Justice Minister wants to change the constitution +++ State government wants to move state border +++ Amherd’s army wants to fight for tailed amphibians +++ Announcements from the Bundesgasse
Corrigendum
fon.
Beat Jans can’t please anyone when it comes to communication at the moment. According to the “Sonntags-Zeitung”, the National Council’s State Political Commission is annoyed that the Minister of Justice often doesn’t even show up at its meetings. You also only find out important information through the press and not from Jans himself (if he ever shows up). But even when Jans talks, things can become problematic. This was evident in the extraordinary session on the subject of the Human Rights Convention that the National Council recently held. When asked what consequences a termination of the ECHR would have, the Minister of Justice was astonished with the answer: “That means that if we no longer want to respect judgments according to the ECHR, we would probably also have to change our federal constitution.” When the NZZ asked how this legally bold statement should be understood, the Federal Office of Justice announced that Jans’ answer would be subsequently corrected in the official bulletin. It should correctly say: «[Das heisst] But in and of itself it doesn’t mean that we would have to adapt our constitution because of the termination.”
Borderline
bin.
Unbeknownst to the public, the Federal Council has been haggling with Italy and France over the course of the national border in recent years. At his meeting before the autumn break, he waved through the corresponding, very bilateral border adjustment agreements with the neighbors. On the one hand, the national border in the canton of Geneva was adjusted. The renaturation and relocation of cross-border rivers and tram connections made an “equal area swap” necessary. Even on the southern border – almost 510 years after Marignano – there are still no gains in terrain to be reported. Here only the melted border in the Testa Grigia and Gobba di Rollin areas was reconciled. The Federal Council can decide “independently” on minor territorial changes. Neither parliament nor an optional, let alone a compulsory, referendum is needed. The Geoinformation Act makes it possible: The state government can use it to move the state border, but the mountains remain where they are.
Despite prophecies of doom
bin.
Amherd’s army is unimpressed by the debates about finances. The field and meadow soldiers fight bravely for the survival of rare amphibians in the Oberbergfeld wetland near the Herisau-Gossau weapons range – with success. As the world’s best biodiversity army recently announced, it was able to count around two thirds of all adult newts thanks to “novel water traps” whose procurement costs are not reported. The tailed amphibians that were temporarily captured were released after species-appropriate counting. This year’s monitoring is “even more meaningful” than before, says the Federal Armaments Office, which – according to its own statements – is also committed to Switzerland’s security. It goes on to say that protecting biodiversity is crucial to maintaining ecological balance. Even though Amherd has renounced the environmental department, she wants to campaign for the diversity of species – despite all the calls of the endangered yellow-bellied toads.
