Ban on debates in Vaud schools comes before the Federal Supreme Court
Published: Wednesday, Nov 29th 2023, 13:10
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The case of the ban on political debates in Vaud schools ahead of the federal elections is coming before the Federal Supreme Court. At the end of September, the Vaud Constitutional Court declared an application to lift the ban inadmissible.
The complainants, who were rejected by the cantonal constitutional court, announced on Wednesday that they would appeal to Switzerland's highest court. In their appeal, they criticize the Constitutional Court for refusing to take a position on the matter.
On August 31, Vaud's Director of Education, Frédéric Borloz, issued an internal directive to school principals informing them that political debates in Vaud's educational establishments were prohibited with immediate effect in the ten weeks before an election. According to Borloz, this directive was intended to prevent vote-catching during the election campaign and preserve the neutrality of the school.
The complainants, on the other hand, are of the opinion that a debate in school, if it takes place in an adversarial manner and within a certain framework, does not constitute political propaganda and does not impair the neutrality of teaching. In their opinion, such a ban contradicts the civic education of young people.
With their appeal to the Constitutional Court, they wanted to achieve a suspensive effect of the State Council's directive so that they could still organize debates during the federal elections in October. They were also aiming for a victory on the merits in order to have the directive declared null and void. Now they are hoping for the Federal Supreme Court.
©Keystone/SDA
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