Of Minarets and Foreign Criminals

Swiss Direct Democracy and Human Rights

Bibliographic Data

ID6069408
AuthorsD Moeckli (University of Zurich, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume11
Issue4
Pages774-794
Publication date2011-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Rights Law Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-7781 • E-ISSN: 1744-1021
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/hrlr/ngr026
OpenAlexW2321623758
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited4

On 29 November 2009, 58% of Swiss voters (with a turnout of 54%) approved a popular initiative for a constitutional ban on the construction of minarets.1 The outcome of the vote attracted attention from all over the world and was widely condemned, not least by the UN Human Rights Council and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as a discriminatory measure in violation of the right to freedom of religion.2 Almost exactly a year later, on 28 November 2010, a 53% majority of voters backed a proposal for a new constitutional provision requiring the automatic expulsion of foreign nationals convicted of certain criminal offences specified by law, including benefit fraud.3 Prior to the vote, the Federal Council (the federal government) had warned that the new provision would be incompatible with a number of human rights, in particular the right to private and family life, guaranteed by the Swiss Federal Constitution and international treaties ratified by Switzerland such as the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (ECHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.4

Constitution · Convention · Democracy · Human rights · International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights · International human rights law · Political science · Politics · Right to property · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Religious Freedom and Discrimination · Theology and Canon Law Studies

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