Federal Chancellery of Switzerland
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The Federal Chancellery of
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
is a department-level agency of the
federal administration of Switzerland The federal administration of Switzerland (german: Bundesverwaltung, french: Administration fédérale, it, Amministrazione federale, rm, Administraziun federala) is the ensemble of agencies that constitute, together with the Swiss Federa ...
. It is the staff organisation of the federal government, the Federal Council. Since 2016, it has been headed by Federal Chancellor
Walter Thurnherr Walter Thurnherr (born 11 July 1963) is a Swiss government official who has served as Chancellor of Switzerland since 2016. Although he holds a traditionally nonpartisan office, he was elected as a member of the Christian Democratic People's P ...
of the
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (german: Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei der Schweiz, CVP), also called the Christian Democratic Party (french: Parti démocrate-chrétien, PDC), Democratic People's Party ( it, Partito P ...
.


History

The Federal Chancellery was established by the 1803
Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasi ...
, before that, the recess notes were held by the cantonal chancellery of the canton that was hosting the
tagsatzung The Federal Diet of Switzerland (german: Tagsatzung, ; french: Diète fédérale; it, Dieta federale) was the legislative and executive council of the Old Swiss Confederacy and existed in various forms from the beginnings of Swiss independen ...
. Until the establishment of the
federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
in 1848, the chancellery was one of the few permanent offices of the
Swiss Confederation ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. During the first years, the Federal Chancellor was tasked with managing the protocol and the agenda of the tagsatzung, writing and printing the recess notes, the correspondence with the cantons and foreign nations, and maintaining the Federal archives. After 1848, the Chancellery was attached to the
Federal Department of Home Affairs The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA, , french: Département fédéral de l'intérieur, links=no, , rm, ) is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. As of 2012, it is ...
until 1895, then to the
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, french: Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, it, Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rm, ), so name ...
until 1967, when it became an independent body. Since 2007, the Federal Language Law (Sprachengesetz, Loi sur les langues, Legge sulle lingue, Lescha da linguas) requires "that official language use must be adequate, clear and intelligible as well as non-sexist." However, in practice, non-sexist language has been required in the German section of the Federal Chancellery's official texts since around 1998, whilst the French and Italian sections continue with a more traditional use of language made up of masculine terms.


Organization

The Chancellery is divided into three distinct sectors. The Chancellor is the formal head of the Federal Chancellor Sector, comprising the planning & strategy section, the Internal Services section, the political rights section, the federal crisis management training unit of the Federal Administration, and the Records and Process Management section. Two sectors are headed by the Vice-Chancellors: the Federal Council sector manages the agenda of the Federal Council's meeting. This sector comprises the Section for Federal Council Affairs, the Legal Section, the Official Publications Centre and the Central Language Services. The Information & Communications Sector is led by Vice-Chancellor
André Simonazzi André Simonazzi (born 1968) is a Swiss journalist born in Monthey. He currently holds the office of Vice Chancellor and spokesman for the Swiss Federal Council, since April 2009. Simonazzi attended thCollège de l’Abbayein St. Maurice, where ...
, this role also has expanded to become the official spokesman for the Federal Council in 2000. This sector includes the e-Government Section, the Communication Support Section and the Political Forum of the Confederation. For administrative purposes, the
Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner french: Préposé fédéral à la protection des données et à la transparence it, Incaricato federale della protezione dei dati e della trasparenza , logo = Logo der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft.svg , logo_width = 300px , lo ...
is affiliated to the Chancellery. The
Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner french: Préposé fédéral à la protection des données et à la transparence it, Incaricato federale della protezione dei dati e della trasparenza , logo = Logo der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft.svg , logo_width = 300px , lo ...
is responsible for the supervision of federal authorities and private bodies with respect to
data protection Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
and
freedom of information legislation Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfa ...
.


Roles


Federal Chancellor

The Federal Chancellor is elected by Parliament for a term of four years, usually at the same time as the Federal Council. Initially a
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
function, its role became less important after 1918 when it served mainly as a career reward for distinguished public servants. The role however was revived and became the true Chief-of-Staff to the Federal Council following the 1967
mirage affair A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...
.


Vice-Chancellor

Initially named Federal Secretary (''Bundesschreiber''), the title of the
Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
was established in 1851, first as Federal Chancellor Deputy, then formally as Vice-Chancellor in 1881. In order to provide a balance between languages and geographical representation, it became custom since 1895 to name a second Vice-Chancellor from a French-speaking canton if both the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor were Swiss-German. The second Vice-Chancellor became a permanent position in 1967. Unlike the Federal Chancellor, Vice-Chancellors are appointed by the Federal Council directly. After both Vice-Chancellors retired in 2005, a row erupted over language representation when
Oswald Sigg Oswald Sigg (born 1944 in Zürich) is a Swiss journalist. In August 2005, he was elected Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland and Spokesman of the government of Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Council. He served as Spokesman until his retirement on 31 ...
was named successor to Vice-Chancellor and Federal Council spokesman
Achille Casanova Achille Casanova (2 October 1941 – 17 July 2016) was a Swiss journalist and politician. He held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between 1981 and 2005, and during this time became the first official spokesman for the Swiss Federal Co ...
. With Federal Chancellor
Annemarie Huber-Hotz Annemarie Huber-Hotz (16 August 1948 – 1 August 2019) was a Swiss politician who served as the Federal Chancellor of Switzerland between 2000 and 2007. She was nominated by the FDP for the office, and elected to it on 15 December 1999. In 20 ...
and the other Vice-Chancellorship conferred to
Corina Casanova Corina Casanova (born 4 January 1956) is a Swiss politician who was the Federal Chancellor of Switzerland between 2008 and 2015. Born in Ilanz, Graubünden, Casanova worked as a lawyer in the practice of the former President of the Swiss Federa ...
(no relationship to Achille Casanova), the three key roles in the Federal Chancellery were held by Swiss Germans. Remarkably enough, though, when Corinna Casanova was elected Federal Chancellor three years later, the nomination of
Thomas Helbling Thomas Helbling (born 1961) is a Swiss lawyer. He held the office of Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland between 2008 and 2016, in charge of the Federal Council sector. After leaving office, he became the CEO of the Swiss Insurance Association (2017-2 ...
as her successor, another Swiss German, raised no such public criticism. At the time, the ''
Tages-Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und ...
'' speculated that this might be due to the Latin cantons aiming for the post of Oswald Sigg, due to retire a bit later. Whether founded or not, the appointment of
André Simonazzi André Simonazzi (born 1968) is a Swiss journalist born in Monthey. He currently holds the office of Vice Chancellor and spokesman for the Swiss Federal Council, since April 2009. Simonazzi attended thCollège de l’Abbayein St. Maurice, where ...
in 2009 did indeed restore the language balance.


See also

*
Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner french: Préposé fédéral à la protection des données et à la transparence it, Incaricato federale della protezione dei dati e della trasparenza , logo = Logo der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft.svg , logo_width = 300px , lo ...


References


External links


Official website
* * {{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland Chancellery Federal administration of Switzerland .01