Issues excluded from being the subject of referendums at the national level

FEDERAL CONSTITUTION OF THE SWISSCONFEDERATION

(Adopted1999; last amended 2013)

http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/c101.html

Art. 140 Mandatory referendum

(1) The following must be put to the vote of thePeople and the Cantons…

2. accession to organisations for collective security or to supranational communities;

Art. 141 Optional referendum

(1) If within 100 days of the officialpublication of the enactment any 50,000 persons eligible to vote or any eightCantons request it, the following shall be submitted to a vote of the People…

4. international treaties that:

1.       are of unlimited duration and may not be terminated;

2.       provide for accession to an international organisation;

3.       contain important legislative provisions or whose implementation requiresthe enactment of federal legislation.

Title 5: FederalAuthorities

Chapter 2: FederalAssembly

Section 3: Powers

Art. 163 Form ofFederal Assembly enactments

(1) The Federal Assembly shall enact provisions thatestablish binding legal rules in the form of federal acts or ordinances.

(2) Other enactments are promulgated in the form of afederal decree; a federaldecree that is not subject to a referendum is known as a “simple federaldecree.”

Art. 173 Furtherduties and powers

(1) The Federal Assembly has the following additionalduties and powers:

1. taking measures to safeguard external security and the independence and neutrality of Switzerland.

2. taking measures to safeguard internal security.

3. if extraordinary circumstances require, issuing ordinances or simple federal decrees in order to fulfil [sic] its duties under letters (a) and (b).

FEDERAL ACT ONPARLIAMENT

(Adopted 2002; last amended 2011)

http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/c171_10.html

Title 3: Duties of the Federal Assembly

Art. 24 Co-determination of foreign policy

(1) TheFederal Assembly shall follow international developments and participate in thedecision-making process on important foreign policy issues.

(2) It shall approve treatiesunder international law, unless the Federal Council has the power conferred bya federal act or an international treaty approved by the Federal Assembly toenter into such treaties at its own behest.

(3) Itshall approve treaties under international law that are subject to a referendumby issuing a federal decree. It approves other treaties under international lawby issuing a simplefederal decree.

Art. 25 Finances

(1) The Federal Assembly shall decide onexpenditures and investments in the budget and its supplements. It shall decideon new or existing unclaimed appropriation credits and payment limits in thebudget and its supplements or by separate decree. It shall approve the StateAccounts.

(2) It shall take its decisions in the form of asimple federal decree.

Art. 28 Decisions of generalprinciple and planning

(1) The Federal Assembly shall participate

1. in the significant aspects of the planning of state activities;

2. in determining the strategic goals of units that have become autonomous in accordance with Article 8 paragraph 5 of the Government and Administration Organisation Act of 21 March 1997.

(1bis) It participates by:

1. gathering information on its activities in accordance with paragraph 1 from Federal Council reports or acknowledging such reports

2. instructing the Federal Council:

1.      to make specific plans or to alter the main elements of a plan, or

2.      to determine strategic goals for the units that have become autonomous orto alter such goals;

3. taking decisions of general principle and planning decisions.

(3) General principle decisions and planningdecisions shall be issued in the form of a simple federal decree. For general principledecisions and planning decisions of greater importance, the form of a federaldecree may be chosen.

Title 4: Organisation of the FederalAssembly

Chapter 1: General

Art. 32 Seat of the Federal Assembly

(1) TheFederal Assembly meets in Bern.

(2) Itmay by simple federaldecree decide by way of exception to meet at a different location.

Title 5: Procedure in the Federal Assembly

Art. 129a

(1) If the Federal Council files an objection to a treatybetween Cantons or between a Canton and a foreign state, it shall submit to theFederal Assembly the draft of a simple federal decree on the approval of thetreaty.

(2) If a Canton files an objection, the responsible committeeof the first Council shall submit to its Council the draft of a simple federal decree onthe approval of the treaty.

Title 7: Procedural Relationsbetween the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council

Chapter 1: Federal CouncilBills

Art. 145 Procedure for theannual report

(1) The President of the Confederation is responsible forpresenting the report of the Federal Council on the conduct of its business tothe Assembly, unless the Standing Orders of the Councils provide otherwise. 

(2) The Federal Assembly shall approve the report by means of asimple Federal Decree.

Art. 146 Legislature plan

(1) At the start of eachlegislature period, the Federal Council shall submit to the Federal Assembly areport on the legislature plan and a draft simple federal decree on the legislature plan.

(2) The simple federal decree shall define the policyguidelines and objectives of the legislature plan and assign to these thelegislation of the Federal Assembly that is planned and the additional measuresrequired to achieve each of these objectives.