Peter Saladin, Die Kunst der Verfassungserneuerung in: Der Staat als Aufgabe, Gedenkschrift für Max Imboden, ed. Peter Saladin and Luzius Wildhaber, Basel/ Stuttgart: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1972, pp. 269-292 (reprinted in: Die Kunst der Verfassungserneuerung, Schriften zur Verfassungsreform 1968-1996, Basel/ Frankfurt am Main: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1998, pp. 15-36).
Saladin Kunst der Verfassungserneuerung
Introduction/Historical Situation and Systematic Context
The title of the essay by Peter Saladin, to be discussed further, “The art of renewing the constitution,” has been selected to give the title of the author’s collected essays by the editors. In fact, this essay appears very significant and representative for the author’s writings, apart from his monographies “Grundrechte im Wandel” and “Verantwortung als Staatsprinzip” (see nos. 5.14 and 5.17 of this Legal Anthology). To some extent, with this essay Saladin follows the stacks of his academic teacher, Max Imboden (see no. 5.13 of this Legal Anthology).
Peter Saladin has practised this art of constitution-making extensively, as he participated in the unsuccessful attempt of a total revision of the Swiss Federal Constitution in the 1970s, and he has contributed a great deal to the successful Constitution of the Canton Berne of June 1993. With vivid interest he followed the progress of the constitutional reform process, leading to the Swiss Federal Constitution of April 1999; however, he could no longer participate in an active way and died before the renewed Constitution entered into validity.
Content, Abstracts/Conclusions, Insights, Evidence
With practice in constitution-making, jurisprudence in the domain of public law becomes practical and therefore definitely enters the realm of legal philosophical thought. Peter Saladin addresses this practice with the qualification as an art, not as artistry as the output is radically different from artificial. It is commonly known, that the initiative and courage of this attempt to renew the constitution failed and gave way to an all too modest partly technocratic process of tracking the valid constitutional law and re-formulating its substance in the second half decade of the 1990s. However, the impetus of the first attempt is worth to be reconsidered, even after having experienced the success of the second approach.
In judging the opportunity, Peter Saladin perfectly agrees with his academic teacher Max Imboden. His approach is to be considered as heuristic, as he identifies the necessity of re-thinking, of thinking over the existing constitutional order, proposes a method to adopt and identifies the following priorities: the environment is to be analysed, human dignity to be secured, political models have to be evaluated and finally leading ideas and concepts have to be elaborated. The author is fully aware that his conception means to start a process with an open ending, depending on what should remain and what has to be renewed. His leading ideas do not only reflect the status quo of constitutional thought within the political society: “Sie machen nicht die Grundideen der politischen Gemeinschaft aus, sondern sie müssen schlagwortartig, exemplifizierend, einprägsam anzeigen, wie die Grundideen in der historischen Situation von heute und morgen eine neue politische Ordnung gestalten sollen. Die Leitmotive müssen nicht nur rational einleuchten, sondern auch in einer seelischen Schicht anklingen”.
Peter Saladin’s intention is to enlarge the process of constitution-making into the future and to respect the needs of human circumstances and the natural environment (two guidelines that have been elaborated separately by the author). Within the process, even such old-conduced and approved concepts as Swiss federalism have to be questioned and taken into consideration. “Für die Verfassunggebung – und vor allem für eine eigentliche Neuschöpfung der Verfassung – genügt heute nicht mehr, was wir mit berechtigter Bewunderung den Vätern unserer geltenden Bundesverfassung zurechnen: Weitblick, Intuition, staatsmännische Einsicht in das politisch Fruchtbare und Tragbare. All diese Tugenden müssen zwar auch die Verfassungsschöpfer von heute und morgen auszeichnen. Sie bedürfen aber notwendig der Ergänzung durch die Bereitschaft, Analysen und Modelle systematisch zu erarbeiten”. Thereby, jurisprudence is taken into obligation and responsibility, however not in the sense of an academical exercise, but rather in a truly creative way, in order to complement the crucial task for the political community.
Selected Works of the Same Author
Peter Saladin: Grundrechte im Wandel – Die Rechtsprechung des Schweizerischen Bundesgerichts zu den Grundrechten in einer sich ändernden Umwelt. Bern: Stämpfli & Cie. AG, 3. ed. 1982 (extract); Idem: Kleinstaaten mit Zukunft? In: Die Kunst der Verfassungsreneuerung, Schriften zur Verfassungsreform 1968-1996, Basel/ Frankfurt am Main: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1998, pp. 361ss.; Idem: Unerfüllte Bundesverfassung? In: Hundert Jahre Bundesverfassung 1874-1984, Die Bundesverfassung gestern, heute, morgen (Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht, N. S. vol. 93, vol. 3/ 4, pp. 307ss.), Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1974.
For Further Reading
Max Imboden: Helvetisches Malaise, in: Staat und Recht, Ausgewählte Schriften und Vorträge, Basel/ Stuttgart: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1971, pp. 279-307 (first printing in: Polis, Evangelische Zeitbuchreihe, vol. 20, Zürich: EVZ-Verlag, 1964).