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The latest from the autumn session of the Federal Parliament – short and compact.
The decisions of Monday, September 12th
New attempt at constitutional jurisdiction failed: The Council of States choked off a new attempt to expand constitutional jurisdiction right from the start. He has rejected two motions that would introduce constitutional jurisdiction into federal laws. The Federal Supreme Court should therefore also have to apply laws that contradict the constitution in the future.
The question has been the subject of debate in Swiss politics for years: to this day, the federal councils can enact federal laws that contradict the constitution. The Federal Constitution itself forbids the courts to intervene. The system that has been in force since the founding of the federal state is rooted in the principle of the separation of powers: the highest court should not be able to place itself above the federal legislature.
Exchange of financial data: Switzerland is to regularly exchange bank data with 12 additional countries and territories, thereby expanding the automatic exchange of information. The National Council clearly accepted a corresponding Federal Council proposal. Financial account exchanges will be introduced with Ecuador, Georgia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, New Caledonia, Thailand, Uganda and Ukraine. Dissenting votes came from the SVP – not all states would meet the legal requirements for the exchange. The proposal now goes to the Council of States.
Crisis management under the magnifying glass: Which department, which federal office takes the lead during a crisis like the corona pandemic? How are human and financial resources distributed? Who forms the specialist crisis management team? According to the National Council, legal bases should regulate such questions in the future. Although the Federal Council considers the concern to be justified, it was against the assumption: Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr said that there had already been several reports on how the pandemic was being managed – and on what went well and what went less well. Crisis management improvements are underway.
National Council Commission approves F-35 procurement: The Security Policy Commission of the National Council (SiK-N) has spoken out in favor of the procurement of the F-35A fighter jets. With 17 votes to eight, she asked her council to get them. The National Council will decide on the business on September 15th. For the majority of the SiK-N it is clear that the technical evaluation was legally correct. The minority of the commission criticized that the evaluation procedure remained unclear on several points and that the providers were not treated equally.
Moment of silence for Judith Stamm: National Council President Irène Kälin heralds the autumn session with sad words – an obituary for the long-standing CVP National Councilor Judith Stamm, who also served as the highest Swiss woman in 1996/97. “We will remember Judith Stamm as a highly respected, courageous and lovable woman and politician. I know what part she has in the fact that I can of course politicize today and that it is no longer an exception for women to lead parliament on the box.”
The pioneer for women’s rights and national councilor for the canton of Lucerne died on July 20.