It was not until the end of the 1950s that the first more specific provisions on culture and arts, limited to certain subject areas, found their way into the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation: in 1958, for example, an article on film (currently Art. 71 of the Federal Constitution) or in 1962 an article on nature and cultural heritage protection (currently Art. 78 of the Federal Constitution).[1] Before that, an unwritten cultural competence of the Confederation, tacitly derived from the Constitution, was the basis of the Confederation’s cultural activities. With the total revision of the Constitution in 1999, the federal government’s promotion of culture finally received an explicit constitutional basis in Art. 69:[2]
Art. 69 Culture
(1) Cultural matters are a cantonal responsibility.
(2) The Confederation may support cultural activities of national interest, as well as art and music, in particular in the field of education.
(3) In the fulfilment of its duties, it shall take account of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the country.
A new constitutional provision to promote music education was adopted by the popular vote on 23 Sept. 2012 (Art. 67a, in force since 23.9.2012).
Currently, there are several constitutional articles that are related to culture in a “broader” sense: for instance, Art. 2 para. 2 makes the Swiss Confederation responsible for, among other things, promoting the “the internal cohesion and cultural diversity of the country”. Art. 4 formally stipulates the four national languages. Art. 16 guarantees freedom of expression and of information. Art. 17 guarantees freedom of the media ( and Art. 17 para. 2 prohibits censorship). Art. 18 safeguards the freedom of language. Art. 21 guarantees freedom of art. Art. 35 necessitates the pursuance of fundamental rights. And not to be overlooked is the ban on discrimination in view of cultural diversity (Art. 8 para. 2) and the cultural aspects of political participation (Art. 34 and 39). Under the social goals set forth in Art. 41 para. 1, section ‘g’ therein is of particular mention, since it asserts that the federal government and the cantons commit themselves to ensure “that children and young people are encouraged to develop into independent and socially responsible people and are supported in their social, cultural and political integration.” Jurisdiction with regard to culture is regulated by Art. 66 and Art. 67 (education, extracurricular work involving young people, adult education), Art. 67a (musical education), Art. 70 (languages), Art. 71 (film), Art.78 (nature and cultural heritage) and Art. 93 paragraph 2 (programming directive for the electronic media). These culturally-relevant legal statutes and directives call upon the Swiss Confederation to take into account cultural contents not only in the development of federal cultural promotion but also in the regulation of other policy areas (cultural compatibility).
Most constitutions of the cantons include legal obligations related to culture, for example the constitution of the canton of Zurich, in Art. 120: “The canton and communes promote culture and the arts.”, in the areas of cultural heritage (Art. 103.II), intercultural dialogue (Art. 7: “The canton and communes create favourable conditions for dialogue between cultures, world views and religions.”) or in the context of innovation (Art. 8: “The canton and communes create favourable conditions for economic, cultural, social and ecological innovation.”).
The individual wording of the articles of the Federal Constitution are as follows:
Article 2 Aims […]
(2) It (The Swiss Confederation) shall promote the common welfare, sustainable development, internal cohesion and cultural diversity of the country.[…]
Article 4 National languages
The national languages are German, French, Italian, and Romansh.
Article 8 Equality before the law […]
(2) No person may be discriminated against, in particular on the grounds of origin, race, gender, age, language, social position, way of life, religious, ideological, or political convictions, or because of a physical, mental or psychological disability. […]
Art. 16 Freedom of expression and of information
(1) Freedom of expression and of information is guaranteed.
(2) Every person has the right freely to form, express, and impart their opinions.
(3) Every person has the right freely to receive information from generally accessible sources and to disseminate it.
Art. 17 Freedom of the media
(1) Freedom of the press, radio and television and of other forms of dissemination of features and information by means of public telecommunications is guaranteed.
(2) Censorship is prohibited. […]
Article 18 Freedom to use any language
The freedom to use any language is guaranteed.
Article 21 Freedom of artistic expression
Freedom of artistic expression is guaranteed.
Article 66 Education grants
(1) The Confederation may contribute to cantonal expenditure on grants provided to students at universities and higher education institutions. It may encourage the inter-cantonal harmonisation of education grants and lay down principles for the payment of education grants.
(2) It may also supplement cantonal measures while preserving cantonal autonomy in education matters by taking its own measures to promote education.
Art. 67a Musical education*
1 The Confederation and Cantons shall encourage musical education, in particular that of children and young people.
2 They shall endeavour within the scope of their powers to ensure high-quality music teaching in schools. If the Cantons are unable to harmonise the goals of music teaching in schools by means of coordination, the Confederation shall issue the required regulations.
3 In consultation with the Cantons, the Confederation shall set out principles to help young people to engage in musical activities and to encourage musically gifted persons.
*Adopted by the popular vote on 23 Sept. 2012, in force since 23 Sept. 2012 (FedD of 15 March 2012, FCD of 29 Jan. 2013; AS 2013 435; BBl 2009 613, 2010 1, 2012 3443 6899, 2013 1135).
Article 69 Culture
(1) Cultural matters are a cantonal responsibility.
(2) The Confederation may support cultural activities of national interest, as well as art and music, in particular in the field of education.
(3) In the fulfilment of its duties, it shall take account of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the country.
Article 70 Languages
(1) The official languages of the Confederation are German, French, and Italian. Romansh is also an official language of the Confederation when communicating with persons who speak Romansh.
(2) The Cantons shall decide on their official languages. In order to preserve harmony between linguistic communities, they shall respect the traditional territorial distribution of languages, and take account of indigenous language minorities.
(3) The Confederation and the Cantons shall encourage understanding and exchange between the linguistic communities.
(4) The Confederation shall support the plurilingual Cantons in the fulfilment of their special duties.
(5) The Confederation shall support the measures taken by the Cantons of Graubünden and Ticino to preserve and to promote the Romansh and Italian languages.
Article 71 Cinema
(1) The Confederation may encourage Swiss film production and film culture.
(2) It may issue regulations to promote the diversity and quality of cinematographic works that are offered.
Article 78 Protection of nature and cultural heritage
(1) The protection of nature and cultural heritage is the responsibility of the Cantons.
(2) In the fulfilment of its duties, the Confederation shall take account of concerns for the protection of natural and cultural heritage. It shall protect the countryside and places of architectural, historical, natural or cultural interest; it shall preserve such places intact if required to do so in the public interest.
(3) It may support efforts made for the protection of natural and cultural heritage and acquire or preserve properties of national importance by contract or through compulsory purchase.
(4) It shall legislate on the protection of animal and plant life and on the preservation of their natural habitats and their diversity. It shall protect endangered species from extinction.
(5) Moors and wetlands of special beauty and national importance shall be preserved. No buildings may be built on them and no changes may be made to the land, except for the construction of facilities that serve the protection of the moors or wetlands or their continued use for agricultural purposes.
Article 93 Radio and television
(1) The Confederation is responsible for legislation on radio and television as well as on other forms of public broadcasting of features and information.
(2) Radio and television shall contribute to education and cultural development, to the free shaping of opinion and to entertainment. They shall take account of the particularities of the country and the needs of the Cantons. They shall present events accurately and allow a diversity of opinions to be expressed appropriately.
(3) The independence of radio and television as well as their autonomy in deciding on programming is guaranteed.
(4) Account must be taken of the role and duties of other media, in particular the press.
(5) Complaints about programmes may be submitted to an independent complaints authority.
[1] vgl. André Briel/Oliver Waespi/Daniel Zimmermann: Kulturrecht des Bundes, in: Ehrenzeller, Bernhard. Schweizerisches Bundesverwaltungsrecht, Bildungs-, Kultur-und Sprachenrecht. Vol. 9. Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, 2018, pp. 581ff. (Google Drive, Scan)
[2] ibid.
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