Berne Bern Grand Council adopts new Civil Protection Act

Civil defense will remain the responsibility of the municipalities, while the canton will now be responsible for training those required to perform civil defense duties. On Wednesday, the Bernese cantonal parliament unanimously approved the new cantonal civil defense law.

With this revision, the canton is adapting its Civil Protection Act to new federal legal provisions. The new Cantonal Civil Protection Act (KZSG) was uncontroversial in parliament.

Civil protection remains the responsibility of the municipalities. These will join together to form regional civil defence organizations and will be responsible for them. The training of civil defense personnel, on the other hand, will be the responsibility of the canton.

According to the government, this has numerous advantages. For example, the canton will be able to offer significantly more courses at regular intervals due to the larger volume of training. This means more flexibility for those obliged to perform protective service.