Protocol order of precedence in Switzerland

The following parts of this article appear since 2017 is out of date to be : In September 2017, the Bundesrat approved a revised Protocol Rules to.
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The official protocol-based ranking of the Swiss Confederation is determined by the protocol regulations and the precedent table of the foreign department . It should be noted that according to these regulations, it is not the President of the National Council , as is widely assumed, that holds the highest office in terms of protocol, but the Federal President.

However, these regulations are primarily used for international relations (e.g. state visits) because, according to the Federal Constitution, the Federal Council represents Switzerland externally ( Art. 184 Para. 1 BV). In the domestic area, on the other hand, the President of the National Council, in his function as President of the United Federal Assembly, is understood as the “highest Swiss” because the Federal Assembly exercises “the supreme power in the Confederation” ( Art. 148 Para. 1 BV).

The protocol order of the federal office holders is based on the order of their election ( seniority ), that of the cantonal office holders according to the order of the cantons in the Federal Constitution . The spouses of the public officials generally have the same rank.

Precedence

The current ranking according to the protocol regulations and precedence table is:

1. The Federal President (2020: Simonetta Sommaruga )
2. The Vice President of the Federal Council (2020: Guy Parmelin )
3. The other members of the Federal Council in the order of their election ( Ueli Maurer , Alain Berset , Ignazio Cassis , Viola Amherd , Karin Keller-Sutter ) and, equally, but after the Federal Councilors, the general (the office is only occupied in the event of war)
4. The President of the National Council (2019/2020: Isabelle Moret )
5. The President of the Council of States (2019/2020: Hans Stöckli )
6. The Federal Chancellor ( Walter Thurnherr )
7. The President of the Federal Supreme Court ( Ulrich Meyer )
8. Former members of the Federal Council (in the order of their election: Elisabeth Kopp , Arnold Koller , Flavio Cotti , Adolf Ogi , René Felber , Kaspar Villiger , Ruth Dreifuss , Moritz Leuenberger , Pascal Couchepin , Ruth Metzler-Arnold , Joseph Deiss , Samuel Schmid , Micheline Calmy-Rey , Christoph Blocher , Hans-Rudolf Merz , Doris Leuthard , Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf , Didier Burkhalter , Johann Schneider-Ammann )
9. Equal ranking: regional presidents of the cantons , cardinals , the Council of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Switzerland , chief rabbis
10. The 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents of the National Council (2019/2020: Andreas Aebi , Irène Kälin )
11. The 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents of the Council of States (2019/2020: Alex Kuprecht , Thomas Hefti )
12. Equal: The Vice President of the Federal Supreme Court ( Martha Niquille ), Bishops
13. Equal ranking : The Chief of the Army ( Thomas Süssli ), State Secretary of the Federal Administration
14. The members of the National Council in the order of their choice
15. The members of the Council of States in the order of their choice
16. The judges at the federal court
17. The President of the Federal Criminal Court
18. The President of the Federal Administrative Court
19. The President of the Federal Patent Court
20. Equal ranking: Swiss heads of mission , corps commanders and the top managers of the National Bank , SBB , Post and the ETH Board
21. Vice-Presidents of the Cantonal Governments
22. The Vice President of the Federal Criminal Court
23. The Vice President of the Federal Administrative Court
24. The Vice President of the Federal Patent Court
25. Members of the cantonal governments
26. Board members of the National Bank
27. Equal ranking: ambassadors , divisional officers , delegates of the Federal Council, directors of the federal offices , general secretary of the Federal Assembly, general secretaries of the departments, vice chancellors, delegates for trade agreements
28. Equal priority: Mayor of the Federal City of Bern ( Alec von Graffenried ), rectors of universities and colleges
29. Equal ranking: Presidents of the legislative authorities of the cantons , brigadiers , deputy directors of the federal offices
30. Deans of faculties and directors of universities
31. Equal ranking: presidents of the higher or cantonal courts , higher church dignitaries
32. Equal ranking: the judges at the Federal Criminal Court, professors from universities and colleges
33. The judges at the Federal Administrative Court
34. The judges at the Federal Patent Court
35. City and municipal presidents
36. Equal rank: state clerks , ministers in the diplomatic service, colonels , deputy directors of the federal offices
37. Members of the legislative authorities of the cantons
38. Equal ranking: cantonal judges, cantonal prosecutors, presidents of the legislative authorities of the municipalities, lieutenant colonels
39. Equal rank: majors , section heads of the federal administration, pastors and priests
40. Governors , vicars

Web links

• Protocol regulations of the Swiss Confederation , approved by the Federal Council on September 29, 2017 (PDF; 548.9 kB), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The really important and powerful in Switzerland , Neue Zürcher Zeitung , December 23, 2013, accessed on January 1, 2014.
2. ↑ 20min.ch: Who is actually the highest Swiss? January 1, 2014, accessed January 3, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Felix Schindler: Switzerland has no highest Swiss . In: Tages-Anzeiger . August 9, 2014, ISSN  1422-9994 ( tagesanzeiger.ch [accessed January 3, 2020]).