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In a crisis, if urgent, laws in the canton of Bern should be able to come into force immediately. Even before the people are asked about it.
During the Corona pandemic it became clear: When the world is in a crisis, the wheels of Bernese legislation grind too slowly.
Legend:
Critics of the Corona measures (picture from 2021) oppose the urgent legislation.
Keystone/Peter Schneider
“For example, it was almost impossible to create a legal basis so that the Grand Councilors could vote externally,” says Dominique Bühler, Vice President of the Cantonal Parliament.
In the future, Berne politicians should be able to react more quickly: through urgent legislation. This means that these laws come into force immediately – without a referendum and without waiting to see whether a referendum against them takes place. This is already established at the federal level and in other cantons.
Criticism of constitutional change
In order to introduce this practice in the canton of Bern, a constitutional change is needed. There is criticism of the project from those opposed to the Corona measures.
Legend:
The Bern cantonal parliament agrees. The urgent legislation is also to be introduced in Bern. However, there are hurdles: such laws should remain exceptions.
Keystone/Peter Klaunzer
The organizations “Friends of the Constitution” and “Massvoll” warn that urgent legislation is anti-democratic and would lead to any law being declared an emergency.