Intercantonal Concordat
In Switzerland, a contract between cantons is called a concordat . The importance of intercantonal concordats results from federalism in Switzerland , in which in some policy areas such as B. education policy or in the prison system, it is not the federal government but the cantons that are responsible. The Concordats standardize certain cantonal laws and ordinances without the need for a national law. Concordats can be concluded between a few, but also between all cantons. They have to be politically approved separately in all cantons through the normal legislative process. Liechtenstein has joined a number of Concordatas.
History and concept
The mediation act of 1803 prohibited alliances between individual cantons. There was a regulatory vacuum, as all previous contracts became invalid - including an agreement between the cantons of Bern and Solothurn, which regulated the church conditions in the reformed Bucheggberg. The diary, the assembly of the cantons, therefore decided on June 29, 1803 to re-allow certain contracts between cantons, on condition that these would be brought to the notice of the diary every time. The majority of all cantons had to agree to a concordat, although in some cases its validity only affected a few cantons. Because of its ecclesiastical content, the Bucheggberg Agreement was called Concordat . This term was then also used for intercantonal agreements without church content.
After the end of the mediation period, during the restoration and regeneration period , the conclusion of intercantonal concordats was still made possible, which led to a de facto further development of the federal treaty. If the majority of the cantons acceded to a concordat, this became a “federal concordat” and fell within the jurisdiction of the agenda. It was no longer possible to leave without the consent of the Diet.
With the establishment of the federal state in 1848, the importance of the Concordats decreased for the time being, but they remained permitted and in use, albeit with a different legal basis. They unified cantonal law, but could be broken by the higher-level federal law. The Democratic Movement demanded more people to have a say in the cantons and achieved the introduction of a concordat referendum in some cantons .
Today, concordats are of great importance because they harmonize school systems, the terms of building law, the approval of private security services, the action against hooliganism, etc. and technical colleges and other training facilities can be operated together.
Important concordats
Important concordats concerned or concern:
- the mass and weights (1835-1851; today federal law)
- the guarantee of head shortages (1852 - approx. 1895),
- the home certificates (1854; today federal law),
- mutual communication of civil status files (1855-75; today federal law),
- the protection of literary and artistic property (1856–1883; today federal law),
- the admission of reformed pastors (1862 and 2002),
- the subsistence and funeral costs of poor relatives (1865-75),
- the freedom of movement of medical professionals (1867-77),
- bicycle and automobile traffic (1904 and 1914 to 1932; today federal law),
- legal assistance for the collection of public law claims (1911),
- the arms trade (today federal law),
- the lottery and sports betting (1937 and 2006),
- the cattle trade (1943),
- tax law, e.g. B. on the exclusion of tax treaties (1948),
- the operation of non-federally licensed cable cars and ski lifts (1951),
- the control of therapeutic products (1954 and 1971 to 2001; today federal law),
- the prospecting and exploitation of oil (1955-2013),
- arbitration (1969),
- the salt sale (1973),
- the school and university system, e.g. B. Intercantonal Teaching Aids Center , Concordat on School Coordination (1971), Special Education Concordat (2007; in force since 2011); HarmoS Concordat (2008); jointly run universities of applied sciences; university coordination (1999), university concordat (2013),
- the civil law enforcement, z. B. Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil Matters (1974); the enforcement of civil judgments (1977),
- the penal system: western Switzerland and Ticino (1984), eastern Switzerland (2004), north-western and central Switzerland (2006),
- the police force, e.g. B. the four police concordats (Eastern Switzerland 1976, Western Switzerland 1988, Northwest Switzerland 1995 and Central Switzerland 2009; excluding Zurich and Ticino), mutual assistance and cooperation in criminal matters (1992); Intercantonal Police School Hitzkirch (2003); computer-aided collaboration in the investigation of violent crimes (2009); Hooliganism (2009),
- public procurement (1994),
- building law: intercantonal agreement on the harmonization of building terms (2005),
- private security services (2010),
- the health system: joint operation of hospitals and clinics; Financing of further medical training (2014)
- fishing in common waters.