see 4.1
Priority of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EC over the Federal Constitution: ruling of 26 November 2015 in the case A.A. and B.A. v the Migration Office and Security Directorate of the Canton of Zurich (BGE 142 II 35)
see 4.1
Primacy of the ECHR over the Federal Constitution: ruling of 12 October 2012 in the case X. v Migration Office of the Canton of Thurgau (BGE 139 I 16)
see 4.1
Precedence of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EC over federal law: ruling of 9 May 2007 in the case of State Secretariat for Economic Affairs v C. (BGE 133 V 367)
see 4.1
The primacy of international law over a federal law, especially where the international legal norm serves the protection of human rights: ruling of 26 July 1999 in the case A. v. Swiss Federal Prosecutor (BGE 125 II 417)
see 4.1
Precedence of national law when the legislature accepts a conflict with international law: Decision of 2 March 1973 in the case of Schubert v Appeals Commission for Application of the Federal Law on the Purchasing of Real Estate to Persons of Foreign Domicile of the Canton of Ticino (BGE 99 Ib 39)
If interpretation of a legal norm under national law in conformity with international law indicates that the national law is in conflict with a directly applicable provision of international law, this gives rise to the issue of which has primacy and trumps the other rule. Legislators strive to avoid conflicts with international law. The relationship to international law is addressed by the Federal Council in its draft legislation and by Parliament in its parliamentary deliberations, although it is naturally not possible to foresee all cases of application and subsequent developments. In the case of popular initiatives aimed at amending the Federal Constitution, it occasionally remains unclear during the voting campaign whether the constitutional amendment violates international law if the issue is not addressed in the amendment itself – which it usually is not. The creators of the 1999 constitution were not aiming to conclusively settle the thorny question. Thus in the rare cases in which a conflict between national and international law become apparent, the Federal Supreme Court has to decide the issue of primacy in a case of application. The Federal Supreme Court rulings have always been favourable to international law without further justification of such finding other than the view that all state organs are obliged to voluntarily fulfil obligations entered into by the state (pacta sunt servanda; see for example BGE 21/1895, 705, 710). Exceptions in which the Federal Supreme Court upholds the primacy of national law are very rare. In BGE 59 II 331, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that international agreements only have the rank of law domestically, and conflicts must be resolved according to the principle of lex posterior derogat priori. The national law was more recent in the case reviewed, so it was seen as having precedence even though the international treaty was amended slightly later on.
Martha Niquille, Das Bundesgericht verwaltet sich selbst (Art. 188 Abs. 3 BV), AJP/PJA 9/2013, pp. 1358 – 1367
Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 12. Oktober 2012 in Sachen X. gegen Migrationsamt des Kantons Thurgau (BGE 139 I 16)
Urteil des Eidgenössischen Versicherungsgerichts in Sachen Ausgleichskasse des Kantons Jura gegen Courtet vom 23. Oktober 1985 (BGE 111 V 201), Urteil des Eidgenössischen Versicherungsgerichts in Sachen X gegen Ausgleichskasse des Kantons Wallis vom 25. August 1993 (BGE 119 V 171)
Daniel Wüger, Anwendbarkeit und Justiziabilität völkerrechtlicher Normen im schweizerischen Recht: Grundlagen, Methoden und Kriterien, Berne 2005 (excerpt: pp. 233 – 288)
Daniel Wüger – Anwendbarkeit und Justiziabilität völkerrechtlicher Normen
Verhältnis zwischen Völkerrecht und Landesrecht im Rahmen der schweizerischen Rechtsordnung, Gemeinsame Stellungnahme des Bundesamtes für Justiz und der Direktion für Völkerrecht vom 26. April 1989, Verwaltungspraxis der Bundesbehörden (VPB) 53 Nr. 54 Ziff. III.; Das Verhältnis von Völkerrecht und Landesrecht, Bericht des Bundesrates vom 5. März 2010, Bundesblatt 2010 2263 ff., 2302 f.
Verwaltungspraxis der Bundesbehörden (VPB) 53 Nr. 54 Ziff. III
Helen Keller, Rezeption des Völkerrechts, eine rechtsvergleichende Studie zur Praxis des U.S. Supreme Court, des Gerichtshofes der Europäischen Gemeinschaften und des schweizerischen Bundesgerichts in ausgewählten Bereichen, Berlin etc. 2003 (excerpts: pp. 341 – 372, 16 – 19)
Urteil des Bundesgerichts i.S. Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement gegen A.B. und Mitb. vom 21. Mai 2015 (BGE 141 III 312, excerpt)
Adolf Lüchinger, Rechtsprechung der schweizerischen Gerichte im Umfeld des nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsregimes auf dem Gebiet des Privatrechts, unter Einschluss des internationalen Zivilprozess- und Vollstreckungsrechts (Schwerpunkt Ordre public), Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz – Zweiter Weltkrieg (Ed.), Die Schweiz, der Nationalsozialismus und das Recht, Vol. II: Privatrecht, Zurich 2001, pp. 67 – 124
Adolf Lüchinger – Rechtsprechung im Umfeld des nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsregimes
Hans Peter Walter, Das rechtsvergleichende Element – Zur Auslegung vereinheitlichten, harmonisierten und rezipierten Rechts, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2007 I 259 – 277
Alexandra Gerber, Der Einfluss des ausländischen Rechts in der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts, in: Osmose zwischen Rechtsordnungen: Berichte des Kolloquiums anlässlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens des Schweizerischen Instituts für Rechtsvergleichung, Zurich 1992, pp. 141 – 163.
Alexandra Gerber – Einfluss des ausländischen Rechts in die Rechtsprechung
Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 7. Mai 1998 i.S. E.Q. und P.Q. gegen Helsana Versicherungen AG (BGE 124 III 229)
Hans Peter Walter, Der Methodenpluralismus des Bundesgerichts bei der Gesetzesauslegung, recht 1999, pp. 157 – 166
Hans Peter Walter – Der Methodenpluralismus des Bundesgerichts
Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 21. Juni 1978 i.S. Unité Jurassienne, Charpillod et Vecchi contre Conseil des 187 du Grand Conseil du canton de Berne (BGE 104 Ia 215); Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 27. November 1985 i.S. X. gegen Kantonsgericht Appenzell I.Rh. (BGE 111 Ia 239)
Heinz Aemisegger/André Jomini, Der Föderalismus in der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts, in: Bernhard Waldmann (Hrsg.), 1. Nationale Föderalismuskonferenz, Publikationen des Instituts für Föderalismus Freiburg Schweiz, Freiburg 2005, pp. 173 – 192 (French: pp. 193 – 212)
Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 27. November 1990 i.S. Theresa Rohner und Mitbeteiligte gegen Kanton Appenzell I.Rh. (BGE 116 Ia 359)
Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 27. Oktober 1995 i.S. V. gegen Einwohnergemeinde X. und Regierungsrat des Kantons Bern (BGE 121 I 367)
Jörg Paul Müller, Entstehung und Entwicklung der Grundrechte in der Schweiz, in: Oliver Diggelmann/Maya Hertig Randall/Benjamin Schindler (Eds.), Verfassungsrecht der Schweiz Vol. 2, Zurich/Basel/Geneva 2020, pp. 1167 – 1191
The document is presently not available for reasons of copyright.
Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte, Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpt chapter Staatsrechtliche Praxis und frühe Rechtsprechung, pp. 804 – 820)
Alfred Kölz – Staatsrechtliche Praxis und frühe Rechtsprechung
Felix Uhlmann, Was tun eigentlich Verfassungsgerichte, wenn sie nicht zuständig sind? (Problemzonen verfassungsgerichtlicher Zuständigkeit), in: Andrea Good/Bettina Platipodis (Hrsg.), Herausforderungen zwischen Politik und Recht, Festschrift für Andreas Auer zum 65. Geburtstag, 2013, pp. 215 – 225
Felix Uhlmann – Problemzonen verfassungsrechtlicher Zuständigkeit
Le citoyen et la justice constitutionnelle, 6e congrès de l’Association des Cours constitutionnelles ayant en partage l’usage du français (ACCPUF) à Marrakech 2012, Länderbericht Schweiz des Bundesgerichts, Paris 2015
Antoine Favre, Les droits constitutionnels et la garantie internationale des droits de l’homme, in: Juristische Fakultäten der schweizerischen Universitäten (Hrsg.), Freiheit des Bürgers im schweizerischen Recht, Festgabe zur Hundertjahrfeier der Bundesverfassung, 1948, pp. 335 – 358
Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger, Die erste Richterin am Bundesgericht: Allein unter Richtern, in: Revital Ludewig/Kathleen Weislehner/Evelyne Angehrn (Hrsg.), Zwischen Recht und Gerechtigkeit, Richterinnen im Spiegel der Zeit, 2007, pp. 1-21
Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger – Die erste Richterin am Bundesgericht
Josef Albisser was the first president of the Swiss Federal Insurance Court, which was the highest federal social security court, and which commenced hearing cases in Lucerne in January 1918. In early 2007 the Court merged with the Federal Supreme Court as the unitary supreme law authority of Switzerland. Josef Albisser was born 25 February 1868 in Büron, Canton of Lucerne. He read law and economics in Bern, Leipzig and Munich, and was admitted to the Lucerne bar in 1892. From 1895-1915 he worked as an attorney in Lucerne.
Johann Jakob Blumer, Das schweizerische Bundesgericht – Eröffnungsrede von Dr. Blumer, Zeitschrift für schweizerische Gesetzgebung und Rechtspflege (published 1875-1882), 1875 Volume I, pp. 24 – 29
Michele Luminati, Die Gesichter der Justiz – Das schweizerische Bundesgericht als Gegenstand interdisziplinärer Forschung, in: Paolo Becchi/Christoph Beat Graber/Michele Luminati (eds.), Interdisziplinäre Wege in der juristischen Grundlagenforschung, Luzerner Beiträge zur Rechtswissenschaft, 2007, pp. 183-213 (excerpt: pp. 196 – 205)
Council of Europe/Conseil de l’Europe, Group of States against Corruption/Groupe d’Etats contra la corruption (GRECO), Vierte Evaluationsrunde: Prävention von Korruption bei Mitgliedern von Parlamenten, Gerichten und Staatsanwaltschaften, Evaluationsbericht Schweiz, vom 2. Dezember 2016 (excerpt: pp. 7, 27-31)
Adrian Vatter/Maya Ackermann, Richterwahlen in der Schweiz: Eine empirische Analyse der Wahlen an das Bundesgericht von 1848 bis 2013, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2014 I 517 – 537
Geschäftsbericht 2017 des Bundesgerichts (excerpt: chapter Gerichtsverwaltung/Beziehungen zu ausländischen Gerichten, p. 11)
Stephen Breyer, The Court and the World, American Law and the New Global Realities, New York 2015 (excerpt: Part IV: The Judge as Diplomat, pp. 247-270)
This text cannot be published here for copyright reasons.
Martin Schubarth, Die Bedeutung der Mehrsprachigkeit der schweizerischen Gesetze für die höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung, Gesetzgebung und Evaluation (LeGes) 2000, pp. 49-57
Mathieu Devinat/Pascal Pichonnaz, L’égalité des langues officielles devant les cours suprêmes: regards croisés sur le droit canadien et le droit suisse, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2017 I 271-287
Botschaft des Bundesrates an die Bundesversammlung über die Anerkennung des Rätoromanischen als Nationalsprache (of 1 June 1937), Bundesblatt 1937 II 1-33 (excerpt: pp. 12-16, 30)
Susanne Leuzinger, Die Errichtung des Eidgenössischen Versicherungsgerichts vor 100 Jahren und die Entwicklung der Verwaltungsrechtspflege im Bund, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Sozialversicherungsrecht und berufliche Vorsorge (SZS) 2017, pp. 587 – 616 (excerpt: pp. 588-606)
Susanne Leuzinger – Errichtung des eidg. Versicherungsgerichts
Botschaft des Bundesrathes an die hohe Bundesversammlung, betreffend die Organisation der Bundesrechtspflege (of 23 May 1874), Bundesblatt 1874 I 1059 ff: (excerpt: p. 1064 f.)
Susanne Leuzinger, Soziale Sicherheit und ihre Rechtswege, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2014 II 491 ff. (excerpts: pp. 525 – 534, 577 – 585)
Thomas Cottier/Maya Hertig, The Prospects of 21st Century Constitutionalism, in: A. von Bogdandy und R. Wolfrum (Eds.), Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Volume 7, 2003, pp. 261 – 328 (excerpts: Introduction pp. 261 – 264, Towards a Five Storey House/Conclusion pp. 299 – 328)
Susanne Leuzinger – Soziale Sicherheit und ihre Rechtswege
Cottier/Hertig – Prospects of 21st Century Constitutionalism
Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpt: chapter Der Totalrevisionsversuch von 1872, subchapter Einführung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber den Kantonen – Reform des Bundesgerichts, pp. 575-580)
Alfred Kölz – Einführung Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber den Kantonen
Gustav Vogt, Die Einsetzung eines eidgenössischen Verwaltungsgerichtshofes, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 1897, pp. 821-829
Gustav Vogt – Einsetzung eines eidg. Verwaltungsgerichtshofes
Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpt: chapter Entwicklung der Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit im Bund, pp. 851-861)
Alfred Kölz – Entwicklung der Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit im Bund
Paul Tschümperlin, Die Rolle des Bundesgerichts im Gesetzgebungsprozess, Gesetzgebung und Evaluation (LeGes) 2016, pp. 441-455
Paul Tschümperlin – Die Rolle des Bundesgerichts im Gesetzgebungsprozess
Regina Kiener, Richterliche Unabhängigkeit, Verfassungsrechtliche Anforderungen an Richter und Gerichte, Bern 2001, pp. 294 – 309
Zur Tragweite der parlamentarischen Oberaufsicht über die Gerichte – Positionen in der Rechtslehre, Bericht der Parlamentarischen Verwaltungskontrollstelle zuhanden der Geschäftsprüfungskommission des Ständerates vom 11. März 2002, Bundesblatt 2002 7690-7726
Dietrich Schindler, Richterliches Prüfungsrecht und politischer Mehrheitswille, Erfahrungen der Vereinigten Staaten – Folgerungen für die Schweiz, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 1955 I 289-313
Dietrich Schindler – Richterliches Prüfungsrecht und pol. Mehrheitswille
Daniel Wüger studied law at the University of Bern. In 2002, he graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in international commercial law. After working at the Institute for European and International Economic Law and serving as Program Manager at the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University, he was responsible for European law and Schengen/Dublin coordination at the Federal Office of Justice of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 2008 to 2019. Since 2019 he has been Deputy Secretary General of the Department.
Hans Peter Walter (born 1944) studied law at the University of Bern. In 1969 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Bern and worked as a lawyer in Bern from 1969 to 1986. From 1982 – 1986 he was a part-time federal judge, and from 1987 – 2004 a full Federal Supreme Court justice, which he presided over in 2001/2002. After lecturing at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg during his term as a federal judge, thereafter from 2004 to 2010 he was a full professor in the fields of private and commercial law at the University of Bern, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1997.
Gustav Vogt (1829 – 1901, originally from the Grand Duchy of Hesse, from 1846 officially from Erlach BE) studied law at the University of Bern, where he earned his post-doctoral habilitation in 1855. After working as an attorney, journalist and criminal prosecutor, he became Director of the Federal Statistical Bureau in 1860 and full professor of constitutional law at the University of Bern in 1862.
Adrian Vatter (born 1965) studied economics and political science at the University of Bern, where he received his doctorate in political science in 1993. He then completed a post doc at the University of California at Los Angeles. After founding his own political consulting and research firm in Bern and working as Research Assistant at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel, he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Bern, where he became Assistant Professor for Policy Analysis and Evaluation in 2001. Thereafter he was a professor at the Universities of Constance (D) and Zurich from 2002, and since 2009 he has been Director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern and holder of the Professorial Chair for Swiss Politics. He consults for various parliamentary bodies of the Swiss Confederation, among other clients.
Felix Uhlmann (born 1969) studied law and economics in Basel and Lausanne. He received his LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in the canton of Basel-Stadt. In 2004 he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Basel, where he was Assistant Professor from 2001 to 2004. Since 2006 he has been full professor for Constitutional and Administrative Law and Legislation Theory at the University of Zurich and Director of the Centre for Legislation Theory at the University of Zurich.
Paul Tschümperlin (born 1956) studied law and received his doctorate from the University of Freiburg i.Ü. in 1984. He was admitted to the bar in the canton of Schwyz in 1986. He then worked as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) at the Federal Supreme Court. He has been Secretary General of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court since 1991, overseeing the administration of the Federal Supreme Court. During his term on the Federal Supreme Court he has also been a member of the Military Court of Cassation since 2006 and served as its President since 2017, which is the highest instance of appeal in the military judiciary, responsible for hearing cases subject to military criminal law. His academic publications mainly concern the constitutional status of the Federal Supreme Court and court organization.
Martin Schubarth (born 1942) studied law in Basel. In 1968, he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Basel-Stadt and in 1973 qualified as a professor of criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Basel. From 1969 to 1983 he worked as an attorney in Basel, then from 1976 to 1980 he was a professor at the University of Bonn, and at the University of Hannover from 1980 to 1983. He was appointed as Federal Supreme Court justice in 1982. He served as Federal Supreme Court President from 1999 to 2000, resigning in 2004. He then returned to private practise, working as an attorney for a major law firm in Lausanne.
Dietrich Schindler-Kuhn (1924 – 2018) studied law in Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Harvard, and earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Zurich in 1957. In parallel with and after lecturing at the University of Zurich, the University of Bonn, the University of Michigan and the Hague Academy of International Law, he was full professor for International, European, Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Zurich from 1968 to 1989.
Pascal Pichonnaz, former Dean of Fribourg Faculty of Law (2014-2017), is professor for Swiss and Comparative Contract Law, European Consumer Law and Roman Law. He was educated at the University of Fribourg, where he got his PhD and his Habilitation. He took the bar exam in Fribourg (1994). He studied also at Berkeley Law (LL.M., 1997) and has spent a research year at the University of Regensburg (Germany, 1997-1998, Chair of Prof. Dr Reinhard Zimmermann), and then several months at the MPI Hamburg (2005), at Università la Sapienza (2005) and at Stellenbosh University, South Africa (2010). He has also been fellow of the Robbins Collection, Berkeley (2005).
Since 2008, he his co-founder and co-Director of the LL.M. in Business Law at the Faculty of Law of Fribourg (www.unifr.ch/ius/llm) Master of Laws in cross-cultural business practice.
Jörg Paul Müller (born 1938) studied law and sociology at the Universities of Geneva and Bern and earned an LL.M. from Harvard. In 1971 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Bern. In the same year he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Bern where he was a full professor for Constitutional Law, International Law and Philosophy of Law from 1971 to 2001. He also taught constitutional law, theory of state and political ethics at the universities of Freiburg i.Ü., Basel and St. Gallen and at ETH Zurich.
Michele Luminati (born 1960) studied law at the University of Zurich, where he received his doctorate in 1995 and his habilitation in 2007. Since 2004 he has been full professor of legal history and theory of law at the University of Lucerne. There he founded the Institute for Legal Foundations (lucernaiuris). Since 2008 he has also been a titular professor at the University of Zurich. From 2013 – 2016 he was director of the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, which strengthens the cultural and scientific relations between Switzerland and Italy.
Adolf Lüchinger (1928 – 2020) studied law in Zurich and Geneva and received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1954. In 1957 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Zurich and opened his own law office in Zurich in 1960. From the same year onwards, he worked part-time as a judge at the Administrative Court of the canton of Zurich. In 1968 he was appointed federal judge. He resigned from his post in 1992. In 1993 the University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Susanne Leuzinger (born 1949) studied law at the University of Zurich (licentiate 1972, doctorate 1994) and was admitted to the bar of the canton of Zurich in 1974. After 20 years as an attorney in Zurich and specializing in insurance and liability law, in particular social security law, she was part-time president of the newly created Federal Appeals Commission for Accident Insurance from 1994 to 1996 (which was absorbed into the newly created Federal Administrative Court in 2007), and judge at the newly created Social Security Court of the canton of Zurich from 1995 to 1996. In 1996, she was appointed as a federal judge at the Federal Insurance Court (organizationally independent social security division of the Federal Supreme Court).
Helen Keller (born 1964) studied law at and received her doctorate from the University of Zurich. After completing her LL.M. in Bruges and research stays at Harvard Law School, the European University Institute in Florence and the Max Planck Institute for Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, she earned her post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Zurich.
André Jomini (born 1962) obtained his law degree from the University of Lausanne in 1985. After working as attorney in the canton of Vaud and as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) at the Federal Supreme Court, he was appointed as justice of the Cantonal Court of Vaud in 2009, working in part in the Constitutional Law section. He also serves as judge on the Military Cassation Court, the highest instance of appeal in the military justice system, which hears cases subject to military criminal law. Continue reading
Alexandra Gerber (born 1962) studied law at the Universities of Tübingen and Aix-en-Provence, and in 1989 passed the 2nd State Exam. From 1989 to 1994 she was a Research Associate at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne, and obtained her law degree from the University of Bern in 1993. Since 1994 she has worked as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) and Research Associate at the Federal Supreme Court.
Antoine Favre was born in 1897 in Sion, Canton of Valais. After obtaining the licence ès lettres from the Sorbonne in Paris he read law at the University of Freiburg i.Ü. and Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1926 he received his doctorate in Freiburg i.Ü. After being admitted to the bar in the Canton of Valais, he worked as an attorney in Sion.
Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpts: chapter Die Versuche der Einführung einer Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber Bundesakten, pp. 821-829)
Alfred Kölz – Einführung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber Bundesakten
Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpts: chapter Aufbau des Bundesstaates, subchapter Justizfunktionen im jungen Bundesstaat, pp. 488-491; chapter Der Totalrevisionsversuch von 1872, subchapter Einführung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber den Kantonen – Reform des Bundesgerichts, pp. 575-580)
Alfred Kölz – Justizfunktionen im jungen Bundesstaat (pp. 488-491)
Alfred Kölz – Der Totalrevisionsversuch von 1872 (pp. 575-580)
Bardo Fassbender (born 1963) studied law, history and political science at the University of Bonn and Yale Law School. He received his doctorate and post-doctoral habilitation at Humboldt University, Berlin. After teaching and researching law at Yale University, Florence, Milan, Frankfurt/Oder, Turin and Munich, he was full professor of international law at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich from 2008 – 2013, specializing in international human rights protection. Since 2013 he has been full professor of International, European and Public Law at the University of St. Gallen.
Mathieu Devinat studied law at the University of Montreal. He was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1995 and received his doctorate from the Universities of Aix-Marseille and Montreal in 2001. Since 2013 he has been full professor of Civil Law, Legal History and Legal Linguistics at the University of Sherbrooke (Province of Quebec, Canada). He is a member of the Academy for European Social Law (Salzburg).
Stephen Breyer (born 1938) studied at Stanford University and at Oxford University, receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the latter. He then studied law at Harvard. In 1964 he worked as a law clerk at the US Supreme Court for Judge Arthur Goldberg. In 1973 he was Assistant Special Prosecutor in the investigation of the Watergate scandal. From 1967 to 1994 he was a professor at Harvard Law School, and a visiting professor in Sydney and Rome. He began his judicial career in 1980 at the Federal Court of Appeals for the 1st district. Since 1994 he has been a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, nominated by President Clinton.
Johann Jakob Blumer, born 1819, of Glarus and Schwanden (Canton of Glarus), was a historian, liberal-minded and dedicated supporter of the modern Confederation. After reading law from 1836-1840 in Lausanne and Zurich and partly abroad (Bonn and Berlin), and before his election as a federal judge in 1848, he was a judge at the civil court in Glarus. He played a key role in drafting of the new constitution as a delegate to the Diet, and in 1848 he chaired the Commission for the Determination of the Federal Seat. From 1848-1874 he represented the canton of Glarus in the Council of States, which he presided over in 1853. From 1865 he repeatedly chaired the Commission for the Revision of the Federal Constitution.
Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger was born on 14 March 1933 in Henau (today Uzwil), Canton of St. Gallen. After reading law in Geneva and Zurich she received her doctorate in 1959 in Zurich with a dissertation on criminal law, the sociological orientation of which demonstrated the importance of societal realities in her views regarding the law already at that age.
Heinz Aemisegger (born 1947) studied law at the University of Zurich, was admitted to the bar in Schaffhausen in 1972 and received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1975. After working as a legal assistant for the Swiss Association for Regional Planning, he served as justice on the High Court of the Canton of Schaffhausen from 1975 to 1987, and as part-time judge at the Federal Supreme Court from 1984 to 1987. From 1987 to 2014 he was a member of the Federal Supreme Court, which he presided over from 2003 to 2004. Since resigning as federal judge he has been a legal consultant for a major law firm. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Zurich in 2014. In his work on the bench and a legal theorist he focused in part on addressing spatially related matters (spatial planning, building law, environmental protection, etc.).
Maya Ackermann studied political science at the Universities of Zurich and Bern. From 2014 to 2018 she was a Research Assistant at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern, where she obtained her doctorate in political science in 2018. Since then she has been a Research Associate for the Swiss Alzheimer’s Association.
Alfred Kölz went to school at the high school in the city of Solothurn. After his matura, he began to study chemical engineering at the Swiss Institute of Technology. After two semesters, he changed to law at the Universities of Zurich and Berne. In 1973 he received his doctoral degree with a thesis “Prozessmaximen im Schweizerischen Verwaltungsrecht”.
Thomas Cottier, former Managing Director of the World Trade Institute and the Institute of European and International Economic Law, is a Professor emeritus of European and International Economic Law at the University of Bern. He was educated at the University of Bern and was a research fellow with Professor Jörg Paul Müller in constitutional and public international law.
Maya Hertig Randall holds a Ph.D. from the University of Fribourg, a first class LL.M. degree from the University of Cambridge and was admitted to the Geneva bar in 2002. She joined the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva as Professor of constitutional law in 2007.