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What are the origins of direct democracy in Switzerland? How does the Swiss judiciary function? What are the principles of Swiss civil, contract and administrative law? What is the role of public service broadcasting in the political decision making process? What are the leading cases in tax law? What forms of euthanasia are legal in Switzerland? In this introduction 13 legal scholars of the University of Zürich Law Faculty try to answer these questions and give the reader an overview of Swiss public, private and criminal law. As the first comprehensive introduction to Swiss law in English, it is addressed to both lawyers from abroad and incoming students.

What are the origins of direct democracy in Switzerland? How does the Swiss judiciary function? What are the principles of Swiss civil, contract and administrative law? What is the role of public service broadcasting in the political decision-making process? What are the leading cases in tax law? What forms of euthanasia are legal in Switzerland? In this introduction 19 legal scholars of the University of Zurich Law Faculty try to answer these questions and give the reader an overview of Swiss public, private, and criminal law. As the first comprehensive introduction to Swiss law in English, it is addressed to both lawyers from abroad and incoming students to the University of Zurich.

Medical secrecy is going through a troubled period today. The multiplication of health care providers, technological progress and the pressure of financial policies tend to put pressure on this institution and to redefine its contours. In Swiss law, medical secrecy is now governed by an abundance of legal provisions whose implementation has become complex and unpredictable. After a first part dealing with the historical origins of medical secrecy, its main current factors of influence and its ethical justifications, the book systematically analyzes the multiple duties of confidentiality that may apply to caregivers, their respective limits and their articulation. The study concludes with an analysis of several scenarios for the future of medical confidentiality.

The merger control test is being questioned in Switzerland. Many commentators are in favor of transposing the European law in this field and its SIEC test for "Significant Impediment to Effective Competition" into the Swiss Cartel Act. This study first considers the appropriateness of a legislative change as well as the choice of a possible new test. Then, in an examination of the Comco's merger control practice from 1997 to 2019, the thesis presents the Swiss test step by step and its application in statistical form. The author then compares the Swiss test with the American SLC test and the European SIEC test with the use of didactic tables and finally formulates a legislative proposal.

The work deals intensively with the very complex topic of post-mortem organ donation and the question of why it is that not all organs of potential organ donors are considered in transplantation. It covers central questions of the legally and ethically required handling of dying and death. In addition to a presentation of the relevant legal situation, the statistical findings on organ transplants performed in Switzerland during the observation period, the relatively high rates of rejection and low rates of conversion of organ donations by means of retrospective analysis of the data of all in 2013 at their then place of work, the Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen are made and their results compared with those of the national SwissPOD study. The "primary desirable goal" of the measures taken to promote organ donation appears to the author to be less the "increase in available organs, but rather reflection on dying and one's own death", which is why she would welcome an increase in the number of living wills and organ donation cards available, in order to thereby reduce the emotionally stressful proxy decisions - regardless of the will specified therein.

Few professions elicit such ambivalent feelings as criminal defense: If criminal defense lawyers win an innocent man an acquittal, they are admired. If, on the other hand, the criminal defense stands up for the rights of a felon, the recurring question is certainly how to defend him. Until now, there has been no introduction to the practice and craft of criminal defense in Switzerland. The book thus closes a central gap. It is not primarily aimed at experienced professionals, but also and especially at newcomers to the profession, students and an interested broad public. Stephan Bernard's vivid explanations are based on his earlier publications about criminal defense in professional and popular media. However, they are based at least as much on his personal knowledge and experience from over 15 years of broad criminal defense practice.

Cooperative planning is a potent approach for steering quality settlement development inwards. With the combination of (special) use plans and urban development contracts, they come into play where traditional spatial planning is unable to reliably achieve the desired spatial planning due to a lack of agreements with landowners or investors. While private individuals benefit from a better use of their land, the state gains influence on the "if" and "how" of the constructional realization of this land. The considerable urban planning significance of cooperative planning is contrasted by constitutional concerns about the method. Cooperative planning runs the risk of shortchanging legitimate public and third-party interests and of overreaching to the private cooperating party because of the state's bidding power in the area of land use planning. This book shows ways how cooperative planning can be designed according to rule-of-law standards and thus be strengthened.

Although international arbitration is widely hailed as an efficient, confidential and flexible way of settling commercial disputes, it has its limits. The arbitral tribunal’s lack of coercive power is thrown into particularly stark relief when it comes to the taking of evidence from third parties outside the arbitral proceedings. If they do not comply voluntarily with the request of the arbitral tribunal to testify as a witness or disclose documents, assistance must be sought from state courts. As the success of a case hinges on the evidence that a party can obtain, it is crucial to understand how to obtain evidence through state courts. At the heart of this work is the question of the conditions under which state courts may offer assistance in international arbitral proceedings. With a special focus on Switzerland and comparative aspects, this book provides helpful tactical insights for arbitral practitioners around the world.

Can privatizations live up to the expectation of reducing the size of the state? Or will the fears be proven true that privatization can push back on democratic principles and the rule of law? This study tackles four question: What requirements does the constitution lay on the execution of the state tasks? In which respects can the execution of state tasks be privatized? Which problems do the constitutional requirements cause for the privatized execution of tasks? Which room for maneuver does the constitutional requirements leave for the privatized execution? This study does not set out to re-invent the legal phenomenon of privatization or to describe it in a novel way. Rather, this study intends to simplify and to categorize. Privatizations are distinguished fundamentally into whether they concern the task-side or the execution-side of state activity. And it applies the constitutions’ requirements in a general way, without delving into the specifics of certain tasks with their special dogmatic categories.

In the canton of Bern, the Child and Adult Protection Court performs the tasks of the judicial complaints authority in child and adult protection matters. It forms part of the civil department of the higher court and is made up of senior judges as well as specialist judges. The proceedings before this specialized court are characterized by a pluralism of legal sources: a federal rump order in the Swiss Civil Code is given concrete form by a cantonal special procedural code, which in turn refers to the general administrative process of the canton of Bern. The present work systematically presents the proceedings before the child and adult protection court and is intended to serve as an orientation for those seeking justice, lawyers and members of the court on procedural issues., Im Kanton Bern nimmt das Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzgericht die Aufgaben der gerichtlichen Beschwerdeinstanz in Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzsachen wahr. Es bildet einen Teil der Zivilabteilung des Obergerichts und ist mit Oberrichterinnen und Oberrichtern wie auch mit Fachrichterinnen und Fachrichtern besetzt. Das Verfahren vor diesem Fachgericht ist geprägt von einem Rechtsquellenpluralismus: Eine bundesrechtliche Rumpfordnung im Schweizerischen Zivilgesetzbuch wird konkretisiert durch eine kantonale Spezialverfahrensordnung, die wiederum lückenfüllend auf den allgemeinen Verwaltungsprozess des Kantons Bern verweist. Das vorliegende Werk stellt das Verfahren vor dem Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzgericht systematisch dar und soll sowohl den Rechtssuchenden, den Rechtsanwältinnen und Rechtsanwälten als auch den Mitgliedern des Gerichts bei prozessualen Fragen als Orientierung dienen.

Although invoicing is of great importance in practice, there is no fundamental treatment of its effects in the area of ​​application of the Code of Obligations in the Swiss civil law literature. The present study entitled "Invoicing in the Swiss Code of Obligations" aims to close this gap. In it, the author primarily discusses the consequences of invoicing for the origin, scope, due date and limitation of claims and how the invoicing affects the default of the debtor. The thesis is also devoted to the legal consequences of additional declarations by the biller, which are frequently encountered in practice, and sheds light on the legal status of the recipient of the bill., Obschon die Rechnungsstellung in der Praxis von grosser Bedeutung ist, findet sich in der schweizerischen Zivilrechtsliteratur keine grundlegende Abhandlung über deren Wirkungen im Anwendungsbereich des Obligationenrechts. Diese Lücke will die vorliegende Untersuchung mit dem Titel «Die Rechnungsstellung im schweizerischen Obligationenrecht» schliessen. Der Autor erörtert darin vornehmlich, welche Konsequenzen die Rechnungsstellung für die Entstehung, den Umfang, die Fälligkeit und die Verjährung von Forderungen zeitigt und wie sich die Rechnungsstellung auf den Schuldnerverzug auswirkt. Weiter widmet sich die Arbeit den Rechtsfolgen von in der Praxis häufig anzutreffenden Zusatzerklärungen des Rechnungsstellers und beleuchtet die Rechtsstellung des Rechnungsadressaten.

The usage of drones is constantly increasing, even among private individuals. Anyone who hears or sees a drone usually does not know whether he is being observed or filmed and whether the recorded material is being broadcast live or recorded. It also regularly remains unclear who is responsible for the drone. With this in mind, this book deals with the following question: How can the right to informational self-determination – substantiated in data protection law – be enforced in the case of drone based data processing by private individuals? The author analyses both the future data protection law and the new regulations on drone aviation and presents concrete proposals for an adjustment of the law.