Legal System of Switzerland

Switzerland is located in Europe. It is geographically situated in central europe, east of france, north of italy. The country achieved independence on 1 august 1291 (founding of the swiss confederation). The capital is Bern.

Government Overview

Government Type: federal republic (formally a confederation) Chief of State: President of the Swiss Confederation Guy PARMELIN (since 1 January 2026) Head of Government: President of the Swiss Confederation Guy PARMELIN (since 1 January 2026) Cabinet: Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal (in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) indirectly elected by the Federal Assembly for a 4-year term Administrative Divisions: 26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular - cantone in Italian; Kantone, singular - Kanton in German); Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Berne/Bern, Fribourg/Freiburg, Genève (Geneva), Glarus, Graubuenden/Grigioni/Grischun, Jura, Luzern (Lucerne), Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais/Wallis, Vaud, Zug, Zuerich National Holiday: Founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291 Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal System

The legal system of Switzerland is described as civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts, except federal decrees of a general obligatory character International Law: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Constitutional Framework

The constitution has the following history: previous 1848, 1874; latest adopted by referendum 18 April 1999, effective 1 January 2000 Amendment Process: proposed by the two houses of the Federal Assembly or by petition of at least one hundred thousand voters (called the “federal popular initiative”); passage of proposals requires majority vote in a referendum; following drafting of an amendment by the Assembly, its passage requires approval by majority vote in a referendum and approval by the majority of cantons

Judicial Branch

Highest Court(s): Federal Supreme Court (consists of 38 justices and 19 deputy justices organized into 7 divisions) Judge Selection: judges elected by the Federal Assembly for 6-year terms; judges are affiliated with political parties and are elected according to linguistic and regional criteria in approximate proportion to party representation in the Federal Assembly Subordinate Courts: Federal Criminal Court (established in 2004); Federal Administrative Court (established in 2007)

Legislative Branch

The legislative structure consists of bicameral Lower Chamber: National Council (Nationalrat - Conseil national - Consiglio nazionale) (200 (all directly elected) seats) Electoral System (Lower Chamber): proportional representation Upper Chamber: Council of States (Ständerat - Conseil des Etats - Consiglio degli Stati)

Citizenship and Suffrage

Citizenship by Birth: no Citizenship by Descent: at least one parent must be a citizen of Switzerland Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Historical Background

The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. A constitution of 1848, which was modified in 1874 to allow voters to introduce referenda on proposed laws, replaced the confederation with a centralized federal government.

This article provides a summary of the legal system and governmental structure of Switzerland based on the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook is a public domain publication of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.