Council of States wants to weaken sanctions against Russia
Published: Monday, Sep 23rd 2024, 18:00
Retour au fil d'actualité
The Council of States wants to relax the sanctions against Russia in the wake of the war against Ukraine due to constitutional concerns. The ban on providing legal advice to the Russian government or companies based there is to be dropped. Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin warned of the foreign policy consequences to no avail.
On Monday, the Council approved a motion by Beat Rieder (center/VS) by 34 votes to 10. This will go to the National Council. The representative of the profession from Valais identified the ban on legal advice in the eighth EU sanctions package adopted by Switzerland as a violation of the fundamental right to a fair hearing.
Unclear demarcation
The unclear distinction between legal advice and legal representation is also problematic. It is not logical to prohibit advice that serves to avoid or initiate court proceedings, but to allow it once proceedings have been initiated.
Daniel Jositsch (SP/ZH) stated on behalf of the majority of the committee that international law is often politicized and tends to overstep the mark. The criminal law ban on legal advice was an encroachment on fundamental rights that would apply even to the worst war criminals. Pirmin Schwander (SVP/SZ) added that this violated the rule of law, which was indivisible.
Carlo Sommaruga (SP/GE) replied that sanctions serve to force those sanctioned to respect the rule of law. Sanctions would naturally result in a restriction of fundamental rights. In the present case, all the criteria required by the Federal Supreme Court were met. In addition, the ban on legal advice is severely limited to issues such as the formation of offshore companies or the circumvention of the oil embargo.
Judgment expected
Franziska Roth (SP/SO) admitted that it looked as if the rule of law had been violated in the ban on counseling. Belgian and French lawyers' associations had therefore appealed to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). She therefore advocated waiting for the ruling expected on October 2. Switzerland going it alone would send an unfortunate signal to the EU. It is important to keep the sanctions watertight.
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, who is responsible for the sanctions as Minister for Economic Affairs, also called for the sanctions to remain untouched. From a political point of view, an easing of sanctions is not appropriate due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Such a step would weaken foreign policy credibility. Parmelin also feared that the sanctions measures would crumble further due to special requests.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic