Council of State (Vaud)

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Coat of arms of the canton of Vaud
Meeting room of the Council of State in the Château Saint-Maire in Lausanne
The Château Saint-Maire , seat of the Council of State

The Council of State ( French Conseil d'État ) is the government of the canton of Vaud . It consists of seven members (conseiller d'État) , each of which leads its own department.

Since the revision of the cantonal constitution in 2003, the State Council has been elected by the people every five years. The members of the Council of State appoint one person from among their number as President of the Government ( Président du Conseil d'État ) for the entire length of the legislature . No other canton provides for a longer term of office. Before the constitutional amendment, a new president was appointed every year on a rotation basis , as is the case in most other cantons today.

history

The Small Council (1803-1814)

The draft constitution, developed in 1801, mentions the Petit Conseil for the first time . The draft stipulated that the Small Council, consisting of ten members, should be appointed by the Grand Council. A term of office was supposed to last nine years and there were strict electoral criteria. A small councilor had to be at least 30 years old, already hold a public office and also earn at least 3,000 Swiss francs .

With the act of mediation on February 19, 1803, the introduction finally took place with a somewhat modified regulation. Nine members have now been elected from the Grand Council for six years. However, there were renewal elections every two years in which a third (three people) were replaced. The presidency changed its members every month.

On April 22nd, 1803, three departments were introduced, each led by a commission with three small councils. Every four months a member had to leave the department and take up another seat. There was the département de législation (department of law), the département de l'intérieur (department of the interior) and the département des finances (finance department).

The département de législation was renamed on June 7, 1810 in département de justice et police (Justice and Police Department).

The first State Council was made up of the following personalities (including substitutes):

The Council of State (1814–1831)

With the revised constitution of August 4, 1814, the Minor Council was reorganized. The number of councils was increased to thirteen, but all had to have taken a seat in the Grand Council beforehand. They were elected for twelve years, some were changed every four years and they were re-eligible. The title Conseil d'État (Council of State) was introduced.

The Grand Council elected two presidents from the elected councilors, who then bore the title of Landammann . They were elected for four years and took turns on the presidency for one year. They also presided over the Grand Council and could be re-elected at any time.

The Département militaire (military department) was added, which is also the reason for the increase in membership. The division with the commissions and the processes remained the same as before.

The Council of State (1831-1845)

The constitutional amendment of March 26, 1830 did not provide for any modifications. Almost a year later, on May 25, 1831, the next revision of the constitution took place. The Council of State has now been reduced to nine members, who, however, had to remain in the Grand Council beforehand. They were elected for six years and were also eligible for re-election. Every year the State Council appointed a president who could no longer be directly re-elected.

The department names stayed the same, but from now on they were only used by two instead of three members. Each council had to stay in the same department for three years and a new member was added every 18 months.

The Council of State (1845–1861)

On February 14, 1845, the entire State Council resigned. On the same day, the gathered residents on the Place de Montbenon in Lausanne elected a new provisional government consisting of nine members.

With the amended constitution of August 10, 1845, 9 members were elected from the Grand Council to the State Council for four years, were re-elected and were partially replaced.

The Council of State (1861–1885)

With the revision of the constitution of December 15, 1861, the number of councilors was reduced from nine to seven. People could now also be elected who did not have a seat on the Grand Council. Re-elections took place every four years. The president was elected every year and was no longer directly eligible for re-election. The organization of the departments was also changed. The number was increased from four to seven and each member was thus head of a department.

The State Council (since 1885)

On March 1, 1885, the constitution was changed again. The body continued to consist of seven councilors, which, however, were no longer allowed to have a seat in the Grand Council. If a Grand Council was elected to the Council of State, it had to resign from the former office. The State Council is appointed by the Grand Council for four years and is re-elected. If there is a vacancy, a new appointment will be made immediately.

The law of September 5, 1917 stipulated that the Grand Council was directly elected by the people, but remained re-elected. In the event of a personnel change, a new council is determined on the first Sunday in March. The first popular election took place on March 3, 1918. It was stipulated that each person entitled to vote could not elect more than two members from their community, in the larger cities from their district. There were no changes to the election of the president or the distribution of departments.

Canton administration

The canton administration consists of the following seven departments.

Department of Construction and Environment

(until the end of 2013, Department for Safety and Environment / Département de la sécurité et de l'environnement )

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DTE Département du territoire et de l'environnement Assumes responsibility for the safety of people and goods. It has to promote equality and is responsible for environmental protection . Christelle Luisier ( FDP )

Department of Education, Youth and Culture

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DFJC Department de la formation, de la jeunesse et de la culture The areas of responsibility include the training of around 130,000 children, young people and adults. The cantonal cultural policy is also the responsibility of the DFJC. Cesla Amarelle
( SP )

Department of the Interior

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DINT Department de l'intérieur The DINT is responsible for relations between the municipalities and the canton. It also deals with asylum and migration policy , the penal system, the state archive, as well as the judiciary and legislation. Béatrice Métraux
( Greens )

Department of Health and Social Affairs

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DSAS Department de la Santé et de l'action sociale The DSAS is responsible for health policy and social services (social insurance and social assistance). Rebecca Ruiz
( SP )

Department of Economic Affairs

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DECS Department de l'économie The areas of responsibility extend to the canton's economic policy , the labor market, spatial planning and sports. Philippe Leuba
( LPS )

Department of Infrastructures and Human Resources

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DIRH Département des infrastructures et des ressources humaines With a volume of 65 percent of state investments, the DIRH is responsible for roads, traffic, buildings, IT and the cantonal staff. The department for sustainable development is also subordinate to this department. Nuria Gorrite
( SP )

Department of Finance and External Relations

abbreviation french name tasks Chief
DFIRE Département des finances et des relations extérieures This department is always headed by the President of the State Council. The DFIRE is responsible for the financial budget, statistics, external relations and the State Chancellery. Pascal Broulis
( FDP )

See also

Web links