On 12 June 2018, an initiative calling for a constitutional amendment, which would place Swiss law above international law, was rejected by the National Council by 129 to 68 votes, after a lengthy nine hour discussion spanning three days.
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Earlier, the initiative dubbed: Swiss law not foreign judges, organized by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), was also rejected by the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house by 38 votes to 6.
The amendment would have a wide-ranging impact. Switzerland’s Federal Tribunal, its highest court, would no longer be required to apply conflicting international treaties that had not been accepted by referendum.
The Federal Council argues the plan contains internal contradictions that cannot be reconciled in practice and that it would negatively affect its ability to work with other nations.
Sometimes the government responds to initiatives with a counter proposal. It decided not to on this occasion.
The initiative will now be presented to the public for a vote on 25 November 2018.
More on this:
Proposed constitutional amendment (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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