Swiss Multilingualism: A Historical Background to Language Policy

Specific historical and linguistic circumstances gave way to a Swiss original concept of a multilingual state as the nation of the will. The discussion concerns problems inherent to the unity-in-diversity philosophy and the proportional representation of national languages within the framework of the Swiss constitution, including the legislation protecting language and the language principles obtaining in Switzerland. Drawing on the language ideology studies, this paper shows how the linguistic diversity is designed on the administrative level and what provisions have been made to maintain multilingualism. The discussion also addresses and concludes on the ever timely questions of diversity, pluralism and intergroup cooperation fostered by the Swiss political and social culture.

The constitutional position of the Swiss parliament in the context of the principle of separation of powers

This article considers the fundamental part of the Swiss constitution relating to the legal position of parliament and its powers. The regulatory provisions give the Federal Assembly significant predominance over other bodies of authority. The clearest example is the provision of the federal constitution that gives parliament oversight over the government, federal administration and federal courts. This provision, particularly given that the constitution makes no direct reference to the principle of separation of powers, may appear to indicate that state authority is unified in just one organ – contravening the model of democracy in which the principle of separation of powers is a fundamental element. It is shown here that it is unreasonable to read the constitutional provisions in a purely literal manner, and that they should be interpreted in the light of the functions that the provisions in question are intended to fulfil, particularly in the context of the rules of a democratic state.

The Swiss Public Initiative against Mass Immigration (‘Masseneinwanderungsinitiave’): Caught between Constitutional Sovereignty and Pacta Sunt Servanda

This article seeks to bring some clarity to the publicly held debate on the Swiss federal popular initiative to limit immigration as it was adopted on 9 February 2014 by the Swiss people. It considers the crux of the matter, which is the implementation of the new Swiss constitutional article in the context of public international law. The initiative is stuck in between Swiss constitutional sovereignty and Swiss treaty obligations flowing from the agreement on free movement of persons between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation. Specific attention is paid to the democratic element anchored in the Swiss Constitution which, in contrast to other systems where the judicial element prevails, is of high importance for whole the process of a bilateral contractual relationship between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation.

AUTODETERMINACIÓN EN SISTEMAS DEMOCRÁTICOS. EL CASO DE LA CONSULTA EN EUSKADI

La autodeterminación externa de los pueblos integrados en Estados liberal-democráticos es un tema aún poco tratado por la doctrina politológica. Hablamos de tal cuando, entre otras posibilidades, el territorio que se instala en ella piensa en la independencia como una de las potenciales salidas a sus relaciones actuales en el seno de dicho Estado. En los Estados del tipo indicado no está reconocida, en su Constitución, la posibilidad de la secesión de algunas de sus regiones; pero, tampoco está taxativamente prohibida, salvo que esta prohibición se deduzca de sintagmas como indisoluble unidad (art. 2 Constitución española) o que la soberanía de las regiones está sometida a la soberanía estatal (art. 3 Constitución de Suiza). Sin embargo, la Corte Suprema de Canadá ¿Renvoi 20.8.1998¿ ha abierto la posibilidad de que alguna Provincia de la Federación pueda optar por esa situación fi nal siempre que, y entre otros requisitos, lo decida por una mayoría clara. El pueblo vasco ¿Euskadi o la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca¿, desde 1990, viene dando pasos en algo que podemos considerar el embrión de un proceso de autodeterminación externa. Su relevancia como caso de referencia estriba en que se ve obligado a sortear obstáculos por la imposibilidad de acogerse a una normativa que permita avanzar. Sin embargo, existen pocas oportunidades y muchas y graves amenazas al proceso que termina en la frustrada propuesta de consulta popular. Tratamos de analizar el proceso vasco hasta su último estadio de la consulta popular. Estatu liberal-demokratikoetan bildutako herrien kanpoautodeterminazioa gutxitan tratatu izan du doktrina politologikoak. Kanpo- autodeterminazioa aipatzen dugu, besteak beste, aukera hori hartzen duen lurraldeak independentzia etsitzen badu estatu horren barruan gaur egun dauzkan harremanak aldatzeko aukeratako bat. Halako estatu horietan, konstituzioak ez du onartzen eskualde batzuek banantzeko aukera izaterik; alabaina, ez du zorrotz debekatzen, non eta debeku hori ez den deduzitzen zenbait sintagmatatik, adibidez, «batasun zatiezina» (Espainiako Konstituzioaren 2. artikulua), edo «eskualdeen burujabetasuna estatuaren burujabetzaren mende dago» (Suitzako Konstituzioaren 3. artikulua). Halere, Kanadako Auzitegi Gorenak ¿Renvoi, 1998.8.20¿ atea zabaldu du federazioko probintziaren batek burujabetza horretara jotzeko, betiere, eta beste betekizun batzuez gain, herritarren gehiengo argiak erabakitzen badu. Euskaldun herria ¿Euskadi edo Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa¿, 1990. urtetik hona hasita dago kanpo-autodeterminazioaren prozesuaren enbrioia izan daitekeena abiarazten. Erreferentziazko kasu izateko arrazoia da oztopo mordoa dauzkala bidean, aurrera egiteko aukera emango dion araudirik ez daukala heltzeko. Alderantziz, aukera gutxi eta mehatxu ugari eta larriak dauzka, eta azkenean herri-kontsulta egiteko proposamenaren porrota izan da emaitza. Euskal prozesua analizatzen du lan honek, azken pausora arte: herri-kontsulta. The external self-determination of peoples integrated within Liberal-democratic States is not a very studied topic by Political Science academy. We are refering to the population of a territory who thinks of independence as one of the potential solutions to its current relationships in the bosom of the mentioned State. In the aforementioned States, the possibility of secession by some of their regions is not acknowledged; but it is also not specifi cally prohibited, unless this prohibition is deduced from syntagms as indissoluble unity (art. 2 Spanish Constitution) or that Region¿s sovereignty is bound to the State¿s sovereignty (art. 3 Swiss Constitution). Nevertheless, the Canadian Supreme Court ¿Renvoi 20.8.1998¿ opened the door to some Federated province to opt for that fi nal situation providing that, among other conditions, it is decided by a large majority. The Basque people ¿Euskadi or the Basque Autonomous Community¿ have been taken steps to something that could be considered as the germ of a process to external self-determination. Its importance lies on the fact that it has to get round problems by the impossibility to avail from a legislation to move forward. However, there are few chances and many and serious threats to the process that ends in a frustrated proposal for a popular plebiscite. We try to analyze the Basque process as far as to the last step of popular plebiscite.

The New Swiss Constitution: Foreign and International Influences

The comparative analysis of diverse constitutional orders enables a more sophisticated evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of different models and solutions. Quite often it also serves practical objectives, providing the impulse for improving our own legal system by carefully adopting institutions and procedures that have proven themselves elsewhere. In the case of the Swiss Constitution, the influence of thoughts and concepts developed during the French Revolution and by the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution is quite obvious. More recently, international influences are most apparent in the field of fundamental rights and freedoms.