Hooligan Law: Basic Rights pushed aside
The Federal Council will «establish a long term legal foundation for the fight against hooliganism.» On 29th August 2007 it took the necessary steps in order to adopt a new constitutional article. According to a press release, the solution agreed to by the cantons takes precedence, but in case this solution does not come to fruition, the federal government has its own nation-wide solution.
On 1st January 2007 the altered federal law and the enactment of the measures protecting internal security (the so-called Hooligan Law) came into effect. Just seventeen days later the Federal Council released a constitutional ordinance for consultation, that «should serve to combat hooliganism on the federal level,» according to a Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) press release.
- Data commissioner slams hooliganism law
swissinfo, 2 July 2007 - Anti-hooligan law (in German, French, Italian)
The organisation «grundrechte.ch» reacted with astonishment to a law that was simply meant to be a «Lex Euro08» (a temporary measure for the Euro08 tournament) but has now led to the altering of the constitution in order to accommodate the «Hooligan Law.» Early last year the parliament engaged the state to verify how the law could be employed beyond 2009. There are two possibilities: either via the federal constitution or via an inter-cantonal agreement.
Information about the Hooligan Law
In April 2006 football and ice hockey fans took the referendum against the hooligan law. Unfortunately the committee that was more or less out on a limb was unable to collect enough signatures before the mid-July deadline.
The Hooligan Law raises questions relating to our most basic rights. These basic rights should also be protected during the Euro 08 tournament, claimed the cantonal data protection commissioners on 9th June 2006 in Delsberg. The belief of the cantonal data protection commissioners is that the planned Hooligan database is unconstitutional. Markus Schefer, a professor at the University of Basle, according to agency reports stated that the constitution severely limits the erection and establishment of such a database. It would only be allowed, he claimed, if events occurred that endangered the safety of the entire state or if events adversely affected foreign political interests. The database would, in conjunction with the Hooligan Law, work to protect internal security but would also overstep constitutional boundaries. The cantonal data protection commissioners additionally criticised other aspects of the law and hope that measures that have already been agreed upon will only be used within reason.
In June 2006 the referendum committee wrote on its website that the planned changes to the Hooligan Law will open the door to arbitrariness. Fifteen year olds could be apprehended as a preventive measure purely on the basis of «believable» statements from police officers. A judicial examination of the accusation would only occur when requested. «The democratic foundation that protects our rights would be definitively broken, and basic rights, like the assumption of innocence, would be weakened and disregarded.»
The Hooligan Law does away with elementary rights and turns football fans into criminals, claimed the WoZ in spring 2006. This law anticipates the arbitrary measures of the police against people who are yet to commit crimes. The law represents a diminishment of basic rights. Clearly the law is meant to prevent outbreaks of violence, caused by specific hooligans, during Euro 2008, admitted WoZ. «With the use of repression you achieve all your goals. But how far is too far? Is it worthwhile damaging the basic rights of all citizens for the sake of two-hundred hooligans?»
- Schmid calls for more action over hooligans
swissinfo, 28 May 2006 - Swiss parliament proposes new hooligan laws for Euro08
EUfootball.biz, 24 February 2006
Update: 18.01.2007
