Council of States discusses climate ruling from Strasbourg
Published: Wednesday, Jun 5th 2024, 04:50
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On Wednesday, the Council of States will discuss the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights against Switzerland on climate protection. Its Legal Affairs Committee is requesting that the small chamber issue a statement criticizing the ruling. It also wants to do without additional climate measures.
The court must respect democratic decision-making processes, is the main argument of the declaration. The text is entitled "Effective protection of fundamental rights by international courts instead of judicial activism". It states that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has overstretched the limits of permissible legal development.
With its approach, the Strasbourg-based court is exposing itself to the accusation of "inadmissible and inappropriate judicial activism", the text goes on to argue.
Duty of the state to protect
At the beginning of April, the ECtHR found that Switzerland had violated the Convention on Human Rights following a complaint by the Climate Seniors Association. It had failed to fulfill its duties with regard to climate protection. The state must protect individuals from the consequences of climate change for their lives, health and quality of life.
According to the Council of States' Legal Affairs Committee, the Federal Council should now inform the Council of Europe that Switzerland is already doing a great deal to achieve the climate targets. It already fulfills the human rights requirements of the ruling. The National Council will also have to decide on the same declaration in a week's time.
A particularly contentious issue in the debate is whether the declaration should explicitly state that Switzerland sees no reason to comply with the ruling. Two individual motions have been tabled to dispense with this wording.
Resistance from the left
A three-member minority from the SP and the Greens requested that the declaration be rejected. The human rights organization Amnesty International already warned on Tuesday of a weakening of the protection of human rights. Failure to comply with the ruling would send a devastating signal.
The rulings of the Strasbourg-based court are binding, Amnesty wrote in a communiqué. The contracting states of the European Convention on Human Rights should not simply be allowed to pick and choose which of them they comply with and which they do not.
©Keystone/SDA
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