The Jura question remains unresolved 50 years after the canton was founded
Published: Saturday, Jun 22nd 2024, 17:50
Back to Live Feed
Even 50 years after the canton was founded, the Jura issue has not been resolved. It will not disappear by the magic of the word, said constitutional law expert Jean Moritz on Saturday at the celebration of the people of Jura in Delsberg JU to mark the canton's anniversary. From a legal point of view, the situation is not rigidly regulated.
Before the international conference on the right to self-determination in the Jura parliament, the former cantonal judge and ex-president of the Jura Constitutional Court analyzed the federal constitution for possibilities for a unification of the Jura.
Bernese politicians in particular would claim that the transfer from Moutier to the Jura on January 1, 2026 would mark the end of the Jura issue - assuming the approval of the people in both cantons in the fall.
However, this is pure rhetoric. "No one can decree the end of the Jura question from a political and legal perspective," he argued. Article 53 of the Federal Constitution describes the conditions for a change of canton. The question is whether it is limited to the procedure for self-determination or whether it stipulates a right to self-determination.
In Moritz's opinion, the constitution recognizes the right to self-determination in terms of coherence. This could open the door to new demands for further territorial annexations to the Jura. The Jura does not only consist of the canton of Jura. The Bernese cantonal constitution recognizes the identity of the Jura.
Based on this, Jean Moritz explained that the question of creating a canton in the Jura Arc (Jura, Bernese and Neuchâtel Jura) could well be put on the table again.
The international conference on the right to self-determination includes French minorities in Canada and the Italian Aosta Valley as well as "friendly peoples" from Corsica, Catalonia and Belgium alongside the autonomists from the Jura.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic