Federal intervention (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, federal intervention ( French Intervention fédérale , Italian Intervento federale ) means federal intervention to protect order and security in a canton . In contrast to federal execution, federal intervention is not directed against the government of a canton. A distinction is made between unarmed and armed federal interventions.
Ten federal interventions have taken place in Switzerland since 1848. The last time the federal government intervened in the riots in Geneva in 1932 . Article 52 of the Federal Constitution provides the legal basis for federal intervention. Despite the federal division of competencies, the exercise of state power is temporarily transferred from the canton to the federal government. Interventions can be decided by the Federal Assembly . In an emergency this can also be decided by the Federal Council . The Federal Council usually appoints a civil commissioner to investigate, report, mediate and, if necessary, intervene with army units. There were suggestions that the federal government should intervene in the Thurgau language dispute. The general strike in Switzerland in 1918 was not ended by federal intervention, although army units were deployed. The order troops acted on the initiative of the cantons. The question of who bears the costs of a federal intervention is not regulated by law and must be decided by the Federal Assembly on a case-by-case basis. In only one case, the Tonhalle riot in 1871, the canton of Zurich had to reimburse the federal government for the costs.
federal Constitution
Article 52:
- The federal government protects the constitutional order of the cantons.
- He intervenes when order in a canton is disrupted or threatened and the canton concerned cannot protect it itself or with the help of other cantons.
Article 173:
- The Federal Assembly also has the following tasks and powers [...] It takes measures to maintain internal security.
Article 186:
- The Federal Council ensures compliance with federal law, the cantonal constitutions and the contracts of the cantons, and takes the necessary measures.
Federal intervention
| year | Canton | reason | Federal Commissioners |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1855 | Ticino | Struggles between conservatives and radical liberals | Emmanuel Bourgeois |
| 1856 | Neuchâtel | Putsch by pro-Prussian royalists against the cantonal government | Constant Fornerod , Friedrich Frey-Herosé |
| 1864 | Geneva | Fight after State Council elections | Constant Fornerod , Louis Barman |
| 1870 | Ticino | Dispute over the question of whether Bellinzona or Lugano should be the sole capital of the canton | Hans Rudolf Hess , Karl Karrer , Edouard Burnand |
| 1871 | Zurich | Tonhalle riot | Joachim Heer |
| 1875 | Uri | Strike of the Italian workers of the Gotthard tunnel during the unrest in Göschenen in 1875 | Hans Hold |
| 1876 | Ticino | Violent clash between conservatives and radical liberals in Stabio | Simeon Bavier |
| 1889 | Ticino | Dispute between the conservatives and the radical liberals after the Grand Council elections | Eugène Borel |
| 1890 | Ticino | Struggles between conservatives and radical liberals | Arnold Künzli |
| 1932 | Geneva | Clashes between right-wing and left-wing extremists in the riots in Geneva in 1932 | No appointment |
See also
literature
- Hans-Urs Wili: Federal Interventions. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . February 21, 2018 , accessed July 22, 2018 .
Web links
- Lukas Leuzinger: How Ticino became a Swiss proportional pioneer. In: Napoleon's Nightmare. December 23, 2014, accessed July 25, 2018 .
- Christine Kaufmann: Staatsrecht II: Lecture from March 23, 2010. March 23, 2010, accessed on July 25, 2018 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Hans-Urs Wili : Federal Interventions. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . February 21, 2018 , accessed July 22, 2018 .
- ↑ «A federal intervention would fuel the language dispute even more». SRF News, October 8, 2016, accessed on July 25, 2018 .
- ↑ Röstigraben in the language dispute: The German and French-speaking cantons disagree as to whether the federal government should intervene to resolve the language dispute. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , October 11, 2016, accessed on July 22, 2018 .
- ↑ Christine Kaufmann: Staatsrecht II: Lecture from March 23, 2010. March 23, 2010, p. 11 , accessed on July 25, 2018 .
- ^ Rainer J. Schweizer / Reto P. Müller: The Swiss Federal Constitution - St. Galler Commentary. (PDF; 292 kB) Bernhard Ehrenzeller , Benjamin Schindler, Rainer J. Schweizer & Klaus A. Vallender, 2014, accessed on July 25, 2018 (3rd edition).