Chapter I. General Provisions.

ARTICLE 1. The peoples of the twenty-two sovereign Cantons of Switzerland, united by this present alliance, viz.: Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden (Upper and Lower), Glarus, Zug, Freiburg, Solothurn, Basel (urban and rural), Schaffhausen, Appenzell (the two Rhodes), St. Gallen, Grisons, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, and Geneva, form in their entirety the Swiss Confederation.

ARTICLE 2. The purpose of the Confederation is, to secure the independence of the country against foreign nations, to maintain peace and order within, to protect the liberty and the rights of the Confederates, and to foster their common welfare.

ARTICLE 3. The Cantons are sovereign, so far as their sovereignty is not limited by the Federal Constitution; and, as such, they exercise all the rights which are not delegated to the federal government.

ARTICLE 4. All Swiss are equal before the law. In Switzerland there are neither political dependents, nor privileges of place, birth, persons, or families.

ARTICLE 5. The Confederation guarantees to the Cantons their territory, their sovereignty, within the limits fixed by Article 3, their Constitutions, the liberty and rights of the people, the constitutional rights of citizens, and the rights and powers which the people have conferred on those in authority.

ARTICLE 6. The Cantons are bound to ask of the Confederation the guaranty of their Constitutions. This guaranty is accorded, provided:

(a) that the Constitutions contain nothing contrary to the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

(b) That they assure the exercise of political rights, according to republican forms, representative or democratic.

(c) That they have been ratified by the people, and may be amended whenever the majority of all the citizens demand it.

ARTICLE 7. All separate alliances and all treaties of a political character between the Cantons are forbidden. On the other hand the Cantons have the right to make conventions among themselves upon legislative, administrative or judicial subjects; in all cases they shall bring such conventions to the attention of the federal officials, who are authorized to prevent their execution, if they contain anything contrary to the Confederation, or to the rights of other Cantons. Should such not be the case, the covenanting Cantons are authorized to require the cooperation of the federal officials in carrying out the convention.

ARTICLE 8. The Confederation has the sole right of declaring war, of making peace, and of concluding alliances and treaties with foreign powers, particularly treaties relating to tariffs and commerce.

ARTICLE 9. By exception the Cantons preserve the right of concluding treaties with foreign powers, respecting the administration of public property, and border and police intercourse; but such treaties shall contain nothing contrary to the Confederation or to the rights of other Cantons.

ARTICLE 10. Official intercourse between Cantons and foreign governments, or their representatives, shall take place through the Federal Council. Nevertheless, the Cantons may correspond directly with the inferior officials and officers of a foreign State, in regard to the subjects enumerated in the preceding article.

ARTICLE 11. No military capitulations shall be made.

ARTICLE 12. No members of the departments of the federal government, civil and military officials of the Confederation, or federal representatives or commissioners, shall receive from any foreign government any pension, salary, title, gift, or decoration. Such persons, already in possession of pensions, titles, or decorations, must renounce the enjoyment of pensions and the bearing of titles and decorations during their term of office. Nevertheless, inferior officials may be authorized by the Federal Council to continue in the receipt of pensions. No decoration or title conferred by a foreign government shall be borne in the federal army. No officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier shall accept such distinction.

ARTICLE 13. The Confederation has no right to keep up a standing army. No Canton or Half-Canton shall, without the permission of the federal government keep up a standing force of more than three hundred men; the mounted police [gendarmerie] is not included in this number.

ARTICLE 14. In case of differences arising between Cantons, the States shall abstain from violence and from arming themselves; they shall submit to the decision to be taken upon such differences by the Confederation.

ARTICLE 15. In case of sudden danger of foreign attack, the authorities of the Cantons threatened shall request the aid of other members of the Confederation and shall immediately notify the federal government; the subsequent action of the latter shall not thereby be precluded. The Cantons summoned are bound to give aid. The expenses shall be borne by the Confederation.

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Article 16. In case of internal disturbance, or if the danger is threatened by another Canton, the authorities of the Canton threatened shall give immediate notice to the Federal Council, in order that that body may take the measures necessary, within the limits of its power (Article 102, §§ 3, 10, 11), or may summon the Federal Assembly. In extreme cases the authorities of the Canton are authorized, while giving immediate notice to the Federal Council, to ask the aid of other Cantons, which are bound to afford such aid. If the executive of the Canton is unable to call for aid, the federal authority having the power may, and if the safety of Switzerland is endangered shall, intervene without requisition. In case of federal intervention, the federal authorities shall take care that the provisions of Article 5 be observed. The expenses shall be borne by the Canton asking aid or occasioning federal intervention, except when the Federal Assembly otherwise decides on account of special circumstances.

Article 17. In the cases mentioned in Articles 15 and 16, every Canton is bound to afford undisturbed passage for the troops. The troops shall immediately be placed under federal command.

Article 18. Every Swiss is bound to perform military service. Soldiers who lose their lives or suffer permanent injury to their health, in consequence of federal service, are entitled to aid from the Confederation for themselves or their families, in case of need. Each soldier shall receive without expense his first equipment, clothing, and arms. The weapon remains in the hands of the soldier, under conditions which shall be prescribed by federal legislation. The Confederation shall enact uniform provisions as to an exemption tax.

Article 19. The federal army is composed: (a) Of the cantonal military corps. (b) Of all Swiss who do not belong to such military corps, but are nevertheless liable to military service.

The Confederation exercises control over the army and the material of war provided by law. In cases of danger, the Confederation has also the exclusive and direct control of men not included in the federal army, and of all other military resources of the Cantons. The Cantons have authority over the military forces of their territory, so far as this right is not limited by the Federal Constitution or laws.

Article 20. The laws on the organization of the army are passed by the Confederation. The enforcement of military laws in the Cantons is intrusted to the cantonal officials, within limits which shall be fixed by federal legislation, and under the supervision of the Confederation. Military instruction of every kind pertains to the Confederation. The same applies to the arming of troops. The furnishing and maintenance of clothing and equipment is within the power of the Cantons; but the Cantons shall be credited with the expenses therefor, according to a regulation to be established by federal legislation.

Article 21. So far as military reasons do not prevent, bodies of troops shall be formed out of the soldiers of the same Cantons. The composition of these bodies of troops, the maintenance of their effective strength, the appointment and promotion of officers of these bodies of troops, belong to the Cantons, subject to general provisions which shall be established by the Confederation.

Article 22. On payment of a reasonable indemnity, the Confederation has the right to use or acquire drill-grounds and buildings intended for military purposes, within the Cantons, together with the appurtenances thereof. The terms of the indemnity shall be settled by federal legislation.

Article 23. The Confederation may construct at its own expense, or may aid by subsidies, public works which concern Switzerland or a considerable part of the country. For this purpose it may expropriate property, on payment of a reasonable indemnity. Further enactments upon this matter shall be made by federal legislation. The Federal Assembly may forbid public works which endanger the military interests of the Confederation.

Article 24. The Confederation has the right of superintendence over dike and forest police in the upper mountain regions. It may cooperate in the straightening and embankment of torrents as well as in the afforesting of the districts in which they rise. It may prescribe the regulations necessary to assure the maintenance of these works, and the preservation of existing forests.

Article 25. The Confederation has power to make legislative enactments for the regulation of the right of fishing and hunting, particularly with a view to the preservation of the large game in the mountains, as well as for the protection of birds useful to agriculture and forestry.

Article 26. Legislation upon the construction and operation of railroads is in the province of the Confederation.

Article 27. The Confederation has the right to establish, besides the existing Polytechnic School, a Federal University and other institutions of higher instruction, or to subsidize institutions of such nature. The Cantons provide for primary instruction, which shall be sufficient, and shall be placed exclusively under the direction of the secular authority. It is compulsory and, in the public schools, free. The public schools shall be such that they may be frequented by the adherents of all religious sects, without any offense to their freedom of conscience or of belief. The Confederation shall take the necessary measures against such Cantons as shall not fulfill these duties.

Article 28. The customs are in the province of the Confederation. It may levy export and import duties.

Article 29. The collection of the federal customs shall be regulated according to the following principles: 1. Duties ou imports: (a) Materials necessary for the manufactures and agriculture of the country shall be taxed as low as possible. (b) It shall be the same with the necessities of life. (c) Luxuries shall be subjected to the highest duties.

Unless there are imperative reasons to the contrary, these principles shall be observed also in the conclusion of treaties of commerce with foreign powers.

2. The duties on exports shall also be as low as possible.

3. The customs legislation shall include suitable provisions for the continuance of commercial and market intercourse across the frontier. The above provisions do not prevent the Confederation from making temporary exceptional provisions, under extraordinary circumstances.

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Article 30. The proceeds of the customs belong to the Confederation. The indemnity ceases which hitherto has been paid to the Cantons for the redemption of customs, for road and bridge tolls, customs duties and other like dues. By exception, and on account of their international alpine roads, the Cantons of Uri, Grisons, Ticino, and Valais receive an annual indemnity, which, considering all the circumstances, is fixed as follows: Uri, 80,000 francs. Grisons, 200,000 francs. Ticino, 200,000 francs. Valais, 50,000 francs. The Cantons of Uri and Ticino shall receive in addition, for clearing the snow from the Saint Gotthard road, an annual indemnity of 40,000 francs, so long as that road shall not be replaced by a railroad.

Article 31. The freedom of trade and of industry is guaranteed throughout the whole extent of the Confederation. The following subjects are excepted:

(a) The salt and gunpowder monopoly, the federal customs, import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors, and other taxes on consumption expressly permitted by the Confederation, according to article 32.

(b) [_Added by Amendment of December_ 22, 1885.] The manufacture and sale of alcohol, under Article 32 (ii).

(c) [_Added by Amendment of December_ 22, 1885.] Drinking places, and the retail trade in spirituous liquors; but nevertheless the Cantons may by legislation subject the business of keeping drinking places, and the retail trade in spirituous liquors, to such restrictions as are required for the public welfare.

(d) [Originally (b)] Measures of sanitary police against epidemics and cattle diseases.

(e) [Originally (c)] Provisions in regard to the exercise of trades and manufactures, in regard to taxes imposed thereon, and in regard to the police of the roads. These provisions shall not contain anything contrary to the principle of freedom of trade and manufacture.

Article 32. The Cantons are authorized to collect the import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors, provided in Article 31 (a), always under the following restrictions:

(a) The collection of these import duties shall in no wise impede transportation: commerce shall be obstructed as little as possible and shall not be burdened with any other dues.

(b) If the articles imported for consumption are reexported from the Canton, the duties paid on importation shall be refunded, without further charges.

(c) Products of Swiss origin shall be less burdened than those of foreign countries.

(d) The existing import duties on wines and other spirituous liquors of Swiss origin shall not be increased by the Cantons which already levy them. Such duties shall not be established upon such articles by Cantons which do not at present collect them.

(e) The laws and ordinances of the Cantons on the collection of import duties shall, before their going into effect, be submitted to the federal government for approval, in order that it may, if necessary, cause the enforcement of the preceding provisions. All the import duties now levied by the Cantons, as well as the similar duties levied by the Communes, shall cease without indemnity, at the end of the year 1890.

Article 32 (ii). [_Amendment of_ December 22, 1885.] The Confederation is authorized by legislation to make regulations for the manufacture and sale of alcohol. In this legislation those products which are intended for exportation, or which have been subjected to a process excluding them from use as a beverage, shall be subjected to no tax. Distillation of wine, fruit, and their by-products, of gentian root, juniper berries, and similar products, is not subject to federal legislation as to manufacture or tax. After the cessation of the import duties on spirituous liquors, provided for in Article 32 of the Constitution, the trade in liquors not distilled shall not be subjected by the Cantons to any special taxes or to other limitations than those necessary for protection against adulterated or noxious beverages. Nevertheless, the powers of the Cantons, defined in Article 31, are retained over the keeping of drinking places, and the sale at retail of quantities less than two liters. The net proceeds resulting from taxation on the sale of alcohol belong to the Cantons in which the tax is levied. The net proceeds to the Confederation from the internal manufacture of alcohol, and the corresponding addition to the duty on imported alcohol, are divided among all the Cantons, in proportion to the actual population as ascertained from time to time by the next preceding federal census. Out of the receipts therefrom the Cantons must expend not less than one tenth in combating drunkenness in its causes and effects. [_For additional articles of this Amendment see Temporary Provisions, Article 6, at the end of this Constitution. _]

Article 33. The Cantons may require proofs of competency from those who desire to practice a liberal profession. Provision shall be made by federal legislation by which such persons may obtain certificates of competency which shall be valid throughout the Confederation..

Article 34. The Confederation has power to enact uniform provisions as to the labor of children in factories, and as to the duration of labor fixed for adults therein, and as to the protection of workmen against the operation of unhealthy and dangerous manufactures. The transactions of emigration agents and of organizations for insurance, not instituted by the State, are subject to federal supervision and legislation.

Article 34 (ii). [_Amendment of December _17, 1890.] The Confederation shall by law provide for insurance against sickness and accident, with due regard for existing sick-benefit funds. The Confederation may require participation therein, either by all persons or by particular classes of the population.

Article 35. The opening of gaming houses is forbidden. Those which now exist shall be closed December 31, 1877. The concessions which may have been granted or renewed since the beginning of the year 1871 are declared invalid. The Confederation may also take necessary measures concerning lotteries.

Article 36. The posts and telegraphs in all Switzerland are controlled by the Confederation. The proceeds of the posts and telegraphs belong to the federal treasury. The rates shall, for all parts of Switzerland, be fixed according to the same principle and as fairly as possible. Inviolable secrecy of letters and telegrams is guaranteed.

Article 37. The Confederation exercises general oversight over those roads and bridges in the maintenance of which it is interested. The sums due to the Cantons mentioned in Article 30, on account of their international alpine roads, shall be retained by the federal government if such roads are not kept by them in suitable condition.

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Article 38. The Confederation exercises all the exclusive rights pertaining to coinage. It has the sole right of coining money. It establishes the monetary system, and may enact provisions, if necessary, for the rate of exchange of foreign coins.

[Article 39. (_Abrogated by the article following it_). _The Confederation has the power to make by law general provisions for the issue and redemption of bank notes. But it shall not create any monopoly for the issue of bank notes, nor make such notes a legal tender_.]

Article 39. [_Substitute for former Article 39, adopted October_ 18, 1891.] The Confederation has the exclusive power to issue bank notes and other like currency. The Confederation may exercise the exclusive power over the issue of bank notes through a National Bank carried on under a special department of administration; or it may assign the right to a central joint stock bank hereafter to be created, which shall be administered under the coöperation and supervision of the Confederation; but the privilege to take over the bank, by paying a compensation, shall be retained. The bank possessed of the exclusive right to issue notes shall have for its chief function to regulate the circulation of money in Switzerland and to facilitate exchange. To the Cantons shall be paid at least two-thirds of the net profits of the bank beyond a reasonable interest or a reasonable dividend to the stockholders, and the necessary transfers to the reserve fund. The bank and its branches shall not be subjected to taxation by the Cantons. The Confederation shall not make bank notes and other like currency legal tender, except in urgent need in time of war. The principal office of the bank and the details of its organization, as well as in general the carrying into effect this article, shall be determined by federal law.

Article 40. The Confederation fixes the standard of weights and measures. The Cantons, under the supervision of the Confederation, [shall] enforce the laws relating thereto.

Article 41. The manufacture and the sale of gunpowder throughout Switzerland pertain exclusively to the Confederation. Powders used for blasting and not suitable for shooting are not included in the monopoly.

Article 42. The expenditures of the Confederation are met as follows: (a) Out of the income from federal property. (b) Out of the proceeds of the federal customs levied at the Swiss frontier. (c) Out of the proceeds of the posts and telegraphs. (d) Out of the proceeds of the powder monopoly. (e) Out of half of the gross receipts from the tax on military exemptions levied by the Cantons. (f) Out of the contributions of the Cantons, which shall be determined by federal legislation, with special reference to their wealth and taxable resources.

Article 43. Every citizen of a Canton is a Swiss citizen. As such he may participate, in the place where he is domiciled, in all federal elections and popular votes, after having duly proven his qualification as a voter. No person can exercise political rights in more than one Canton. The Swiss settled as a citizen outside his native Canton enjoys in the place where he is domiciled, all the rights of the citizens of the Canton, including all the rights of the communal citizen. Participation in municipal and corporate property, and the right to vote upon purely municipal affairs, are excepted from such rights, unless the Canton by legislation has otherwise provided. In cantonal and communal affairs, he gains the right to vote after a residence of three months. Cantonal laws relating to the right of Swiss citizens to settle outside the Cantons in which they were born, and to vote on communal questions, are submitted for the approval of the Federal Council.

Article 44. No Canton shall expel from its territory one of its own citizens, nor deprive him of his rights, whether acquired by birth or settlement. [Origine ou cité.] Federal legislation shall fix the conditions upon which foreigners may be naturalized, as well as those upon which a Swiss may give up his citizenship in order to obtain naturalization in a foreign country.

Article 45. Every Swiss citizen has the right to settle anywhere in Swiss territory, on condition of submitting a certificate of origin, or a similar document. By exception, settlement may be refused to or withdrawn from, those who, in consequence of a penal conviction, are not entitled to civil rights. In addition, settlement may be withdrawn from those who have been repeatedly punished for serious offenses, and also from those who permanently come upon the charge of public charity, and to whom their Commune or Canton of origin, as the case may be, refuses sufficient succor, after they have been officially asked to grant it. In the Cantons where the poor are relieved in their place of residence the permission to settle, if it relates to citizens of the Canton, may be coupled with the condition that they shall be able to work, and that they shall not, in their former domicile in the Canton of origin, have permanently become a charge on public charity. Every expulsion on account of poverty must be approved by the government of the Canton of domicile, and previously announced to the government of the Canton of origin. A Canton in which a Swiss establishes his domicile may not require security, nor impose any special obligations for such establishment. In like manner the Communes cannot require from Swiss domiciled in their territory other contributions than those which they require from their own subjects. A federal law shall establish the maximum fee to be paid the Chancery for a permit to settle.

Article 46. Persons settled in Switzerland are, as a rule, subjected to the jurisdiction and legislation of their domicile, in all that pertains to their personal status and property rights. The Confederation shall by law make the provisions necessary for the application of this principle and for the prevention of double taxation of a citizen.

Article 47. A federal law shall establish the distinction between settlement and temporary residence, and shall at the same time make the regulations to which Swiss temporary residents shall be subjected as to their political rights and their civil rights.

Article 48. A federal law shall provide for the regulation of the expenses of the illness and burial of indigent persons amenable to one Canton, who have fallen ill or died in another Canton.

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Article 49. Freedom of conscience and belief is inviolable. No person can be constrained to take part in a religious society, to attend religious instruction, to perform a religious rite, or to incur penalties of any kind whatever on account of religious opinion. The person who exercises the parent's or guardian's authority has the right, conformably to the principles above stated, to regulate the religious education of children up to the age of sixteen completed years. The exercise of civil or political rights shall not be abridged by any provisions or conditions whatever of an ecclesiastical or religious kind. No person shall, on account of a religious belief, release himself from the accomplishment of a civil duty. No person is bound to pay taxes of which the proceeds are specifically appropriated to the actual expenses of the worship of a religious body to which he does not belong. The details of the carrying out of this principle are reserved for federal legislation.

Article 50. The free exercise of religious worship is guaranteed within the limits compatible with public order and good morals. The Cantons and the Confederation may take suitable measures for the preservation of public order and of peace between the members of different religious bodies, and also against encroachments of ecclesiastical authorities upon the rights of citizens and of the State. Contests in public and private law, which arise out of the formation or the division of religious bodies, may be brought by appeal before the competent federal authorities. No bishopric shall be created upon Swiss territory without the consent of the Confederation.

Article 51. The order of the Jesuits, and the societies affiliated with them, shall not be received into any part of Switzerland; and all action in church and school is forbidden to its members. This prohibition may be extended also, by federal ordinance, to other religious orders, the action of which is dangerous to the state or disturbs the peace between sects.

Article 52. The foundation of new convents or religious orders, and the reestablishment of those which have been suppressed, are forbidden.

Article 53. The civil status and the keeping of records thereof is subject to the civil authority. The Confederation shall by law enact detailed provisions upon this subject. The control of places o burial is subject to the civil authority. It shall take care that every deceased person may be decently interred.

Article 54. The right of marriage is placed under the protection of the Confederation. No limitation upon marriage shall be based upon sectarian grounds, nor upon the poverty of either of the contractants, nor on their conduct, nor on any other consideration of good order. A marriage contracted in a Canton or in a foreign country, conformably to the law which is there in force, shall be recognized as valid throughout the Confederation. By marriage the wife acquires the citizenship of her husband. Children born before the marriage are made legitimate by the subsequent marriage of their parents. No tax upon admission or similar tax shall be levied upon either party to a marriage.

Article 55. The freedom of the press is guaranteed. Nevertheless the Cantons by law enact the measures necessary for the suppression of abuses. Such laws are submitted for the approval of the Federal Council. The Confederation may enact penalties for the suppression of press offenses directed against it or its authorities.

Article 56. Citizens have the right of forming associations, provided that there be in the purpose of such associations, or in the means which they employ, nothing unlawful or dangerous to the state. The Cantons by law take the measures necessary for the suppression of abuses.

Article 57. The right of petition is guaranteed.

Article 58. No person shall be deprived of his constitutional judge. Therefore no extraordinary tribunal shall be established. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is abolished.

Article 59. Suits for personal claims against a solvent debtor having a domicile in Switzerland, must be brought before the judge of his domicile; in consequence, his property outside the Canton in which he is domiciled may not be attached in suits for personal claims. Nevertheless, with reference to foreigners, the provisions of international treaties shall not thereby be affected. Imprisonment for debt is abolished.

Article 60. All the Cantons are bound to treat the citizens of the other confederated States like those of their own State in legislation and in all judicial proceedings.

Article 61. Civil judgments definitely pronounced in any Canton may be executed anywhere in Switzerland.

Article 62. The exit duty on property [traite foraine] is abolished in the interior of Switzerland, as well as the right of redemption [droit de retrait] by citizens of one Canton against those of other confederated States.

Article 63. The exit duty on property is abolished as respects foreign countries, provided reciprocity be observed.

Article 64. The Confederation has power to make laws: On legal competency. On all legal questions relating to commerce and to transactions affecting chattels (law of commercial obligations, including commercial law and law of exchange). On literary and artistic copyright. On the protection of new patterns and forms, and of inventions which are represented in models and are capable of industrial application. [Amendment of December 20, 1887.] On the legal collection of debts and on bankruptcy. The administration of justice remains with the Cantons, save as affected by the powers of the Federal Court.

Article 65. [(_Abrogated by Amendment of June_ 20, 1879.) _The death penalty is abolished; nevertheless the provisions of military law in time of war shall be observed. Corporal punishment is abolished_.]

Article 65. [Amendment of June 20,1879.] No death penalty shall be pronounced for a political crime. Corporal punishment is abolished.

Article 66. The Confederation by law fixes the limits within which a Swiss citizen may be deprived of his political rights.

Article 67. The Confederation by law provides for the extradition of accused persons from one Canton to another; nevertheless, extradition shall not be made obligatory for political offenses and offenses of the press.

Article 68. Measures are taken by federal law for the incorporation of persons without country (Heimathlosen), and for the prevention of new cases of that nature.

Article 69. Legislation concerning measures of sanitary police against epidemic and cattle diseases, causing a common danger, is included in the powers of the Confederation.

Article 70. The Confederation has power to expel from its territory foreigners who endanger the internal or external safety of Switzerland.

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