Jules Bovet

Jules Bovet

Jules Bovet (born May 8, 1887 in Estavayer-le-Lac ; † November 30, 1971 in Friborg in Üechtland ) was a Swiss politician and State Councilor of the canton of Friborg .

Live and act

Catholic by birth and descended from Estavayer-le-Lac , his parents were Laurent Basile, parish female, and Célestine Eléonore nee. Rey. He married Mathilde David.

After primary school in Estavayer-le-Lac , Jules Bovet attended St. Michael's College . He studied law at the University of Freiburg , which he graduated with a licentiate in 1913 . He completed his internship at the prestigious law firm of Louis Bourgknecht . After being admitted to the bar (1915), he opened his own law firm in his hometown. In 1916 he was elected to the Grand Council as a representative of the Broye district . In 1918 he became a councilor for Estavayer. When he was appointed chief bailiff of the Broye district in 1923, he gave up all political offices in order to devote himself to the administration of his district.

After the death of Georges Python , Jules Bovet was the only candidate of the Conservative People's Party and was elected to the State Council on February 27, 1927 without surprise. He headed the directorate of the police, health and communities (1927-1936) before he took over the judiciary and police directorate after the reorganization of the administration on December 29, 1936. As a conscientious lawyer, he drafted an organic law on the cantonal hospital (1929) and various implementing laws on federal provisions. His main task, however, was the drafting of an important law on the health police, which replaced that of 1850 and was passed by the Grand Council in 1943. Through his intensive legislative work, Bovet contributed to the modernization of Friborg law. As the police director, he closely watched the rise of communism, but did not see the need to adapt the legislation. As the investigation by Daniel Sebastiani showed, he also sent reports about Jean-Marie Musy's Nazi-friendly attitude to the federal police.

From 1946 onwards, during the next legislature, he was in charge of the education department in line with his predecessors and had a law on secondary school education passed (1951). He also concluded an agreement between the Council of State and the Swiss bishops on the promotion and financial security of the university (1949).

After serving as President of the State Council four times (1931, 1938, 1944, 1949), he submitted his resignation at the end of the legislature. He was appointed cantonal judge, exchanging his position with José Python , who moved from the cantonal court to the State Council as Bovet's successor. In 1957 he resigned from his judge's office for reasons of age, but opened a new law firm in Freiburg. At the same time he practiced in Estavayer, was vice-chairman of the supervisory board of the mortgage bank and devoted himself passionately to his stamp collection . He died on November 30, 1971 at the age of 84 in Freiburg.

literature

• Marianne Rolle: Bovet, Jules. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Georges Andrey , John Clerc, Jean-Pierre Dorand et Nicolas Gex: The Freiburg Council of State: 1848–2011. History, organization, members . Editions La Sarine, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-2-88355-153-4 .