Law against facial dissimulation: the ball passes to the cantons
The Federal Office of Justice will assist the states, which have two years to do so, in drafting the implementing legislation for Article 10a of the Swiss Constitution
By adopting the new constitutional article on the prohibition of facial concealment, Swiss voters have given the states a binding mandate to implement the new provision in their respective cantonal legislation within two years.
The Federal Office of Justice is ready to support them in this task.
The Swiss people and cantons liquidate the burqa and the niqab
The three topics to be voted in Switzerland on March 7, 2021
On March 7, 2021, the people and the cantons approved the popular initiative “Yes to a ban on concealing one’s face” with 51.2% of the votes.
This means that it will be prohibited in Switzerland to completely conceal oneself in public.
However, the new constitutional provision is not directly applicable, but must be implemented by law.
The cantons are always responsible for regulating public space
The implementation of the ban is primarily the responsibility of the cantons, which are competent to regulate public space by virtue of the division of competencies provided for in the Constitution.
This principle, which is in accordance with the Swiss federal system (Article 3 of the Constitution), does not change in the least with the new Article 10 a. In the absence of a constitutional basis, the Federal Council is not actually authorized to enact a federal law prohibiting facial concealment in the entire public space.
The Federal Bureau of Justice is at the disposal of the 26
However, the Federal Office of Justice will examine the need for legislation in the federal sphere of competence, for example in the area of public transportation.
The new constitutional provision requires the cantons to implement the ban in their own legislation within two years.
If the cantons wish to have material coordination in this regard, for example in the form of a model law, they can count on the support of the FOJ.
