Session (Switzerland)
Session is the name of the period in which the meetings of the two Swiss parliamentary chambers, the National Council and the Council of States, take place. The two chambers of parliament usually meet four times a year for three weeks each. The sessions take place in March, June, September and November / December and are also known as the spring, summer, autumn and winter sessions .
The two chambers of parliament (also known as councils) usually meet in the Bundeshaus in Bern . The Federal Assembly can, however, determine by means of a simple federal resolution to meet in another location as an exception. These sessions are also known as "extra muros" sessions . This happened three times when the renovation of the Federal Palace took place in the other linguistic regions of Switzerland: the 1993 autumn session in Geneva , the 2001 spring session in Lugano and the 2006 autumn session in Flims .
According to the Parliament Act, council members are generally obliged to attend council meetings during the sessions; council members are guaranteed the right to participate. The right to participate can, however, be withdrawn from parliamentarians if the council member is arrested as a precautionary measure due to the risk of fleeing or if a sentence about imprisonment becomes final before the session begins. The Council Presidents (President of the National Council and President of the Council of States ) can also, as a disciplinary measure, exclude a Council member from attending the rest of a meeting.
If the business load cannot be reduced within the four ordinary sessions, both councils can independently decide on special sessions . Since 1992, when the possibility of holding a special session of a single council, 24 special sessions have been held. Both councils met eight times, the National Council alone 14 times and the Council of States alone twice (as of 2020).
In addition to the four ordinary sessions , the two councils can meet together for extraordinary sessions . An extraordinary session must be called by the council offices at the request of a quarter of the members of a council or the Federal Council . This right gives the Federal Council and the Council minority the opportunity to have a say in the parliamentary agenda.
| year | Duration | theme |
|---|---|---|
| 1891 | July | Introduction of the banknote monopoly |
| 1985 | February 6th - 7th NR February 8th SR |
Measures against forest dieback |
| 1986 | October 9th - October 11th NR October 9th SR |
Energy policy after Chernobyl |
| 1998 | January 22 - January 23 NR January 21 SR |
Tax loopholes and mergers / economic policy (merger of UBS and SBV ) |
| 2001 | November 16th NR November 17th SR |
Swissair financing |
| 2002 | September 26th SR October 3rd NO |
BVG minimum interest rate |
| 2007 | October 1st SR / NO | Tax issues |
| 2008 | December 8th NR December 9th SR |
Financial crisis |
| 2009 | March 9th NR . March 11th SR |
Economic crisis |
| June 3rd NR June 11th SR |
Tightening of criminal law | |
| September 9th SR September 15th NO |
Business cycle and unemployment | |
| December 3rd NR December 8th SR |
Milk Price and Agricultural Policy | |
| 2010 | March 3rd NR March 18th SR |
Immigration |
| March 2nd SR March 10th NO |
unemployment | |
| 2011 | April 12th NR June 9th SR |
Corporate tax reform II |
| June 8th NR September 28th SR |
Nuclear and alternative energies | |
| June 6th SR June 9th NO |
European policy and bilaterals III | |
| September 14th SR September 19th - 20th NO |
Economic and social situation of the population | |
| September 12th SR September 28th NO |
Immigration and Asylum. Migration policy what next? | |
| December 6th SR December 21st NR |
Strong franc: a threat to the workplace | |
| 2012 | March 14th NR March 15th SR |
Restoring the credibility of the Swiss National Bank |
| 2013 | March 6th SR
April 17th NR |
Schengen / Dublin |
| June 19th NR
June 20 SR |
Tax-compliant financial center and automatic information exchange | |
| 2015 | September 9 NO
September 10th SR |
For an immediate moratorium on asylum |
| December 7th SR
December 10th NR |
Wave of refugees in Europe and border controls | |
| December 16 NR
December 17th SR |
Report on the public service | |
| 2020 | 4th - 6th May NR / SR | Measures for the COVID-19 pandemic |
Web links
- Swiss Confederation: Fact sheet: Sessions. (PDF) Retrieved December 7, 2014 .
- Swiss Confederation: session data since 1848. (MS Excel) Retrieved on December 7, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Swiss Confederation: Art. 32 ParlG: Seat of the Federal Assembly. Retrieved December 7, 2014 .
- ^ Swiss Confederation: Sessions "extra muros". (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 12, 2009 ; Retrieved December 7, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Swiss Confederation: Art. 10 ParlG: Obligation to attend meetings. Retrieved December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Swiss Confederation: Art. 20 ParlG: Guaranteed session participation. Retrieved December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Swiss Confederation: Art. 13 ParlG: Disciplinary measures. Retrieved December 7, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Swiss Confederation: Fact sheet: Sessions. (PDF) Retrieved May 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Parliamentary Services : Extraordinary Session, May 4-6, 2020 at the BernExpo. Retrieved May 8, 2020 .
