The new Federal Constitution
Bern
Key figures: Arnold Koller, Ruth Dreifuss
Further reading: The Constitution on fedlex.admin.ch, Federal Constitution (Wikipedia)
After more than a century of partial revisions, the 1874 Constitution had become hard to read. On 18 April 1999 the people and the cantons approved an updated Constitution, which reorganised the text and wrote fundamental rights into it, from human dignity to freedom of opinion.
A vote with little enthusiasm and many yeses. The reform, led by Federal Councillor Arnold Koller, was conceived as an update of the text, not a revolution. On 18 April 1999 only 35.9 per cent of the electorate voted, but the yes was clear: 59.2 per cent of voters and 13 cantons to 10. It was the year in which Ruth Dreifuss became the first woman President of the Confederation.
It came into force on 1 January 2000. Its preamble recalls that «the strength of a people is measured by the well-being of its weakest members».
The National Council chamber in the Federal Palace, Bern
Photo: Superikonoskop, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 18 April 1999, first page
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Albert Welti, Die Landsgemeinde, 1910–1912, Council of States chamber
Photo: Zinneke, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ruth Dreifuss, in 1999 the first woman President of the Confederation
Photo: Chatham House, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The dome hall of the Federal Palace, with the statue of the three Confederates
Parliamentary Services, Bern, Wikimedia Commons
Arnold Koller, head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 1989 to 1999, who led the reform
Federal Department of Justice and Police, Wikimedia Commons
