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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. General
- II. Promotion of sport and physical activity
- Recommended further reading
- About the author
- Bibliography
I. General
A. History of origins
1 The first beginnings of a (federal) state promotion and regulation of sport were evident in Switzerland around 1874. At that time, a sport-specific constitutional provision was lacking. The federal government did address the issue of gymnastics and sports for the first time in the context of the 1874 constitutional revision. However, the discourse in this first phase of the federal constitutional coverage of gymnastics and sports was largely shaped by defense policy considerations: Based on the defense articles of the old federal constitution of May 29, 1874 (Art. 18 ff. aBV), compulsory preliminary instruction for boys from the age of 10 to 20 was introduced as part of the military organization of 1874. This served as preparation for military service.
2 Due to unsatisfactory implementation of compulsory preliminary instruction in the cantons, various adjustments were made with the military organization of 1907: Gymnastics instruction was declared compulsory at schools for boys from the seventh school year and supplemented with voluntary preliminary instruction after leaving school. The 1909 ordinance on preliminary instruction was revised in 1928 and finally transferred to the ordinance of January 7, 1947 on the promotion of gymnastics and sports. In the latter, the compulsory school sports program was fixed at three hours per week and the operation of the Federal Gymnastics and Sports School created in Magglingen during the Second World War was anchored. At the federal level, the regulations on gymnastics and sports - as well as the compulsory school sports program - were directed only at boys and young men until 1970. By the Second World War, however, 15 cantons had declared gymnastics compulsory for girls and young women as well.
3 The second phase of the federal constitutional coverage of sport in Switzerland began to emerge in the second half of the 20th century. Due to the reduced physical activity of the population, the positive health aspects associated with gymnastics and sports increasingly came to the forefront of (political) considerations. Moreover, until 1970, the articles of defense of the old Federal Constitution formed the constitutional basis, which limited the competence of the Confederation to promote gymnastics and sports, both in terms of age and gender. This limitation led to unsatisfactory results, especially with regard to gender equality and the health of the entire population. In 1967, therefore, work began on a constitutional article and a federal law on the promotion of gymnastics and sport. The new Art. 27quinquies aBV was approved by a large majority in the referendum of September 27, 1970. Among other things, this gave the compulsory school sports program and the Federal Gymnastics and Sports School in Magglingen a constitutional basis and gave the federal government the authority to issue regulations on gymnastics and sports with effect for the entire population. Furthermore, the systematic placement of the constitutional article in Art. 27 et seq. aBV on education underscored the "decoupling from national defense".
4 Based on Art. 27quinquies aBV, the Federal Law of 17 March 1972 on the Promotion of Gymnastics and Sports (SR 415.0) and the Ordinance of 26 June 1972 on the Federal Law on the Promotion of Gymnastics and Sports (SR 415.01) came into force on 1 July 1972. The purpose of the law was to promote gymnastics and sports in the interest of youth development, public health and physical fitness. The "health, social and sports policy concerns" of the federal legislature were clearly expressed in it. Specifically, the federal law declared gymnastics and physical education compulsory for all students in all elementary, secondary, and vocational schools, including seminaries and teacher training colleges. Voluntary preliminary military instruction was transferred to "a modern institution," Youth and Sports.
5 While in the first two phases specific concerns were associated with the promotion of gymnastics and sport, from the third phase onwards the constitutional federal competence was characterized by a holistic promotion of sport. It is true that the content of Art. 27quinquies aBV was transferred unchanged to Art. 68 BV in the course of the total revision of the Federal Constitution. Nevertheless, it is clear from the corresponding message that the constitutional article was editorially revised in the sense of the sports associations and "now" anchors a federal competence for the holistic promotion of sport. In this sense, the Federal Council carried out this change of direction in the year the new Federal Constitution came into force with the adoption of the concept of November 30, 2000 for a sports policy in Switzerland. The sports policy concept was based on the five areas of health, education, performance, economy as well as sustainability, whereby sports policy was "embedded in the overriding state objectives" on the basis of an overall guiding principle of sport and five main objectives. Accordingly, it cannot be seen that the federal government pursued an independent state goal with the promotion of sports in this phase. Rather, the Federal Council sought "to make a political contribution [to] the emergence of a broad culture of movement, a ′Spirit of Sport′, which can also contribute to the cohesion and identity of our society."
6 Based on Art. 68 BV, the Federal Law of 17 June 2011 on the Promotion of Sport and Physical Activity (Sports Promotion Law, SpoFöG; SR 415.0) and the Ordinance of 23 May 2012 on the Promotion of Sport and Physical Activity (Sports Promotion Ordinance, SpoFöV; SR 415.01) then entered into force on 1 October 2012. The proven and essential thrusts of the sports policy concept were incorporated into the new Sports Promotion Act. However, the change to a holistic approach to sports promotion did not have a substantial impact on the scope of state sports promotion. Sports promotion in Switzerland subsequently remained characterized by the primacy of private involvement as an outgrowth of the principle of subsidiarity.
7 Currently, the Federal Sports Promotion Action Plan of October 26, 2016, defines federal sports policy. The action plan was drawn up in response to motion 13.3369 of the Committee for Science, Education and Culture of the National Council and provides a conceptual and financial overview of the future development of federal sports promotion. The action plan includes a concept for mass sports and a concept for competitive sports, as well as a real estate concept for sports.
B. Constitutional definition of sport
8 The concept of sport is not defined in the Federal Constitution. Nor can it be derived from the systematics of the Federal Constitution or from any other constitutional provision. The concept of sport can only be found in Art. 68 of the Federal Constitution and in Art. 106 para. 6 of the Federal Constitution (on the use of the net proceeds from money games). Even otherwise, there is no recognized legal definition of the term. However, due to the endeavor to promote sport as a whole, a broad constitutional definition of sport can be assumed. Against this background, the Council of Europe's definition of sport can be used, as it has a certain international acceptance and, in contrast to other common definitions, a less restrictive and open formulation. According to this definition, sport covers "toutes formes d'activités physiques qui, à travers une participation organisée ou non, ont pour objectif l'expression ou l'amélioration de la condition physique et psychique, le développement des relations sociales ou l'obtention de résultats en compétition de tous niveaux". In line with this concept, the Confederation promotes sport and physical activity in the interest of the physical performance and health of the population, holistic education and social cohesion.
II. Promotion of sport and physical activity
9 Art. 68 BV is located in the third section on education, research and culture in the distribution of tasks and competences between the Confederation and the cantons. From a systematic point of view, the article is thus part of the education constitution, although it was not the subject of the reorganization of the constitutional provisions on education in 2006. Due to its systematic position, the content of Art. 68 BV specific to education law and school sports - in particular Art. 68 para. 3 BV - conceptually represents an element of the Swiss education area (cf. Art. 61a BV). However, the provision has a broader, "independent meaning" insofar as it is dedicated to the promotion of sport beyond education (holistically). Three different types of federal competences result from Art. 68 BV. While Art. 68 para. 1 BV as a parallel and limited promotion competence of the Confederation does not exclude a simultaneous promotion of sport and physical activity by the cantons, Art. 68 para. 2 BV anchors a mandate for action to the Confederation to operate a sports school. Art. 68 para. 3 BV contains a concurrent, subsequently derogating legislative competence in the area of youth and school sports.
A. Paragraph 1: Promotion of sport
10 According to Art. 68 para. 1 BV, the Confederation shall promote sport, in particular education. The first paragraph of the constitutional article establishes a federal competence and at the same time mandates the Confederation to act in a promotional capacity. It forms the constitutional basis for the Confederation's promotion of sport and physical activity.
1. Competence of the Confederation to promote sport
11 The competence to promote sport exists in parallel with that of the cantons. It does not include any regulatory competence, since for systematic considerations the second and third paragraphs of the constitutional provision would otherwise be superfluous. In the absence of such a competence, the Confederation cannot establish regulations on sport per se or on individual sports. Consequently, the power under Art. 68(1) FC is purely a power of promotion; it is limited to that. On the other hand, Art. 68 para. 1 BV does not restrict the way in which the Confederation promotes sport. The competence to promote is therefore to be understood holistically and can extend to all types of sport and to the entire population. Furthermore, the form of support results from the use of the term promoting. Promoting is primarily characterized as support through financial means. At the same time, promoting means acting in a subsidiary manner. In principle, the (financial) support must therefore refer to existing cantonal, communal or private measures and, if necessary, supplement them. The parallel competence is consequently limited to an overall but subsidiary support of sports, namely in the form of financial state benefits or through the creation of favorable framework conditions. These framework conditions are again to be defined broadly. They may include, for example, the creation of a favorable tax system for national and international sports federations and sports clubs or the fight against doping to ensure clean sport.
12 However, Art. 68 para. 1 BV does not only contain a competence according to which the Confederation may promote sport. Rather, the constitutional article also obliges the Confederation to promote sport. In this respect, the first paragraph also enshrines an obligatory mandate for the Confederation. To a certain extent, this obligation to promote sport is in tension with the principle according to which promotion implies a subsidiary action of the Confederation. Consequently, the scope of the constitutional mandate to promote cannot be determined in the abstract. It results on the one hand from the political and social goals associated with the promotion of sports and on the other hand from the lack of private initiatives or private commitment. Both factors can vary depending on the type of sport, be the same or opposite, and be subject to change over time.
13 The promotion competence and the promotion mandate refer in particular to training. This second sub-sentence of the first paragraph of Art. 68 BV makes it clear that promotion refers equally to grassroots sport, performance-oriented youth sport and top-level sport. At the same time, this recognizes that top-level sport is an "important motor of sport development", since it "influences mass sport as a motivator and pacesetter", as well as being a "national identity generator and an economic factor that should not be underestimated". The additional sub-sentence also allows the federal government to financially support the training and further education of sports teachers, to promote the creation of supra-regional, cantonal, communal or private sports schools and to coordinate their operation. Without interfering with the school sovereignty of the cantons (cf. Art. 62 para. 1 BV), the Confederation is thus also entitled to take measures to reconcile compulsory schooling with junior competitive sport.
2. Sports promotion measures at federal level
14 Like the scope of constitutionally permissible promotion, the type of measures to be taken is also not specified in Art. 68 para. 1 BV. However, the constitutional article does not limit the conceivable measures within the scope of what is otherwise constitutionally permissible. Based on Art. 68 para. 1 BV, the Confederation has taken a number of promotional measures. The promotion measures result from federal legislation, namely from the Sports Promotion Act, and they are concretized in the Sports Promotion Ordinance. With regard to the general promotion of sport and physical activity, the federal government first supports, coordinates and initiates programs and projects to promote regular sport and physical activity at all age levels. In addition to the Youth and Sport program, this includes in particular the Adult Sport Switzerland (esa) program. In this regard, the Confederation is essentially involved in the training and further education of managers who lead sports programs for people in adulthood. In addition, the Confederation supports the sports associations. The umbrella organization of Swiss sport (Swiss Olympic) receives an annual contribution for the promotion, development and support of Swiss sport, whereby the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO) concludes a performance contract with the umbrella organization, which regulates in particular the cash, service and in-kind contributions of the Confederation to the umbrella organization as well as their onward transfer to the national sports associations. Within the scope of its responsibilities, the Confederation ensures that international sports federations find good framework conditions for their activities in Switzerland. In this context, the exemption of international sports federations from direct federal tax - which has been criticized in some quarters - should be mentioned. The federal government can also provide financial assistance for sports facilities of national importance. In connection with sports infrastructure, the Confederation prepares a National Sports Facilities Concept (NASAK), which shows the stock of existing sports facilities of national importance, the need for sports facilities as well as the realization priorities and the cost implications. The FOSPO also runs a course and training center in Magglingen and one in Tenero.
15 In addition to these measures for the general promotion of sport and physical activity, the Confederation supports the promotion of performance-oriented junior sport and top-level sport. To this end, it provides, in particular, services to support top athletes in their performance development and supports the training and further education of coaches in performance-oriented junior sports and top sports. Of considerable importance in the promotion of top-level sport is also the possibility for top athletes to use their compulsory and voluntary military service for performance development and competitions. Based on the corresponding legal requirement, the Ordinance of 29 October 2003 on Military Sport (SR 512.38) regulates measures to promote top-level sport during military service. As such measures, the Confederation offers, for example, the top sports recruit school or employment as a temporary military person. Furthermore, the Confederation can support international sports events and congresses in Switzerland that are of European or worldwide significance, provided that the cantons contribute appropriately to the costs. Within this framework, the Confederation may contribute to the costs of bidding for and organizing international sports events and congresses. Finally, under the heading of fairness and safety, the Confederation creates the conditions for clean and transparent sport by combating the undesirable side effects of sport. To this end, it establishes anti-doping regulations and takes measures against competition manipulation. In addition, the existing legal basis, in the view advocated here, also provides an opportunity to combat systemic problems such as the physical and psychological abuses in sport as undesirable side effects. In particular, the federal government can make its financial support dependent on appropriate measures to combat, educate and control abuse within the associations.
3. Financial commitment of the Confederation, cantons and municipalities in the area of sport
16 As already mentioned, state sport promotion in Switzerland is characterized by the primacy of private commitment and the principle of subsidiarity. This means that private sports associations and sports clubs form the sponsorship and basis of Swiss sport. This goes hand in hand with a voluntary commitment that is difficult to quantify. This militia principle has "a long tradition" in Swiss sport and relieves the state in financial terms. Moreover, the federal government and the cantons and municipalities finance only a small part of the total sports funding. The state's share of sports funding in Switzerland is estimated at 5%. In 2010, the federal government spent a total of CHF 190 million on sports, while the cantons spent CHF 232 million and the municipalities CHF 1.35 billion. In subsequent years, cantonal and municipal spending in favor of sport remained largely constant in total: in 2018, cantonal spending amounted to Fr. 290 million and that of the municipalities to Fr. 1.26 billion.
17 The Federal Act of September 29, 2017, on Money Games (Money Games Act, BGS; SR 935.51) obliges the cantons to use the net profits from lotteries and sports betting in full for charitable purposes, including in the area of sports (see also Art. 106 para. 6 BV). Around half of the cantonal expenditure in favor of sports is financed by the distribution of the net profits of the two national lotteries SWISSLOS Interkantonale Landeslotterie Genossenschaft and Société de la loterie de la Suisse romande. In 2020, the two lottery companies distributed a combined amount of Fr. 178 million for the benefit of Swiss sports. Of this amount, around CHF 120.9 million went to the cantons for the purpose of promoting mass sports and sports infrastructure. Fr. 57.1 million went to the Sport-Toto-Gesellschaft, which passed these funds on to Swiss Olympic, Swiss Football, Swiss Ice Hockey and Swiss Sports Aid. As of January 1, 2023, the (new) Foundation for the Promotion of Sports in Switzerland will take over the tasks of the Sport-Toto-Gesellschaft.
B. Paragraph 2: Sports School
18 Art. 68 para. 2 BV stipulates that the Confederation shall operate a sports school. The idea of a federal sports school arose under the impression of the Second World War in order to improve the military fitness of the (male) population. By federal decree of March 3, 1944, the Federal Gymnastics and Sports School in Magglingen was created with the purpose of training military instructors. Its operation was initially regulated by the ordinance of January 7, 1947, on the promotion of gymnastics and sports. In the course of the creation of the constitutional article, the sports school found an explicit constitutional anchoring in Art. 27quinquies para. 3 aBV. Since the total revision of the Federal Constitution in 1999, the operation of the - in the meantime renamed - Federal University of Sports Magglingen (EHSM) has been laid down in Art. 68 para. 2 BV. The Confederation is obliged to operate a sports school, since the paragraph explicitly provides for the existence of a federal sports school. However, the Confederation has leeway in the concrete design of the sports school, both in terms of content and organization. Art. 68 para. 2 BV thus anchors a mere mandate to act. The position and tasks of the EHSM are then specified in federal legislation. Accordingly, the federal government runs a university for sports with sports science teaching, research and service as well as education and training in the tertiary sector.
19 The EHSM is an organizational unit of the FOSPO and contributes to the national promotion of sport and physical activity. In particular, it fulfills this task by playing an "essential role in the coordination of sports studies offered in Switzerland" and by engaging in "application-oriented and interdisciplinary sports science research and development." The EHSM enjoys autonomy in teaching and research. It is considered a higher education institution under the Federal Act of September 30, 2011, on the Promotion of Higher Education Institutions and Coordination in the Swiss Higher Education Sector (Higher Education Promotion and Coordination Act, HFKG; SR 414.20). The EHSM has three main tasks: it provides practice-oriented education and training, application-based research and development, and services. In the area of teaching, it offers a Bachelor's degree program and a Master's degree program. It can also offer continuing education courses and other continuing education programs. Of particular importance in the area of research and development is the fulfillment of federal departmental research tasks in the field of sport and exercise - namely for policy advice, expertise, evaluation and monitoring. It is thus "the federal government's research center in the field of sport". The (remunerated) services of the EHSM relate in particular to the areas of sports medicine, physiotherapy and performance diagnostics. In addition, the federal government can also support sports science research outside the EHSM in the form of research contributions. An essential element of the federal support for sports science research is a research concept, which the FOSPO develops for a period of four years at a time. The research concept fits into research policy planning and coordination under the Federal Act of 14 December 2012 on the Promotion of Research and Innovation (FIFG; SR 420.1).
C. Paragraph 3: Youth and school sports
20 According to Article 68(3) of the Federal Constitution, the Confederation may issue regulations on youth sports and make physical education compulsory in schools.
1. Youth sport
21 Art. 68 para. 3 BV initially grants the Confederation concurrent, subsequently derogatory legislative competence in the area of youth sports. The Confederation thus has the power to legislate conclusively in the area of youth sport beyond the promotion provided for in Art. 68 para. 1 BV. However, the Confederation has not yet issued any final regulations, which means that the cantons are still free to establish regulations on youth sports, provided they do not contradict the existing federal provisions (cf. Art. 49 para. 1 BV). Youth sport concerns the voluntary sport of children and young people inside and outside school. According to the existing legal regulation, youth sport in principle covers children from 1 January of the year in which they turn five. Participation in youth sports ends on December 31 of the year in which youth reach their 20th birthday.
22 While the federal government otherwise largely limits itself to supporting existing promotional measures, it runs its own program in the area of youth sports - the "Youth and Sports" program. This program is intended to support the development and development of children and young people and to enable them to experience sport in a holistic way. It also aims to promote sport that is suitable for children and young people, taking into account the principles of fairness and safety. It is intended to promote the embedding of children and young people in a sporting community and to support the development and development of young people from an educational, social and health point of view. On the one hand, the program is in the light of the general competence to promote sport and physical activity in the sense of Art. 68 Para. 1 BV. On the other hand, the federal government has conclusively regulated the program within the framework of its legislative competence of Art. 68 para. 3 BV. It assumes "essential execution tasks itself" and bears the "main responsibility" for the program, even if it is managed "in partnership" with the sports associations and partially executed by the cantons with their Y+S offices. Within the framework of this cooperation, the Confederation makes contributions to courses and camps as well as to the cadre training of the cantons and private organizations.
2. School sport
23 The derogatory legislative competence of the Confederation in the area of school sports allows the federal legislator to intervene selectively in the school sovereignty of the cantons (cf. Art. 62 para. 2 of the Federal Constitution) and, in this course, to declare school sports compulsory. School sport was already compulsory from 1907 for boys from the seventh school year onwards and was fixed at three hours per week in the ordinance of 7 January 1947 on the promotion of gymnastics and sport. After the competence of the Confederation to declare school sport compulsory was enshrined in Art. 27quinquies para. 1 aBV, the Confederation declared gymnastics and physical education compulsory for all pupils in all elementary, secondary and vocational schools, including seminaries and teacher training schools. In Art. 1, para. 1, of the Ordinance of June 26, 1972, to the Federal Law on the Promotion of Gymnastics and Sports, the Federal Council again stipulated that at least three hours of gymnastics and sports instruction per week must be given at elementary and secondary schools. Now, the sports promotion legislation currently in force declares physical education to be compulsory in compulsory school and at the upper secondary level. Furthermore, the Sports Promotion Act stipulates that at least three lessons of physical education per week are compulsory in compulsory school. The Sports Promotion Ordinance also stipulates that at least 110 lessons of physical education must be provided regularly throughout the school year at secondary schools, which are no longer compulsory schools. In connection with this provision of the ordinance on secondary schools, the Federal Supreme Court concluded that the regulation of 110 lessons per school year was intended to allow for flexible implementation. The required regularity does not require that (also) three lessons of physical education are taught weekly at the middle schools. Beyond physical education, the cantons should promote daily sports and exercise opportunities as part of the school curriculum.
24 On the scope of federal competence in the area of school sports - i.e., on the question of whether the federal government may specify the compulsory school sports program in qualitative and quantitative terms - opinions differ, at least among scholars, while this question appears to be clarified in case law. The doctrine essentially disagrees on whether Art. 68 para. 3 BV should rather be interpreted in isolation and based on a teleological interpretation, or whether the constitutional provision should be interpreted in the context of the educational constitution and therefore with special emphasis on its systematic position. Ehrenzeller holds the latter view: he argues against a federalist background that Art. 68 para. 3 BV should be read in the context of cantonal school sovereignty. Art. 62 para. 2 BV stipulates that the cantons ensure sufficient primary education. This also applied to school sport. Accordingly, the Confederation may not further specify what is to be considered sufficient with regard to school sports. The other view is expressed by Biaggini, who puts the emphasis in his argumentation on the sense and purpose of compulsory school sports. An obligation only makes sense if it is also implemented. If the federal government did not also have the authority to regulate the type and scope of the compulsory school sports program, the compulsory program could easily be undermined by insufficient cantonal implementation. Accordingly, Art. 68 para. 3 BV contains an implied federal competence to regulate the qualitative and quantitative minimum scope of school sports. The other doctrinal opinions basically acknowledge the federalist argument of cantonal school sovereignty, but add a constitutional-historical element to the debate. Since 1947, the compulsory school sports program has been explicitly endowed with three hours per week at the ordinance level. Neither in the context of the creation of the constitutional article in 1970 nor with the total revision of the Federal Constitution in 1999 or the reorganization of the constitutional provisions on education in 2006 was the scope of the compulsory school sports program effectively called into question. On each of these occasions, the people and the cantons could have expressed a different opinion on the regulation under ordinance law and could have formulated Art. 68 Para. 3 BV in a more concrete manner. Since such a concretization of the constitutional article did not take place, the majority is of the opinion that the federal government also has the constitutional authority to regulate the structure of the compulsory school sports program. Against this background and according to the view expressed here, the regulatory content of the sports promotion legislation on (compulsory) school sports proves to be in conformity with the constitution.
25 The debate - at least with regard to the quantitative scope of the compulsory school sports program - is also occasionally conducted by the cantons, since the cantonal implementation of the compulsory program presupposes the availability of a sufficient (school) sports infrastructure and the reduction in the number of lessons of physical education would be accompanied by a cost saving. The discussion in this regard has also already been the subject of (federal) court proceedings. In this context, the Federal Supreme Court first held that the cancellation of gymnastics and sports lessons was in principle a permissible object of challenge, since the reduction of lessons was likely to affect the rights and duties of the students. The Federal Supreme Court then considered that the implementation of the federal requirement of three physical education lessons must in principle be open to judicial review in the light of the guarantee of legal recourse in Art. 29a of the Federal Constitution. In a landmark 2017 ruling, the Federal Supreme Court rebuked the canton of Geneva, which provided for fewer than three physical education lessons in its compulsory school timetable for the 2016/2017 school year. It held that it was undisputed that the canton of Geneva must provide three lessons of physical education in compulsory schools and that it did not comply with this federal requirement. The Federal Court concluded, "il appartient au canton d'introduire une troisième période d'éducation physique hebdomadaire pour tous les niveaux de l'école obligatoire dans les plus brefs délais."
26 The federal competence for physical education at vocational schools is not controversial, since the federal government also has the authority to issue regulations on vocational education (cf. Art. 63 para. 1 BV). The Federal Council determines the minimum number of lessons and qualitative principles for physical education at vocational schools. Physical education is also compulsory at vocational schools, the extent of which depends on the basic vocational training. Finally, Art. 68 para. 3 BV contains an implicit competence to enact a minimum standard for the education and training of teachers who teach the compulsorily declared school sport. The justification for this competence follows the same logic and the same considerations that have already been explained with regard to the federal competence, according to which the Confederation may specify the compulsory school sports qualitatively and quantitatively. In this regard, however, the Sports Promotion Act merely provides that the Confederation, in cooperation with the cantons, may support the initial and continuing training of teachers who teach physical education.
Recommended further reading
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Henning Evelyn, Sport und Gemeinnützigkeit, Stuttgart/Munich 2005.
Hotz Arturo, Fakten und Facetten zur Sportentwicklung in der Schweiz sowie zur Geschichte der Schweizer Sportpolitik seit 1874, Magglingen 2004.
Jenny Viktor K., Die öffentliche Sportförderung in der Schweiz, Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Bundesgesetzes vom 17. März 1972 über die Förderung von Turnen und Sport, Ahrensburg 1978.
Kempf Hippolyt/Lichtsteiner Hans, Das System Sport - in der Schweiz und international, 2nd ed.
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About the author
Dr. iur. Marco Zollinger, attorney-at-law, is a law clerk at the II Public Law Division of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne. In the context of his dissertation, he has dealt in detail with the legal framework of state sports promotion in Switzerland. Currently, he regularly publishes articles in the field of administrative and constitutional law as well as public procedural law.
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