Political initiatives
Politicians have recognised the need for action here and are working on various solutions, which we welcome and support.
Postulate 20.3463
September 2020
In September 2020, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Swiss Council of States (RK-SR) adopted a postulate (20.3463) instructing the Swiss Federal Council to examine how the principle of Just Culture can be adopted as a general principle under Swiss law in aviation, healthcare or other high-security fields.
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Chronology:
19. August 2020: The Federal Council proposes the approval of the postulate.
23. September 2020: The Council of States approves the postulate.
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Current status: The Federal Council will now instruct the department concerned (the Federal Office of Justice FOJ) to conduct an in-depth analysis of the postulate.
Parliamentary Initiative 19.478
September 2019
National Councillor Gregor Rutz (SVP) submitted a parliamentary initiative (No. 19.478) on "Improving public safety through the anchoring of a just culture" on 16 September 2019. EU regulations specify that a state should refrain from initiating sanction proceedings for an incident of which it has learned as a result of a Just Culture report, provided there is no gross violation and there are no serious consequences involved. The amendments proposed by National Councillor Rutz implement these provisions and eliminate inconsistencies in Swiss law.
Chronology:
20. February 2020: The National Council's Legal Affairs Committee unanimously agrees (22-0).
25. May 2020: The Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States does not give its approval (7-4 with 2 abstentions) as it considers the parliamentary initiative "inappropriate". Instead, it adopts a postulate (20.3463).
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Current status:
The parliamentary initiative is expected to be reconsidered by the National Council in 2021.
Motion 18.3700
June 2018
NNational Councillor Martin Candinas (CVP) submitted a motion (18.3700) entitled "Transferring criminal jurisdiction for aviation accidents and serious incidents to the Confederation" on 15 June 2018. The aim of this motion is to transfer the criminal jurisdiction in aviation accidents and serious incidents from the numerous individual district courts in Switzerland to the Federal Supreme Court, thereby centralising such jurisdiction.
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Chronology:
05. September 2018: The Federal Council proposes the adoption of the motion.
28. September 2018: The National Council adopts the motion.
10. September 2019: The Council of States adopts the motion.
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Current status:
Implementation of the motion is underway.