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The CVP initiative "For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty" was repealed in April 2019.
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Simon Stocker was removed from the Council of States in Schaffhausen. This was decided by Switzerland's highest court. Something like this rarely happens - but it's not an isolated case.
The highest court has made a decision with far-reaching consequences: the Federal Supreme Court annulled Stocker's election as SP member of the cantonal council of Schaffhausen on November 19, 2023, because he was not resident in the canton of Schaffhausen at the time of the election. Stocker is therefore removed from office with immediate effect.
This is not the first time that the Federal Supreme Court has overturned political decisions, as the following list shows:
The CVP initiative "For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty" was put to the vote on February 28, 2016. The initiative aimed to abolish the tax disadvantage for married couples compared to unmarried couples by calling for marriage to be defined as a "partnership between a man and a woman". The bill was rejected by a narrow margin (50.8% against).
In April 2019, the Federal Supreme Court declared the vote invalid. It was the first time in Switzerland's history that a national referendum was annulled.
The Federal Council had given false figures in the voting documents. It was claimed that around 80,000 married couples were affected by the so-called marriage penalty, whereas the actual figure was around 454,000. This false information violated the freedom to vote, as it did not provide voters with sufficient correct information.
The repeal led to intense discussions about the responsibility of the Federal Council in providing correct information and about the consequences for future votes. However, the initiative itself was not put to the vote again as the initiative committee withdrew it.
While women's suffrage was introduced at national level in 1971, the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden continued to deny women the right to vote at cantonal and communal level. Several attempts to introduce women's suffrage in Appenzell Innerrhoden failed in the traditional cantonal assemblies.
On November 27, 1990, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the denial of women's suffrage in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden was unconstitutional.
The court argued that the denial of women's suffrage violated the principle of equality and the prohibition of discrimination. It made it clear that cantonal traditions do not take precedence over fundamental rights.
The canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden had to introduce women's suffrage at cantonal and communal level. This marked a turning point in Swiss history and underlined the importance of fundamental rights over local traditions.
In some Swiss municipalities, naturalizations were decided by referendum. This often resulted in discrimination, particularly against applicants from the Balkans or Muslim countries.
In 2003, the Federal Supreme Court declared this practice unconstitutional.
The court found that ballot votes on naturalization violated the principle of equality and the prohibition of discrimination. They also violated the right to a statement of reasons in the case of negative decisions. The procedure was deemed non-transparent and offered no opportunity for applicants to challenge a rejection.
Municipalities had to change their naturalization procedures and ensure that decisions are fair, justified and can be reviewed under the rule of law. This decision led to a fundamental reform of the naturalization process in Switzerland.
In Switzerland, building outside of building zones is strictly regulated in order to protect landscapes. Nevertheless, illegal buildings were tolerated in some cantons for decades.
In 2021, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the obligation to restore the lawful status is not forfeited even after 30 years.
The court emphasized the primacy of the Spatial Planning Act and the protection of the separation between building areas and non-building areas over the legitimate expectations of the owners of illegal buildings.
This ruling strengthened the protection of the landscape and meant that some illegal buildings had to be demolished - even if they had been tolerated for decades.
The Laufental valley was historically part of the prince-bishopric of Basel and was transferred to the canton of Bern in 1815. In the 1970s, a movement for a change of canton emerged, particularly after the founding of the canton of Jura.
On September 11, 1983, Laufental voted to change to the canton of Basel-Landschaft. The vote was narrowly against the change of canton (56.7 percent no votes). It later became known that the Bernese cantonal authorities had secretly paid money to the "Aktion bernisches Laufental" in order to influence the vote.
In 1988, the Federal Court declared the 1983 vote invalid. Reason: The secret payments made by the Bernese cantonal authorities constituted undue influence on the formation of opinion and violated the freedom to vote.
A new vote was scheduled for November 12, 1989. In this vote, Laufental decided to change to the canton of Basel-Landschaft with 51.7 percent of the votes. The change of canton was completed on January 1, 1994.
A large wind farm project was planned in the canton of Vaud, which was to include nine wind turbines. However, the project met with opposition from environmental organizations and local residents.
The Federal Supreme Court upheld an appeal against the project and revoked its approval.
The exact reasons are unclear, but it is assumed that it was a question of landscape protection or breaches of environmental regulations.
