Cabinet wants parliament to strike a clause of an initiative calling for the automatic deportation of foreign criminals and has also recommended voting against it. The rightwing proposal aims to speed up enforcement of a constitutional amendment approved by voters.
Wednesday’s decision is the latest chapter in a long debate over a proposal by the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, approved by 52% of voters in November 2010, which has spurred conflict over its implementation.
In order to put pressure on the government to enforce the automatic deportation, the People’s Party launched another initiative at the end of 2012 specifically aimed at speeding along the process.
It attempts to address some of the points slowing down the process by listing, in detail, the crimes for which foreigners would be deported from Switzerland and seeking automatic deportation of foreigners convicted of serious crimes regardless of whether they are repeat offenders or of the sentence pronounced by the judge.
The enforcement initiative goes so far as to define mandatory international law for itself, as «exclusively the prohibition of torture, genocide, war of aggression, slavery and the prohibition of returning an individual to a country where torture or death threatens them».
Unnecessary initiative
Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told a news conference that the enforcement initiative was unnecessary, as parliament is considering moves to implement the regulations on deportation.
She added that one particular clause of the enforcement initiative was going against international law. «It is not up to an individual country to define details of mandatory international law,» she said.
Sommaruga dismissed allegations that the government was ignoring a decision by a majority of voters who approved the automatic deportation of criminal foreigners.
«The Swiss constitution states that Swiss law must not contravene international law,» she added.
The People’s Party declared cabinet’s recommendation «absurd», adding that it is causing «the obstruction against deporting foreign criminals to become increasingly insidious and dangerous».
It said it was considering launching yet another initiative putting Swiss law above international law.
In modern Swiss history, parliament has declared four initiatives as invalid, in 1955, 1977, 1995 and 1996. It has never before declared invalid an individual clause or section of an initiative.