No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
The Swiss Federal Court1
(with a special reference to its library)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 February 2019
Extract
The seat of the Federal Court is Lausanne, not Bern which is the capital of Switzerland. Since the capital is located in the German-speaking part of the country, the French-speaking city of Lausanne was primarily chosen as seat of the Court to establish a major governmental institution in French-speaking Switzerland. That the Court is purposely located here, is also thought to strengthen its independence from the other branches of government.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Association of Law Libraries 1977
References
1 Provisions pertaining to the organisation and the procedure of the Court can be found mainly in the Judiciary Law (Bundesgesetz über die Organisation der Bundesrechtspflege vom 16. Dezember 1943). For a detailed study on the Court in English see: Fred LaMont Morrison, Judicial Process in Switzerland: A Study of the Swiss Federal Court, Dissertation presented to Princeton University (Department of Politics), September 1966. The English terminology of this article is partly based on the work by Morrison. For other references on the Court see: Hans Huber, How Switzerland is Governed, 1946; G. Sauser-Hall, The Political Institutions of Switzerland, 1946, pp. 124–129; André Grisel, Réflexions sur la juridiction constitutionnelle et administrative en Suisse, Conseil d'Etat, études et documents, Paris, 1976, pp. 249–272; André Grisel, Le Tribunal fédéral suisse, 90 I Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht, pp. 385–401 (1971); W. Birchmeier, Handbuch des Bundesgesetzes über die Bundesrechtspflege, 1950; Jean-François Aubert, Traité de droit constitutionnel suisse, 1967, pp. 577–620; Marcel Bridel, Précis de droit constitutionnel et public suisse, 2nd vol., 1959, pp. 251–262; Fritz Fleiner/Zaccaria Giacometti, Schweizerisches Bundesstaatsrecht, 1949, pp. 629–638; Arthur Haefliger, Hundert Jahre Schweizerisches Bundesgericht, 71 Schweizerische Juristen-Zeitung, pp. 1–8 (1975).Google Scholar
2 Grisel, Le Tribunal fédéral suisse, op. cit., p. 387.Google Scholar
3 Ibid., p. 390.Google Scholar
4 Ibid., p. 391; Bridel, op. cit., p. 255.Google Scholar
5 For a comparative study on American and Swiss federalism see: Myron Luehrs Tripp, The Swiss and United States Federal Constitutional Systems, 1940, translation into German by Hans Huber, title: Der schweizerische und der amerikanische Bundesstaat, 1942.Google Scholar
6 With the exception of some court-like specialized commissions which hear cases in areas like customs etc.Google Scholar
7 Grisel, Réflexions, op. cit. (note 1), p. 259–260.Google Scholar
8 The interpretation of Article 4 Constitution has been called one of the most remarkable achievements of the Court, cf. Haefliger, op. cit., p. 7.Google Scholar
9 Favre c. Valais, Sept. 2, 1977, decision not yet published at the time this article was written.Google Scholar
10 These judges are assigned by the presiding judge of the division.Google Scholar
11 The public is excluded primarily in criminal and tax matters.Google Scholar
12 If neither the parties nor newspaper reporters are present, the judge-reporter may simply refer to the written statement without reading it.Google Scholar
13 Grisel, Le Tribunal fédéral suisse, op. cit., p. 399.Google Scholar
14 I received much of the Information on the library from Mme. Marie-Thérèse Lièvre, librarian of the Federal Court, whom I would like to thank for her kindness.Google Scholar