George A. Codding, Jr., Governing the Commune of Veyrier: Politics in Swiss Local Government, 1967.
Chapter One
Communes, Cantons, and the Swiss ConfederationThe commune is the smallest political subdivision in the Swiss system.1 In 1966 there were 3,092 communes. At the next higher level is found the canton,2 of which there are twenty-five (nineteen full and six half-cantons), and at the top there is the government of the Swiss Confederation.3
In order to place the commune of Veyrier in its proper perspective in Swiss political life, it will be necessary to discuss briefly the nature of Swiss government at each of these three levels. Inasmuch as the canton of Geneva is the major factor in the environment of the commune of Veyrier, a short section on some of the canton's major physical and demographic characteristics will be included.
Federalism Perhaps the most important factor to be kept in mind when visualizing the Swiss political structure is that Switzerland has a federal system of government, borrowed to a large extent from the experience of the United States. There is a division of powers between the central government and the cantonal governments, which is set forth in a supreme law, the Swiss constitution, and which cannot be changed by either acting independently. Article 3 of the Swiss constitution, similar to the Tenth Amendment of its American counterpart, reads, "The cantons are sovereign so far as their sovereignty is not limited by the federal Constitution, and, as such, they exercise all the rights which are not delegated to the federal power."
There is a major difference between the two systems, however. The powers granted to the Swiss federal government are much broader both in quantity and scope than is the case in America. For example, in addition to most of the powers granted to the American government, the Swiss government has a monopoly on such things as gunpowder, telegraphs, telephones, broadcasting, television, and alcohol. The Swiss government also has wide powers in respect to commerce and transportation. It has legislative authority over ship and air transportation, and automobiles. The Swiss federal power even extends into areas that most Americans would consider strictly local concern, such as hunting and fishing, water and forests, and infectious diseases. In regard to the laws of the land, it is the Swiss federal government and not the cantonal government that has been empowered to legislate on matters of civil, criminal, and commercial law as well as matters in the field of social legislation, including the right to legislate for the elimination of unemployment and the protection of the family.4
While there are actually very few spheres of government in which the Swiss canton is completely free to act on its own, the concept of federalism is kept alive in several ways. Of special importance is the granting by the constitution of "primary" responsibility to the cantons in certain areas of government and the "partnership" concept whereby the cantons share in the administration and execution of federal laws. Education is a good example of the former. Article 27 of the Swiss constitution provides that the cantons shall have the main responsibility in providing for primary education, but at the same time sets forth the general guidelines â€"adequate, obligatory, non-sectarian and freeâ€"that the federal government has the right and duty of enforcing. Concerning the partnership concept, in 1898 the power to establish a single criminal code applicable to all of Switzerland was given to the federal government, but at the same time it was also specified in Article 64 of the Swiss constitution that "The organization of the judiciary, legal procedure and the administration of justice remain vested in the cantons as in the past." The Swiss federal government has subsequently created a single civil and administrative code valid for all of Switzerland, but as in the past the cantons still control the police and organize all but the highest court in the land.
Additional factors that the Swiss feel tend to preserve federalism in Switzerland include an upper house of the bicameral federal legislature in which the cantons have equal representation5 and the instruments of direct democracy for which the Swiss are famous, the constitutional initiative and referendum and the federal legislative referendum. Perhaps the most important factor is the feeling of identity of Swiss citizens with their canton of origin. This sense of identity stems from a pride in the history of the canton, most of the cantons having had an independent existence many centuries before the Swiss government became a reality, and the efforts of ancestors in the development of the canton throughout the ages. It also arises from the fact that the canton is still the center of a very active political life of its own. None of these elements can, of course,, stem the trend toward centralization that is taking place in Switzerland, as in the United States, but they are as good brakes as any that are available.
The Canton of Geneva The canton of Geneva, or the Republic and Canton of Geneva to give it its complete and official tide, is the westernmost Swiss canton. Its common frontier with the canton of Vaud, the only common frontier it has with a Swiss canton, is just short of three miles. Its common frontier with France, on the other hand, amounts to 63.9 miles. In size, the canton of Geneva ranks 20th out of the 25 cantons and half-cantons. The total surface of the canton amounts to only 109.65 square miles, of which the Geneva part of Lake Leman (or Lake Geneva) occupies 14.67 square miles. At its widest point the canton measures 19 miles and the altitude varies between 1,184 feet and 1,548 feet. The climate is moderate.6
With a population of 293,700 at the end of 1965 (259,234 in the 1960 census), Geneva is the sixth ranking canton exceeded only by the cantons of Zurich (1,039,000), Berne (960,000), Vaud (479,800), Aargau (392,000), and St. Gallen (360,000). In regard to cities, however, the city of Geneva with its population of 169,900 is the third largest in Switzerland, exceeded only by the cities of Zurich (435,300) and Basle (212,200). In 1965 the total population of Switzerland was 5,873,900.
The rate of growth of Geneva, both city and canton, is one of the highest in Switzerland. The high rate of growth has not been consistent, however. Slow until about 1890, it raced ahead in the years leading up to World War I. World War I put a brake to the population explosion, as did the Great Depression which followed. The outbreak of World War II had a decidedly negative effect on the population growth, aided by the exodus of foreigners, many of whom had worked for the League of Nations. The high growth rate of Geneva started up again immediately after the end of World War II and has held fairly consistently; there has been a slight drop in the past few years because of the federal decision to cut down on the number of foreigners working in Switzerland by limiting the number of work permits issued. Table I gives a fair picture of the over-all population growth of the canton and city of Geneva.
Table I. Population of the City and Canton of Geneva for selected years between 1850 and 1965*
Year
City of Geneva
Canton of
Geneva without
the cityTotal Cantonal
Population1850
37,724
26,422
64,146
1900
95,393
36,996
132,389
1950
146,636
55,920
202,556
1960
172,501
81,202
253,703
1961
172,677
87,477
260,154
1962
173,673
98,738
272,411
1963
174,660
108,396
283,056
1964
175,449
118,830
294,279
1965
174,537
125,359
299,896
*See Annuaire statistique, 1965, pp. 9-11. The differences between the 1965 figures for the canton and city of Geneva in this table and those in the text are due to a difference in population prediction methods used by the canton and the federal government. Those in the text from the Swiss federal government are probably the most accurate.
One of the more important reasons for the constant population growth of Geneva is the canton's favorable economy. Industry came early to Geneva and Geneva was one of the early banking centers. In 1900, 12 percent of the population depended upon agriculture for a livelihood as against 45.5 percent in industry and trades; 14.2 percent in commerce, banking, and insurance; and 9 percent for public enterprises. In 1950 the figures were 5 percent for agriculture; 43.4 percent for industry and trades; 20 percent for commerce, banking, and insurance; and 14 percent for public enterprises.7 The cantonal bureau of statistics estimates that in 1965, out of a total working population of 160,270, 59,630 were in industry and trades; 36,060 in commerce, banking, and insurance; 32,460 in public and private service occupations; 8,510 in transport and communication; 8,250 in hotel, pensions, and restaurant work; 5,260 in domestic service; 3,660 in agriculture; 350 in mines and stone quarry work. The occupation of an additional 5,260 was unknown, and there were 250 unemployed.
Another reason for the population growth of the canton of Geneva is the choice of the area for the headquarters of international organizations. In Geneva is the Palais des Nations, at one time the headquarters of the League of Nations and now the European headquarters of the United Nations and several of its major agencies, including the Economic Commission for Europe, the Opium Control Board, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Several of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations have their headquarters in Geneva, including the International Labor Organization, the World Health Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, and the World Meteorological Organization. Also to be found in Geneva are the headquarters of several international organizations not affiliated with the United Nations and numerous private international organizations, including a large and impressive ecumenical center.
Geneva's attractiveness to outsiders has resulted in its taking on a decidedly cosmopolitan character. Of the total resident population of the canton in 1965, only 29.5 percent had been born in Geneva, 40.1 percent were from other Swiss cantons, and 30.4 percent were foreigners. Although when thinking of Geneva one is inclined to think of Calvin and Protestantism, there are more Catholics living in the canton than there are Protestants; this has been true since 1959. In 1965 there were 148,024 Catholics to 121,445 Protestants.
The Government of the Canton of Geneva The type of government adopted by the canton of Geneva is set forth in the Constitution of the Republic and Canton of Geneva of 1847.8 This instrument can be partially revised through the normal procedure of passing a law and submitting it to a referendum. The Geneva constitution also provides that every fifteen years the cantonal legislature must decide whether a total revision of the constitution is in order. If the decision is in the affirmative, a constituent assembly is called to prepare a new draft which is then submitted to the people for their approval. Article 6 of the Swiss federal constitution provides that all cantonal constitutions, as well as amendments to them, must be reviewed by federal authorities to make certain that they contain nothing contrary to the provisions of the federal constitution, that they assure the exercise of political rights according to a republican form of government (either representative or democratic), and that the cantonal constitution has been accepted by the citizens of the canton in question.
The Geneva constitution provides that the canton shall be governed by a unicameral legislature and an executive council.9 The legislative body, called the Grand Conseil, is made up of 100 members elected by the cantonal voters by means of a list system of proportional representation. The cantonal executive, or Conseil d'Etat, is made up of seven members, following on the formula used for the federal executive, elected by all the voters on a majority system every four years. In the execution of the laws, the Conseil d'Etat is assisted by seven major departments: (1) Industry, Commerce, and Labor; (2) Finances and Taxes; (3) Education; (4) Interior and Agriculture; (5) Justice and Police; (6) Social Planning and Public Health; and (7) Public Works.10
An essential element in the Swiss governmental system is the provision for direct democracy. The Swiss have a great degree of faith in the availability of direct democracy to keep a restraining hand on government at all levels. On the cantonal level, for instance, the Swiss feel that direct democracy sufficiently justifies the lack of the additional check that a bicameral legislative system would provide. Under the Geneva system, almost any law except for the annual budget as a whole and emergency legislation must be referred to the people upon the receipt of a petition signed by at least 7,000 electors. The legislative initiative can be activated upon the receipt of a petition by the Grand Conseil containing the signatures of 10,000 electors. Direct democracy is used in Geneva, too. In the twenty-year period between 1944 and 1964, for instance, five pieces of legislation were brought to the people for their approval through the use of the referendum and thirteen proposals for new laws were voted on as a result of the use of the initiative.11
Mention should also be made of the cantonal judicial system inasmuch as the cantonal judiciary is the foundation of the entire Swiss system. The cantons have been given the task of applying the law, leaving to the federal government the task of making the law and providing, in the Swiss Supreme Court, a means of keeping the cantonal interpretations of the law parallel.
The canton of Geneva follows the normal Swiss pattern of organizing its courts, both criminal and civil, on three levels.12 On the civil side the lowest order of justice is dispensed by the Justices of the Peace, of which there are four for the canton. The middle level is the Tribunal of the First Instance (Tribunal de premiere instance) made up of seven to nine judges acting independently. Both the Justices of the Peace and the Tribunal are courts of primary jurisdiction, jurisdiction over a case depending on the amount involved. The more important case would go to the Tribunal. At the top of the civil side axe the civil chambers of the Court of Justice (Cour de Justice) made up of from three to five judges, and its jurisdiction is primarily appellate.
On the criminal side the lowest court is the Police Court (Tribunal de police) which is made up of a presiding judge and two assessors (asses-seurs). At the middle level there is the Court of Petty Sessions (Cour correctionelle), a section of the Court of Justice, made up of three judges or, under certain circumstances, the Court of Petty Sessions with Jury, made up of a judge and six jurors. As was the case with the civil courts, these two first ranks of criminal courts are primarily courts of the first instance and jurisdiction over a case depends on the gravity of the alleged crime. At the top of the criminal courts is the Assize Court (Cour d'assises) made up of the President of the Court of Justice with twelve jurors.13
The Communes of the Canton of Geneva There are forty-five communes in the canton of Geneva. In population, the largest is the city of Geneva with 174,537 in 1965. The next largest is Lancy with 15,498, followed by Carouge with 14,560.14 The smallest commune in the canton is Gy with only 154 inhabitants. Excluding the city of Geneva, the average size of a Geneva commune is approximately 2,800 inhabitants. Our commune, Veyrier, had 3,325 inhabitants in 1965.
In total surface, the largest commune in the canton of Geneva is Satigny with 7.37 square miles. The city of Geneva is second with 6.22 square miles, and the smallest is Chene-Bourg with .54 square miles. The average size of a Geneva commune is approximately 2.11 square miles. The commune of Veyrier is 2.52 square miles.
The basic organization of communal government is set forth in the Geneva constitution.15 One entire section of the part on the organization of communes is devoted to the city of Geneva and the other to the remaining 44 communes. The main difference between the two sections is that the section on the city of Geneva makes provision for the much larger size of the city. For instance, the provisions dealing with the city provide that it shall have an administrative council of five members. The smaller communes have three members.
The Geneva constitution provides that the communal executive shall be made up of a mayor and two deputies for all communes with a population of less than 3,000. When a commune exceeds 3,000, the municipal administration is carried out by a three-member collegial administrative council.16 The municipal councils, the size of which is set by cantonal law, are renewed every four years; the councillors may succeed themselves. In communes larger than 800 inhabitants the members of the municipal council are elected by proportional representation and in the smaller communes by a majority system. The members of the administrative councils and mayors and their deputies are elected by a majority system and have the right to participate in meetings of their municipal councils, including the right to speak and to propose legislation, but without the right to vote. Finally, all meetings of communal municipal councils are, in principle, open to the public, but may be held in secret when necessary.
Other provisions of the Geneva constitution providing guidelines for the administration of communes include Article 6, which establishes the principle of the communal right of eminent domain, and Article 162, which makes the commune responsible for primary education facilities. Articles 59 to 63 outline the municipal referendum. Almost any decision of a municipal council, except the communal budget as a whole, can be brought to a popular vote if the proper number of signatures is gathered within a 21-day delay after the decision has been posted in a commune of 1,000 electors or less, or 30 days in a commune with more than 1,000 electors. The number of signatures varies according to the number of inhabitants of the commune:
(1) 30 percent of the electors in a commune of 500 electors;
(2) 20 percent of the electors in communes of from 500 to 5,000, but with a minimum of 150 electors;
(3) 10 percent of the electors in communes from 5,001 to 30,000 electors, but with a minimum of 1,000 electors;
(4) 3,000 signatures in a commune of more than 30,000, except for the city of Geneva; and
(5) 4,000 signatures in the city of Geneva.
In every case where the proper number of signatures has been obtained, the Conseil d'Etat of the canton of Geneva is obliged to submit the matter to a majority popular vote.
The exceptions to the powers of the commune should also be noted. Earlier it was pointed out that, with the exception of the Supreme Court, the cantons are responsible for the administration of justice. The cantons do not delegate any of their authority to the communes, however. The police are all cantonal police and all courts are cantonal courts. Pertaining to education, the communes are given only the task of creating and maintaining primary schools. The selection of teachers for primary schools, the creation, maintenance and staffing of secondary schools and universities is the exclusive task of the canton of Geneva.17 Finally, public welfare assistance is almost exclusively a cantonal task. The canton establishes and operates all public hospitals and clinics.
One final power granted by the canton to the commune is worth mentioning at this point. The commune has an important role to play in the determination of Swiss citizenship. Before a Swiss becomes a citizen of a canton, upon which his Swiss citizenship itself depends, the individual must first be a citizen of a commune. The communes of Geneva, and the other communes of Switzerland, have complete freedom to accept or reject the application for naturalization of any individual; and if he is not accepted by a commune, he will not be accepted by a canton. The communal basis for Swiss citizenship, as well as the long history of many of the Swiss communes, helps preserve a desire for autonomy on the communal level just as the long history of the cantons and the cantonal basis for Swiss citizenship help create the feelings necessary for the preservation of federalism on the national level. As long as this feeling continues to exist, the cantons will continue to feel constrained to give the communes some degree of autonomy in political affairs.
One final provision of the Geneva constitution should be covered at this point, and that deals with the general supervision of the canton over the day-to-day affairs of the communal governments. Inasmuch as the remedial measures provided in the constitution have never been applied to the commune of Veyrier they will not come up naturally during the course of our narrative. On the other hand, the scope of the control mechanism and the severity of the remedial measures are such that they have a potential that must be considered.
Supervision of the Communes by the Canton By a law of July 3, 1954, the supervision of the administration of the communes of Geneva is placed in the hands of the cantonal executive, the seven-man Conseil d'Etat, in particular, its Department of the Interior and Agriculture. This law also sets forth a number of specific methods by which this control can be assured.18
First, the Conseil d'Etat has the right to suspend debate in the communal legislature, an action which might lead to a dissolution of that body. Suspension of debate by the cantonal executive may take place "any time" a municipal council goes "beyond its constitutional powers or refuses to conform to the laws in force."19 Any such suspension of debate must be transmitted immediately to the cantonal legislature along with an explanation of the reasons for the action. If the cantonal legislature approves of the explanation given by the Conseil d'Etat for suspending debate, it pronounces the dissolution of the communal legislature. New elections must be held as soon as possible. In the interval between dissolution and the new elections, the communal executive acts as the provisional government. To make certain that the Conseil d'Etat will be in a position to know the content of the debates of municipal legislatures, Article 41 of the law in question also provides for a nonvoting representation of the Conseil d'Etat in all meetings of municipal legislatures.
Second, and also concerning activities of the communal legislature, the Conseil d'Etat has the right to annul any decision of a communal legislature that in its opinion is not taken in legally convoked meetings, refers to subjects outside the legislature's competence or that does not appear on the advance agenda of extraordinary meetings, or is in violation of valid laws and regulations.20 It should be recalled that there are a number of actions that cannot be taken except where authorized by cantonal law, and some decisions which must have the approval of the Conseil d'Etat.21
The Conseil d'Etat has the power to remove mayors or their deputies from office, without appeal, for any one of the following reasons:
(1) refusal to obey constitutional and legal orders given to them by the Conseil d'Etat;
(2) proven cases of embezzlement;
(3) refusal to carry out their duties;
(4) grave negligence in the performance of their duties;
(5) an unjustified absence of more than three months; or
(6) a grave violation of laws or official regulations.
Before making a decision in such cases, the Conseil must inform the accused of the charges and hear his defense if he so requests. A member of a communal executive removed from office by the Conseil d'Etat is not eligible for immediate re-election and the Cornell's action does not preclude subsequent civil or criminal actions.22
Notes 1 This study will treat only the political commune, which is the basic unit of local government in Switzerland. Many cantons permit the existence of other types of communes, some of which carry out functions of a local government nature. In eleven cantons, for instance, there are bourgeois communes whose membership is restricted to individuals born in that locality and which exercise a control over certain types of communal property. In six cantons there are separate scholastic communes, and in 21 there are ecclesiastic communes. In an additional one and one-half cantons there are assistance communes, which provide financial help to their members when in need. The canton of Geneva, where the commune of Veyrier is located, permits only the general-purpose political commune. For further information on other types of communes see George Sauser-Hall, Guide politique suisse (Lausanne: Payot, 1965), pp. 177-178.
2 Some Swiss cantons, not including Geneva, first divide their territory for administrative purposes into districts with a representative of the cantonal government at its head. Usually the district government has very little real autonomy.
3 For a more detailed discussion of the Swiss federal government than will be given here, see George A. Codding, Jr., The Federal Government of Switzerland (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1961), 1965 Printing.
4 It should also be noted that in cases where federal law and cantonal law come into direct conflict it is the cantonal law which is considered void.
5 This upper house, named the Council of States, is made up of forty-four members, two from each canton and one from each half-canton. The election of representatives is purely a cantonal matter. At present fifteen and a half cantons elect their representatives by direct ballot, four by cantonal legislatures, and two and a half by the Landsgemeinde. (The Landsgemeinde is an annual assembly of all male electors.) Among the other major federal institutions is a lower house elected by direct ballot by all registered male voters and a seven- man collegiate executive.
6 The material in this section, unless otherwise indicated, was obtained from: Geneva, Republique et canton de Geneve, Departement du commerce, de l'indus-trie et du travail, Bureau cantonal de statistique, Annuaire statistique, 1965 (Geneva, 1966); Switzerland, Departement de l'interieur, Bureau federal de statistique, Annuaire statistique de la Suisse, 1965 (Basle: Editions Berkhauser, 1966); and a letter dated June 21, 1967, from the Vice Director of the Bureau cantonal de statistique.
7 These figures are from Eric Deriaz and others, Geneve: Le Pays et les Hommes (Geneva: Societe de Geographie de Geneve, 1958), p. 197.
8 See Geneva, Republique et canton de Geneve, Constitution de la Republique et canton de Geneve du 24 mai 1847 (Geneve: Chancellerie d'etat, July, 1965). The Geneva Chancellerie publishes a loose-leaf edition of the constitution which is kept up to date. The one used for this book was issued to the author in July, 1965.
9 The executive council and single representative legislative body formula is used in all cantons except for Glarus, Appenzell and Unterwalden. These small cantons retain the Landsgemeinden, an assembly of all free male citizens, as their legislative body. Even there, however, small quasi-legislative bodies have been created for the purpose of preparing drafts of laws and regulations. See Sauser-Hall, pp. 168-169.
10 The official titles are: (1) Departement de l;Industrie, du commerce, et du travail; (2) Departement des finances et contributions publique; (3) Departement de l'instruction publique; (4) Department de l'interieur et de l'agriculture; (5) Departement de Justice et police; (6) Departement de la Prevoyance sociale et de la sante publique; (7) Departement des travaux publics. There is also a Military Department (Departement militaire) and a Secretariat (Chancellerie d'Etat).
11 See Annuaire statistique, 1965, pp. 308-311.
12 For an excellent discussion of the entire Swiss court system see Marcel Bridel, Precis de droit constitutionnel et public suisse. 2eme Partie, Les organes de l'Etat (Lausanne: Payot, 1959), pp. 207-274.
13 For further information on the Geneva legal system, see Geneva, Republique et canton de Geneve, Loi sur l'organisation judiciaire du 22 novembre 1941 (Geneva: Chancellerie d'Etat, January, 1967).
14 Figures in this and the following two paragraphs are from the Annuaire statistique, 1965. The population of the city of Geneva, according to the Swiss federal authorities, was 169,900 in 1965.
15 Titre X. Organisation des communes, Arts. 144-160.
16 For a detailed discussion of the two types of communal executive, see Chapter Five.
17 The federal government does have, under Article 27 of the Swiss Federal Constitution, the right to establish a university and "other institutions of higher learning," in addition to the existing Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. It has never acted on that right, however.
18 Republique et canton de Geneve, Loi sur 1'administration des communes du 3 juillet 1954 (Geneva: Chancellerie d'Etat, July, 1965).
19 Ibid., Art. 42.
20 A record of all deliberations of the communal legislatures must be sent to the cantonal Department of the Interior and Agriculture.
21 The canton's control over communal budgets will be discussed in Chapter Six.
22 If a commune finds itself in a position where it is not organized according to the rules or where its executive is unable to carry out its functions, the Conseil d'Etat has the power to designate one or more persons to act as administrators and to define their duties until such time as the situation is back to normal.