline. The electoral authority also does not publicly communicate the election proposals received before the election registration deadline. The parties and groups have the possibility to change their election proposals until the expiry of the submission deadline. The public has no right to be informed of election proposals received before the closing date for registration, nor can parties or other political groups inspect the election proposals of their competitors before the closing date for registration on the basis of Article 26 of the PRA.
7 The fundamental decision of the Federal Supreme Court was based on a case from the canton of Schwyz. In the National Council elections of 1971, a committee called "We want to vote" had submitted an election proposal at the last minute and thus prevented silent elections. Many people now wanted to know who was behind this election proposal. However, they refused to allow access to the list of signatories on the grounds of voting and election secrecy. The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the secrecy of the ballot protected the votes of voters, but did not prevent voters from inspecting the list of signatories. On the other hand, the principle of the freedom to vote requires such an inspection. "In order to be able to exercise the right to vote in full independence and freedom, however, every voter must have the possibility of obtaining clarification of the political intention of those proposed and those proposing." A suitable means for this is the inspection of the list of candidates. It could not be ruled out that the signatories "might be exposed to certain inconveniences from time to time" if their names were disclosed on request. "However, far more weight than the interest of the signatories in the secrecy of the lists has the interest of the general public in their accessibility. (...) Anyone who signs an election proposal and thus assumes significant functions under public law must face the public, even if this is difficult for him or her."
8 The idea behind this regulation makes sense. For the sake of transparency and in accordance with the principle of freedom to vote, those entitled to vote should be able to find out which people are behind an election proposal. With a view to practice, the scope of the norm must be put into perspective somewhat. In the canton of Schwyz, in 1971, when an election proposal required 15 signatures, it was possible to find out who was behind the proposal by looking at the list of signatures. In a canton where 200 or 400 signatures are required, however, it is much more difficult today to find out who is really behind an election proposal by looking at the signature lists. Many of the signatories have been approached as part of a broad collection of signatures and can hardly be seen as the decisive political forces behind an election proposal or as its authorship.
9 In practice, the granting of access on the basis of Art. 26 PRA hardly ever occurs. In general, the interested public knows which political direction a certain grouping represents and who is behind its election proposal. Cases such as the one underlying the Federal Supreme Court's landmark decision, where a completely unknown grouping submitted an election proposal at the last minute, are extremely rare.
Bibliography
Muheim Anton, Wahl des Nationalrates, in: Das Bundesgesetz über die politischen Rechte, Veröffentlichungen des Schweizerischen Instituts für Verwaltungskurse an der Hochschule St. Gallen, St. Gallen 1978, S. 65–89.
Tschannen Pierre, Kommentierung zu Art. 34 BV, in: Waldmann Bernhard/Belser Eva Maria, Epiney Astrid (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Bundesverfassung, Basel 2015.
Materials
Botschaft des Bundesrates an die Bundesversammlung zu einem Bundesgesetz über die politischen Rechte vom 9.4.1975 (BBl 1975 I 1317).