Author Archives: Wittkaemper Thimo

The Primacy of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU over the Federal Constitution

Background

see 4.1

Summary

Priority of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EC over the Federal Constitution: ruling of 26 November 2015 in the case A.A. and B.A. v the Migration Office and Security Directorate of the Canton of Zurich (BGE 142 II 35)

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The Primacy of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU over Federal Statutory Law

Background

see 4.1

Summary

Precedence of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EC over federal law: ruling of 9 May 2007 in the case of State Secretariat for Economic Affairs v C. (BGE 133 V 367)

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The Primacy of International Law over Swiss Federal Acts, in Particular in the Protection of Human Rights

Background

see 4.1

Summary

The primacy of international law over a federal law, especially where the international legal norm serves the protection of human rights: ruling of 26 July 1999 in the case A. v. Swiss Federal Prosecutor (BGE 125 II 417)

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The Primacy of Domestic Law in Case of Deliberately Taking into Account a Conflict with International Law by Parliament in Switzerland

Background

see 4.1

Summary

Precedence of national law when the legislature accepts a conflict with international law: Decision of 2 March 1973 in the case of Schubert v Appeals Commission for Application of the Federal Law on the Purchasing of Real Estate to Persons of Foreign Domicile of the Canton of Ticino (BGE 99 Ib 39)

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Background

If interpretation of a legal norm under national law in conformity with international law indicates that the national law is in conflict with a directly applicable provision of international law, this gives rise to the issue of which has primacy and trumps the other rule. Legislators strive to avoid conflicts with international law. The relationship to international law is addressed by the Federal Council in its draft legislation and by Parliament in its parliamentary deliberations, although it is naturally not possible to foresee all cases of application and subsequent developments. In the case of popular initiatives aimed at amending the Federal Constitution, it occasionally remains unclear during the voting campaign whether the constitutional amendment violates international law if the issue is not addressed in the amendment itself – which it usually is not. The creators of the 1999 constitution were not aiming to conclusively settle the thorny question. Thus in the rare cases in which a conflict between national and international law become apparent, the Federal Supreme Court has to decide the issue of primacy in a case of application. The Federal Supreme Court rulings have always been favourable to international law without further justification of such finding other than the view that all state organs are obliged to voluntarily fulfil obligations entered into by the state (pacta sunt servanda; see for example BGE 21/1895, 705, 710). Exceptions in which the Federal Supreme Court upholds the primacy of national law are very rare. In BGE 59 II 331, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that international agreements only have the rank of law domestically, and conflicts must be resolved according to the principle of lex posterior derogat priori. The national law was more recent in the case reviewed, so it was seen as having precedence even though the international treaty was amended slightly later on.

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Direct Effect of Rules of International Law in the Jurisprudence of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court: The Example of Disability Rents reduced by Conduct of Gross Negligence

Urteil des Eidgenössischen Versicherungsgerichts in Sachen Ausgleichskasse des Kantons Jura gegen Courtet vom 23. Oktober 1985 (BGE 111 V 201), Urteil des Eidgenössischen Versicherungsgerichts in Sachen X gegen Ausgleichskasse des Kantons Wallis vom 25. August 1993 (BGE 119 V 171)

  BGE 111 V 201

  BGE 119 V 171

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Applicability and Justiciability of International Law in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Daniel Wüger, Anwendbarkeit und Justiziabilität völkerrechtlicher Normen im schweizerischen Recht: Grundlagen, Methoden und Kriterien, Berne 2005 (excerpt: pp. 233 – 288)

  Daniel Wüger – Anwendbarkeit und Justiziabilität völkerrechtlicher Normen

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Monism in Swiss Doctrine and Case Law

Verhältnis zwischen Völkerrecht und Landesrecht im Rahmen der schweizerischen Rechtsordnung, Gemeinsame Stellungnahme des Bundesamtes für Justiz und der Direktion für Völkerrecht vom 26. April 1989, Verwaltungspraxis der Bundesbehörden (VPB) 53 Nr. 54 Ziff. III.; Das Verhältnis von Völkerrecht und Landesrecht, Bericht des Bundesrates vom 5. März 2010, Bundesblatt 2010 2263 ff., 2302 f.

  Verwaltungspraxis der Bundesbehörden (VPB) 53 Nr. 54 Ziff. III

  BBI 2009 2263 ff., 2302 f.

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The Application of International Law in the Case Law of the US Supreme Court, The European Court of Justice and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court: A Comparative Analysis

Helen Keller, Rezeption des Völkerrechts, eine rechtsvergleichende Studie zur Praxis des U.S. Supreme Court, des Gerichtshofes der Europäischen Gemeinschaften und des schweizerischen Bundesgerichts in ausgewählten Bereichen, Berlin etc. 2003 (excerpts: pp. 341 – 372, 16 – 19)

  Helen Keller – Rezeption des Völkerrechts

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The Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court on Swiss Ordre Public vis-à-vis the Nazi regime of injustice

Adolf Lüchinger, Rechtsprechung der schweizerischen Gerichte im Umfeld des nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsregimes auf dem Gebiet des Privatrechts, unter Einschluss des internationalen Zivilprozess- und Vollstreckungsrechts (Schwerpunkt Ordre public), Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz – Zweiter Weltkrieg (Ed.), Die Schweiz, der Nationalsozialismus und das Recht, Vol. II: Privatrecht, Zurich 2001, pp. 67 – 124

  Adolf Lüchinger – Rechtsprechung im Umfeld des nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsregimes

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The Interpretation of International and of National Law in the Light of International Law in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Hans Peter Walter, Das rechtsvergleichende Element – Zur Auslegung vereinheitlichten, harmonisierten und rezipierten Rechts, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2007 I 259 – 277

  Hans Peter Walter – Das rechtsvergleichende Element

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Ways, Means and Frequency of Considering Foreign Laws in the Process of Statutory Interpretation of Swiss Law

Alexandra Gerber, Der Einfluss des ausländischen Rechts in der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts, in: Osmose zwischen Rechtsordnungen: Berichte des Kolloquiums anlässlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens des Schweizerischen Instituts für Rechtsvergleichung, Zurich 1992, pp. 141 – 163.

  Alexandra Gerber – Einfluss des ausländischen Rechts in die Rechtsprechung

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The Methodological Pluralism in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Hans Peter Walter, Der Methodenpluralismus des Bundesgerichts bei der Gesetzesauslegung, recht 1999, pp. 157 – 166

  Hans Peter Walter – Der Methodenpluralismus des Bundesgerichts

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The Validation of Cantonal Constitutions by the Federal Parliament and Judicial Review by The Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 21. Juni 1978 i.S. Unité Jurassienne, Charpillod et Vecchi contre Conseil des 187 du Grand Conseil du canton de Berne (BGE 104 Ia 215); Urteil des Bundesgerichts vom 27. November 1985 i.S. X. gegen Kantonsgericht Appenzell I.Rh. (BGE 111 Ia 239)

  BGE 104 Ia 215

 BGE 111 Ia 239

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Federalism in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Heinz Aemisegger/André Jomini,  Der Föderalismus in der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts, in: Bernhard Waldmann (Hrsg.), 1. Nationale Föderalismuskonferenz, Publikationen des Instituts für Föderalismus Freiburg Schweiz, Freiburg 2005, pp. 173 – 192 (French: pp. 193 – 212)

  Aemisegger/Jomini – Föderalismus in der Rechtsprechung

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The Evolution of Fundamental Rights in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Jörg Paul Müller, Entstehung und Entwicklung der Grundrechte in der Schweiz, in: Oliver Diggelmann/Maya Hertig Randall/Benjamin Schindler (Eds.), Verfassungsrecht der Schweiz Vol. 2, Zurich/Basel/Geneva 2020, pp. 1167 – 1191

The document is presently not available for reasons of copyright.

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The Extension of Fundamental Rights in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte, Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpt chapter Staatsrechtliche Praxis und frühe Rechtsprechung, pp. 804 – 820)

  Alfred Kölz – Staatsrechtliche Praxis und frühe Rechtsprechung

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The Enlargement of Constitutional Review in the Case Law of the Swiss Supreme Federal Court

Felix Uhlmann, Was tun eigentlich Verfassungsgerichte, wenn sie nicht zuständig sind? (Problemzonen verfassungsgerichtlicher Zuständigkeit), in: Andrea Good/Bettina Platipodis (Hrsg.), Herausforderungen zwischen Politik und Recht, Festschrift für Andreas Auer zum 65. Geburtstag, 2013, pp. 215 – 225

  Felix Uhlmann – Problemzonen verfassungsrechtlicher Zuständigkeit

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Activities of Swiss Federal Supreme Court Judges in international Courts of Law

Antoine Favre, Les droits constitutionnels et la garantie internationale des droits de l’homme, in: Juristische Fakultäten der schweizerischen Universitäten (Hrsg.), Freiheit des Bürgers im schweizerischen Recht, Festgabe zur Hundertjahrfeier der Bundesverfassung, 1948, pp. 335 – 358

  Antoine Favre – Les droits constitutionnels

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The First Female Judge on the Bench of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger, Die erste Richterin am Bundesgericht: Allein unter Richtern, in: Revital Ludewig/Kathleen Weislehner/Evelyne Angehrn (Hrsg.), Zwischen Recht und Gerechtigkeit, Richterinnen im Spiegel der Zeit, 2007, pp. 1-21

  Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger – Die erste Richterin am Bundesgericht

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The First President of the Swiss Supreme Insurance Court

Josef Albisser was the first president of the Swiss Federal Insurance Court, which was the highest federal social security court, and which commenced hearing cases in Lucerne in January 1918. In early 2007 the Court merged with the Federal Supreme Court as the unitary supreme law authority of Switzerland. Josef Albisser was born 25 February 1868 in Büron, Canton of Lucerne. He read law and economics in Bern, Leipzig and Munich, and was admitted to the Lucerne bar in 1892. From 1895-1915 he worked as an attorney in Lucerne.

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The First President of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Johann Jakob Blumer, Das schweizerische Bundesgericht – Eröffnungsrede von Dr. Blumer, Zeitschrift für schweizerische Gesetzgebung und Rechtspflege (published 1875-1882), 1875 Volume I, pp. 24 – 29

  Johann Jakob Blumer – Das Schweizerische Bundesgericht

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Professional and Political Activities of Judges prior to their Appointment to the Swiss Supreme Federal Court

Michele Luminati, Die Gesichter der Justiz – Das schweizerische Bundesgericht als Gegenstand interdisziplinärer Forschung, in: Paolo Becchi/Christoph Beat Graber/Michele Luminati (eds.), Interdisziplinäre Wege in der juristischen Grundlagenforschung, Luzerner Beiträge zur Rechtswissenschaft, 2007, pp. 183-213 (excerpt: pp. 196 – 205)

  Michele Luminati – Gesichter der Justiz

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The Appointment of Federal Supreme Court Judges in Switzerland and Objections to Procedures raised

Council of Europe/Conseil de l’Europe, Group of States against Corruption/Groupe d’Etats contra la corruption (GRECO), Vierte Evaluationsrunde: Prävention von Korruption bei Mitgliedern von Parlamenten, Gerichten und Staatsanwaltschaften, Evaluationsbericht Schweiz, vom 2. Dezember 2016 (excerpt: pp. 7, 27-31)

  GRECO – Vierte Evaluationsrunde: Prävention von Korruption

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Party-political Composition of the Federal Supreme Court over time

Adrian Vatter/Maya Ackermann, Richterwahlen in der Schweiz: Eine empirische Analyse der Wahlen an das Bundesgericht von 1848 bis 2013, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2014 I 517 – 537

  Vatter/Ackermann – Richterwahlen in der Schweiz

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The Benefits of Judicial Dialogue among Supreme Courts

Stephen Breyer, The Court and the World, American Law and the New Global Realities, New York 2015 (excerpt: Part IV: The Judge as Diplomat, pp. 247-270)

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The Significance of Multilingualism in the Case Law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Martin Schubarth, Die Bedeutung der Mehrsprachigkeit der schweizerischen Gesetze für die höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung, Gesetzgebung und Evaluation (LeGes) 2000, pp. 49-57

  Martin Schubarth – Bedeutung der Mehrsprachigkeit

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Multilingualism of Supreme Courts in Different Countries

Mathieu Devinat/Pascal Pichonnaz, L’égalité des langues officielles devant les cours suprêmes: regards croisés sur le droit canadien et le droit suisse, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2017 I 271-287

  Devinat/Pichonnaz – L’égalité des langues officielles

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The Concentration of Judicial Powers at the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Susanne Leuzinger, Die Errichtung des Eidgenössischen Versicherungsgerichts vor 100 Jahren und die Entwicklung der Verwaltungsrechtspflege im Bund, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Sozialversicherungsrecht und berufliche Vorsorge (SZS) 2017, pp. 587 – 616 (excerpt: pp. 588-606)

  Susanne Leuzinger – Errichtung des eidg. Versicherungsgerichts

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Location of the Federal Supreme Court in the Swiss Confederation

Botschaft des Bundesrathes an die hohe Bundesversammlung, betreffend die Organisation der Bundesrechtspflege (of 23 May 1874), Bundesblatt 1874 I 1059 ff: (excerpt: p. 1064 f.)

Bundesblatt 1874 I 1059 ff

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The Relationship of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to International Courts of Law

Susanne Leuzinger, Soziale Sicherheit und ihre Rechtswege, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 2014 II 491 ff. (excerpts: pp. 525 – 534, 577 – 585)

Thomas Cottier/Maya Hertig, The Prospects of 21st Century Constitutionalism, in: A. von Bogdandy und R. Wolfrum (Eds.), Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Volume 7, 2003, pp. 261 – 328 (excerpts: Introduction pp. 261 – 264, Towards a Five Storey House/Conclusion pp. 299 – 328)

  Susanne Leuzinger – Soziale Sicherheit und ihre Rechtswege

  Cottier/Hertig – Prospects of 21st Century Constitutionalism

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The Application of Federal Law by the Courts of the Swiss Cantons and the Constitutional Review of Cantonal Law

Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpt: chapter Der Totalrevisionsversuch von 1872, subchapter Einführung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber den Kantonen – Reform des Bundesgerichts, pp. 575-580)

  Alfred Kölz – Einführung Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber den Kantonen

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Preliminary Reflections on Judicial Review of Administrative Acts in Swiss Law

Gustav Vogt, Die Einsetzung eines eidgenössischen Verwaltungsgerichtshofes, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 1897, pp. 821-829

  Gustav Vogt – Einsetzung eines eidg. Verwaltungsgerichtshofes

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The Evolution of Judicial Review in Administrative Law in Switzerland

Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpt: chapter Entwicklung der Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit im Bund, pp. 851-861)

  Alfred Kölz – Entwicklung der Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit im Bund

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The Role of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in the Process of Federal Legislation

Paul Tschümperlin, Die Rolle des Bundesgerichts im Gesetzgebungsprozess, Gesetzgebung und Evaluation (LeGes) 2016, pp. 441-455

  Paul Tschümperlin – Die Rolle des Bundesgerichts im Gesetzgebungsprozess

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Judicial Independence and Parliamentary Supervision in Switzerland

Regina Kiener, Richterliche Unabhängigkeit, Verfassungsrechtliche Anforderungen an Richter und Gerichte, Bern 2001, pp. 294 – 309

Zur Tragweite der parlamentarischen Oberaufsicht über die Gerichte – Positionen in der Rechtslehre, Bericht der Parlamentarischen Verwaltungskontrollstelle zuhanden der Geschäftsprüfungskommission des Ständerates vom 11. März 2002, Bundesblatt 2002 7690-7726

  BBI 2002, 7690-7726

  Kiener – Richterliche Unabhängigkeit

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Lessons for Switzerland from Constitutional Review in the United States of America

Dietrich Schindler, Richterliches Prüfungsrecht und politischer Mehrheitswille, Erfahrungen der Vereinigten Staaten – Folgerungen für die Schweiz, Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht (ZSR) 1955 I 289-313

  Dietrich Schindler – Richterliches Prüfungsrecht und pol. Mehrheitswille

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Daniel Wüger

Daniel Wüger studied law at the University of Bern. In 2002, he graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in international commercial law. After working at the Institute for European and International Economic Law and serving as Program Manager at the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University, he was responsible for European law and Schengen/Dublin coordination at the Federal Office of Justice of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 2008 to 2019. Since 2019 he has been Deputy Secretary General of the Department.

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Hans Peter Walter

Hans Peter Walter (born 1944) studied law at the University of Bern. In 1969 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Bern and worked as a lawyer in Bern from 1969 to 1986. From 1982 – 1986 he was a part-time federal judge, and from 1987 – 2004 a full Federal Supreme Court justice, which he presided over in 2001/2002. After lecturing at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg during his term as a federal judge, thereafter from 2004 to 2010 he was a full professor in the fields of private and commercial law at the University of Bern, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1997.

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Gustav Vogt

Gustav Vogt (1829 – 1901, originally from the Grand Duchy of Hesse, from 1846 officially from Erlach BE) studied law at the University of Bern, where he earned his post-doctoral habilitation in 1855. After working as an attorney, journalist and criminal prosecutor, he became Director of the Federal Statistical Bureau in 1860 and full professor of constitutional law at the University of Bern in 1862.

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Adrian Vatter

Adrian Vatter (born 1965) studied economics and political science at the University of Bern, where he received his doctorate in political science in 1993. He then completed a post doc at the University of California at Los Angeles. After founding his own political consulting and research firm in Bern and working as Research Assistant at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel, he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Bern, where he became Assistant Professor for Policy Analysis and Evaluation in 2001. Thereafter he was a professor at the Universities of Constance (D) and Zurich from 2002, and since 2009 he has been Director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern and holder of the Professorial Chair for Swiss Politics. He consults for various parliamentary bodies of the Swiss Confederation, among other clients.

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Felix Uhlmann

Felix Uhlmann (born 1969) studied law and economics in Basel and Lausanne. He received his LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in the canton of Basel-Stadt. In 2004 he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Basel, where he was Assistant Professor from 2001 to 2004. Since 2006 he has been full professor for Constitutional and Administrative Law and Legislation Theory at the University of Zurich and Director of the Centre for Legislation Theory at the University of Zurich.

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Paul Tschümperlin

Paul Tschümperlin (born 1956) studied law and received his doctorate from the University of Freiburg i.Ü. in 1984. He was admitted to the bar in the canton of Schwyz in 1986. He then worked as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) at the Federal Supreme Court. He has been Secretary General of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court since 1991, overseeing the administration of the Federal Supreme Court. During his term on the Federal Supreme Court he has also been a member of the Military Court of Cassation since 2006 and served as its President since 2017, which is the highest instance of appeal in the military judiciary, responsible for hearing cases subject to military criminal law. His academic publications mainly concern the constitutional status of the Federal Supreme Court and court organization.

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Martin Schubarth

Martin Schubarth (born 1942) studied law in Basel. In 1968, he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Basel-Stadt and in 1973 qualified as a professor of criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Basel. From 1969 to 1983 he worked as an attorney in Basel, then from 1976 to 1980 he was a professor at the University of Bonn, and at the University of Hannover from 1980 to 1983. He was appointed as Federal Supreme Court justice in 1982. He served as Federal Supreme Court President from 1999 to 2000, resigning in 2004. He then returned to private practise, working as an attorney for a major law firm in Lausanne.

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Dietrich Schindler Junior

Dietrich Schindler-Kuhn (1924 – 2018) studied law in Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Harvard, and earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Zurich in 1957. In parallel with and after lecturing at the University of Zurich, the University of Bonn, the University of Michigan and the Hague Academy of International Law, he was full professor for International, European, Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Zurich from 1968 to 1989.

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Pascal Pichonnaz, Editor and Author

Pascal Pichonnaz, former Dean of Fribourg Faculty of Law (2014-2017), is professor for Swiss and Comparative Contract Law, European Consumer Law and Roman Law. He was educated at the University of Fribourg, where he got his PhD and his Habilitation. He took the bar exam in Fribourg (1994). He studied also at Berkeley Law (LL.M., 1997) and has spent a research year at the University of Regensburg (Germany, 1997-1998, Chair of Prof. Dr Reinhard Zimmermann), and then several months at the MPI Hamburg (2005), at Università la Sapienza (2005) and at Stellenbosh University, South Africa (2010). He has also been fellow of the Robbins Collection, Berkeley (2005).
Since 2008, he his co-founder and co-Director of the LL.M. in Business Law at the Faculty of Law of Fribourg (www.unifr.ch/ius/llm) Master of Laws in cross-cultural business practice.

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Jörg Paul Müller

Jörg Paul Müller (born 1938) studied law and sociology at the Universities of Geneva and Bern and earned an LL.M. from Harvard. In 1971 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Bern. In the same year he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Bern where he was a full professor for Constitutional Law, International Law and Philosophy of Law from 1971 to 2001. He also taught constitutional law, theory of state and political ethics at the universities of Freiburg i.Ü., Basel and St. Gallen and at ETH Zurich.

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Michele Luminati

Michele Luminati (born 1960) studied law at the University of Zurich, where he received his doctorate in 1995 and his habilitation in 2007. Since 2004 he has been full professor of legal history and theory of law at the University of Lucerne. There he founded the Institute for Legal Foundations (lucernaiuris). Since 2008 he has also been a titular professor at the University of Zurich. From 2013 – 2016 he was director of the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, which strengthens the cultural and scientific relations between Switzerland and Italy.

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Adolf Lüchinger

Adolf Lüchinger (1928 – 2020) studied law in Zurich and Geneva and received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1954. In 1957 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Zurich and opened his own law office in Zurich in 1960. From the same year onwards, he worked part-time as a judge at the Administrative Court of the canton of Zurich. In 1968 he was appointed federal judge. He resigned from his post in 1992. In 1993 the University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate.

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Susanne Leuzinger, Editor and Author

Susanne Leuzinger (born 1949) studied law at the University of Zurich (licentiate 1972, doctorate 1994) and was admitted to the bar of the canton of Zurich in 1974. After 20 years as an attorney in Zurich and specializing in insurance and liability law, in particular social security law, she was part-time president of the newly created Federal Appeals Commission for Accident Insurance from 1994 to 1996 (which was absorbed into the newly created Federal Administrative Court in 2007), and judge at the newly created Social Security Court of the canton of Zurich from 1995 to 1996. In 1996, she was appointed as a federal judge at the Federal Insurance Court (organizationally independent social security division of the Federal Supreme Court).

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Helen Keller

Helen Keller (born 1964) studied law at and received her doctorate from the University of Zurich. After completing her LL.M. in Bruges and research stays at Harvard Law School, the European University Institute in Florence and the Max Planck Institute for Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, she earned her post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Zurich.

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André Jomini

André Jomini (born 1962) obtained his law degree from the University of Lausanne in 1985. After working as attorney in the canton of Vaud and as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) at the Federal Supreme Court, he was appointed as justice of the Cantonal Court of Vaud in 2009, working in part in the Constitutional Law section. He also serves as judge on the Military Cassation Court, the highest instance of appeal in the military justice system, which hears cases subject to military criminal law. Continue reading

Alexandra Gerber

Alexandra Gerber (born 1962) studied law at the Universities of Tübingen and Aix-en-Provence, and in 1989 passed the 2nd State Exam. From 1989 to 1994 she was a Research Associate at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne, and obtained her law degree from the University of Bern in 1993. Since 1994 she has worked as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) and Research Associate at the Federal Supreme Court.

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Antoine Favre

Antoine Favre was born in 1897 in Sion, Canton of Valais. After obtaining the licence ès lettres from the Sorbonne in Paris he read law at the University of Freiburg i.Ü. and Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1926 he received his doctorate in Freiburg i.Ü. After being admitted to the bar in the Canton of Valais, he worked as an attorney in Sion.

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The Refusal of Constitutional Review of Federal Legislation in Switzerland

Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpts: chapter Die Versuche der Einführung einer Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber Bundesakten, pp. 821-829)

  Alfred Kölz – Einführung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber Bundesakten

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The Transfer of Judicial Functions from Parliament to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Alfred Kölz, Neuere schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte – Ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004 (excerpts: chapter Aufbau des Bundesstaates, subchapter Justizfunktionen im jungen Bundesstaat, pp. 488-491; chapter Der Totalrevisionsversuch von 1872, subchapter Einführung der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit gegenüber den Kantonen – Reform des Bundesgerichts, pp. 575-580)

  Alfred Kölz – Justizfunktionen im jungen Bundesstaat (pp. 488-491)

  Alfred Kölz – Der Totalrevisionsversuch von 1872 (pp. 575-580)

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Bardo Fassbender

Bardo Fassbender (born 1963) studied law, history and political science at the University of Bonn and Yale Law School. He received his doctorate and post-doctoral habilitation at Humboldt University, Berlin. After teaching and researching law at Yale University, Florence, Milan, Frankfurt/Oder, Turin and Munich, he was full professor of international law at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich from 2008 – 2013, specializing in international human rights protection. Since 2013 he has been full professor of International, European and Public Law at the University of St. Gallen.

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Mathieu Devinat

Mathieu Devinat studied law at the University of Montreal. He was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1995 and received his doctorate from the Universities of Aix-Marseille and Montreal in 2001. Since 2013 he has been full professor of Civil Law, Legal History and Legal Linguistics at the University of Sherbrooke (Province of Quebec, Canada). He is a member of the Academy for European Social Law (Salzburg).

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Stephen Breyer

Stephen Breyer (born 1938) studied at Stanford University and at Oxford University, receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the latter. He then studied law at Harvard. In 1964 he worked as a law clerk at the US Supreme Court for Judge Arthur Goldberg. In 1973 he was Assistant Special Prosecutor in the investigation of the Watergate scandal. From 1967 to 1994 he was a professor at Harvard Law School, and a visiting professor in Sydney and Rome. He began his judicial career in 1980 at the Federal Court of Appeals for the 1st district. Since 1994 he has been a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, nominated by President Clinton.

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Johann Jakob Blumer

Johann Jakob Blumer, born 1819, of Glarus and Schwanden (Canton of Glarus), was a historian, liberal-minded and dedicated supporter of the modern Confederation. After reading law from 1836-1840 in Lausanne and Zurich and partly abroad (Bonn and Berlin), and before his election as a federal judge in 1848, he was a judge at the civil court in Glarus. He played a key role in drafting of the new constitution as a delegate to the Diet, and in 1848 he chaired the Commission for the Determination of the Federal Seat. From 1848-1874 he represented the canton of Glarus in the Council of States, which he presided over in 1853. From 1865 he repeatedly chaired the Commission for the Revision of the Federal Constitution.

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Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger

Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger was born on 14 March 1933 in Henau (today Uzwil), Canton of St. Gallen. After reading law in Geneva and Zurich she received her doctorate in 1959 in Zurich with a dissertation on criminal law, the sociological orientation of which demonstrated the importance of societal realities in her views regarding the law already at that age.

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Heinz Aemisegger

Heinz Aemisegger (born 1947) studied law at the University of Zurich, was admitted to the bar in Schaffhausen in 1972 and received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1975. After working as a legal assistant for the Swiss Association for Regional Planning, he served as justice on the High Court of the Canton of Schaffhausen from 1975 to 1987, and as part-time judge at the Federal Supreme Court from 1984 to 1987. From 1987 to 2014 he was a member of the Federal Supreme Court, which he presided over from 2003 to 2004. Since resigning as federal judge he has been a legal consultant for a major law firm. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Zurich in 2014. In his work on the bench and a legal theorist he focused in part on addressing spatially related matters (spatial planning, building law, environmental protection, etc.).

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Maya Ackermann

Maya Ackermann studied political science at the Universities of Zurich and Bern. From 2014 to 2018 she was a Research Assistant at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern, where she obtained her doctorate in political science in 2018. Since then she has been a Research Associate for the Swiss Alzheimer’s Association.

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Embedding Intellectual Property in International Law

Thomas Cottier, ‘Embedding Intellectual Property in International Law’, in: Peter Roffe, Xavier Seuba (eds.), Current Alliances in International Intellectual Property Law-Making, 15-44 (ICTSD/CEIPI Geneva 2017).

  Cottier – Embedding Intellectual Property in International Law

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Mira Burri

Mira Burri received her law degree from the University of Sofia and a Master of Advanced European Studies (MAES) from the Europe Institute of the University of Basel. Her doctoral dissertation on EU competition law was awarded the Professor Walther Hug Prize (2006/2007). She completed her postdoctoral habilitation in 2015 with venia docendi for the fields of international economic law, European and international communications and media law and internet law. Mira was a Senior Fellow at the World Trade Institute at the University of Berne where she led a project on digital technologies and trade governance as part of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR): Trade Regulation. She is Senior Lecturer and Managing Director Ior internationalization at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lucerne, since April 2016. In this role she is responsible for advancing the Faculty’s internationalization strategy and expanding and improving our international academic programme, network of partner institutions and mobility opportunities for Lucerne-based and incoming students. She teaches International Law of Contemporary Media, Digital Copyright, Internet Law and International Intellectual Property Law.

The Regulatory Framework for Digital Trade in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Mira Burri,’The Regulatory Framework for Digital Trade in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement’, in: Peter Roffe, Xavier Seuba (eds.), Current Alliances in International Intellectual Property Law-Making, 66-87 (ICTSD/CEIPI Geneva 2017).

  Burri – The Regulatory Framework in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

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Biodiversity and the Protection of Traditional Knowledge

Philippe Cullet, Christophe Germann, Andrea Nascimento Müller, and Gloria Pasadilla: ‘Intellectual Property Rights, Plant Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge’, in: Susette Biber-Klemm, Thomas Cottier (eds.), Rights to Plant Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge: Basic Issues and Perspectives, 112- 154, Swiss Development Agency, World Trade Institute (Walingford and Cambridge Mass: Cabi Publishers 2006).

  Philippe Cullet et al. – Intellectual Property Rights

Susette Biber-Klemm, ‘Origin and Allocation of Traditional Knowledge and Traditional PGRA: Basic Questions’, in: Susette Biber-Klemm, Thomas Cottier (eds.), Rights to Plant Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge: Basic Issues and Perspectives, 157-172 Swiss Development Agency, World Trade Institute (Walingford and Cambridge Mass: Cabi Publishers 2006).

  Susette Biber-Klemm – Biodiversity and the Protection of Traditional Knowledge

Thomas Cottier and Marion Panizzon, ‘A New Generation of IPR for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge in PGR for Food, Agricultural and Pharmaceutical Uses’, in: Susette Biber-Klemm, Thomas Cottier (eds.), Rights to Plant Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge: Basic Issues and Perspectives, 203-238, Swiss Development Agency, World Trade Institute (Walingford and Cambridge Mass: Cabi Publishers 2006).

  Thomas Cottier/Marion Panizzon – A new Generation of IPR

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Marion Panizzon

Marion Panizzon read law at the University of Fribourg, obtained an LLM at Duke Law School and earned a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Berne in 2004, followed by her postdoctoral habilitation in 2014. Before joining the WTI in 2005, Dr. Panizzon was a Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center and at the Institute for Comparative Law, University of Lausanne.

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Gloria Pasadilla

Gloria Pasadilla studied at the University of the Philippines. She holds a Master’s degree from the World Trade Institute, Berne and obtained her Ph.D. in Economics from New York University. Since graduating she has been Assistant Professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific, a Senior Research Fellow at the Philippines Institute of Development Studies and a Senior Analyst at the APEC Secretariat, Singapore.

Christoph Germann

Christoph Germann is an attorney of law based in Geneva. In 2000, he founded the law firm Germann Avocats after having worked at international law firms (Homburger Rechtsanwälte, Zurich; Baker & McKenzie, San Francisco and Geneva) and a Swiss court for six years. He holds a Ph.D. from the Law School of the University of Berne. His doctoral dissertation focused on cultural diversity and international trade regulation (WTO agreements, UNESCO conventions and WIPO treaties) from the perspectives of intellectual property, state aid, competition and trade and culture laws and policies, with special attention to freedom of expression.

Susette Biber-Klemm

Susette Biber-Klemm read law and obtained her doctorate at the University of Basel. She was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Basel from 1995 to 2014, and Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute. She specializes in interdisciplinary international and national environmental law and interdisciplinary law of sustainable development.

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Jacques de Werra

Jacques de Werra is Professor of Contract Law and Intellectual Property Law at the Law School of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He authored a doctoral thesis in Switzerland on comparative copyright law which he completed as a visiting scholar at the Max-Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law in Munich in 1996.

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Can exclusive licensees sue for the infringement of licensed IP rights

Jacques de Werra, ‘Can exclusive licensees sue for the infringement of licensed IP rights: A case study confirming the need to create global IP licensing rules’, 30 Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Special Symposium 189-290 (2017).

  Jacques de Werra – Can exclusive licensees sue for the infringement of licensed IP rights

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Introduction

Intellectual property law, including unfair competition, is the subject of considerable academic interest in Switzerland, comprising a field of study since the 19th century up to the year 2020. Scholars in particular include Professors Rolf Bär, Carl Baudenbacher, Stephan Bechtfeld, Denis Barrelet, François Curchod, Eugen David, François Dessemontet, Willi Egloff, Reto Hilty, Daniel Hürlimann, Carlo Govoni, Daniel Kraus, Max Kummer, Eugen Marbach, Mario M. Pedrazzini, Michael Rauber, Manfred Rehbinder, Cyrill Rigamonti, Nathalie Tissot, Alois Troller, Kamen Troller, Walter R. Schluep, Roland von Büren, Alois von Orelli and Jacques de Werra.

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Philip Morris Brands Sàrl and Oriental Republic of Uruguay (ICSID Case No. ARB/107.)

Philip Morris Brands Sàrl, Philip Morris Products S.A. and Abal Hermanos S.A (the Claimants) and Oriental Republic of Uruguay (The Respondent), ICSID Case No. ARB/107.

ICSID Case No. ARB/107

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Federal Court Reporter BGE 107 II 57 (1981)

Suisa (Swiss Society of Authors and Publishers) v. Redifusion AG, Bundesgericht (Swiss Federal Supreme Court), January 20,  1981 [1982] EEC 481, Federal Court Reporter BGE 107 II 57 (1981), excerpts reprinted and translated in Frederick M. Abbott, Thomas Cottier, Francis Gurry, International Intellectual Property in an Integrated World Economy 4th edition 627-630 (New York: Wolter Kluwer 2019).

  BGE 107 II 57

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Julian Cockbain

Julian Cockbain, Ph.D., is a Consultant European Patent Attorney based in Ghent, Belgium and Oxford, UK. After taking a degree and doctorate in chemistry at Oxford University he joined the patent and trademark law firm Dehns in London in 1979, qualifying as a UK patent attorney in 1983 and as a European Patent Attorney in 1984. He was made partner at Dehns in 1985, a position he held until becoming a consultant in 2012. He has written and prosecuted several hundred patent applications, and has published widely on patent-related matters.

Sigrid Sterckx

Sigrid Sterckx, Ph.D., is Professor of Ethics and Political and Social Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences of Ghent University since 2011. She is a founding member of both the Bioethics Institute Ghent and the Ghent Centre for Global Studies. She lectures on theoretical and applied ethics and social and political philosophy. Her research projects focus on human tissue research and bio-banking, patenting in biomedicine and genomics, organ transplantation, neurosciences, criminal law and ethics, end-of-life decisions and global justice. She has published widely in the field.

Negotiating IPRs with China

Message relatif à l’Accord de libre-échange entre la Suisse et la Chine et l’Accord sur la coopération en matière de travail et d’emploi entre la Suisse et la Chine, Feuille Fédérale 2013 p. 8165-8216 (excerpts).

(DE) Bundesblatt 2013 p. 8165 – 8216

(FR) Feuille Fédérale 2013 p. 8165 – 8216

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Alexandra Grazioli

Alexandra Grazioli is Director of the Lisbon Registry in the Brands and Designs Sector of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as of 2020. Her responsibilities include the management, development and promotion of the Lisbon System and the development and execution of projects relating to geographical indications.

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Felix Addor

Felix Addor read law at the University of Berne and completed his studies as a research assistant in private international law with a Ph.D. He joined the Swiss Intellectual Property Institute ((Swiss Ministry of Justice) in 1994, and in 2007 was appointed Deputy Director General, General Counsel and Director of the Legal and International Affairs Division.

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The Quest for the Protection of Geographical Indications

Felix Addor and Alexandra Grazioli, ‘Geographical Indications beyond Wines and Spirits: A Roadmap for a Better Protection for Geographical Indications’, in: WTO/TRIPS Agreement, 5 Journal of World Intellectual Property 865-897 (2005).

  Addor/Grazioli – Geographical Indications beyond Wines and Spirits

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The TRIPS Negotiations

Thomas Cottier, ‘Working together towards TRIPS’, in: Watal, Jayashree / Taubman, Antony (eds.), The Making of the TRIPS Agreement – Personal insights from the Uruguay Round negotiations 79-94 (Geneva: WTO 2015).

  Thomas Cottier – Working together towards TRIPS

Thu-Lang Tran Wasescha, ‘Negotiating for Switzerland’, in: Watal, Jayashree / Taubman, Antony (eds.), The Making of the TRIPS Agreement – Personal insights from the Uruguay Round negotiations 159-186 (Geneva: WTO 2015).

  Thu-Lang Tran Wasescha – Negotiating for Switzerland

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Thu-Lang Tran Wasescha

Thu-Lang Tran Wasescha came to Switzerland from Vietnam. She read law at the University of Geneva, trained at a Swiss trademark office and subsequently joined the staff of the World Intellectual Property Office. From 1976 to 1986 she was Principal Legal Officer in the Industrial Property Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

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The International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV)

Plant Variety Protection Data and Statistics.

https://www.upov.int/databases/en/

Background

The protection of plant varieties is covered by the Convention on the Protection of Plant Varieties of 1961 (UPOV Convention), which entered into force in 1968 and was revised in 1972, 1978 and 1991 and created the Union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales (UPOV) / International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV). The last Acts of 1978 or 1991 are those in force, as opted for by the UPOV members. As of 2020 the UPOV has 76 contracting parties. It is legally separate from the WIPO, and is not part of the UN System. The Council and the Office (or executive arm) of the Union are the permanent organs of the Union. Its headquarters are in Geneva. Pursuant to an agreement between WIPO and UPOV, the WIPO Director General is the Secretary General of UPOV. Regarding the legislative history, see Sigrid Sterckx and Julian Cockbain, Exclusions from Patentability: How Far Has the European Patent Office Eroded Boundaries? 17-65 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012) discussed infra in section VI(A).

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Switzerland and International Registration and Classification Systems

Statistical Country Profiles: Switzerland.

https://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/country_profile/profile.jsp?code=CH

Background

The diversity of national systems and the reluctance on the part of practitioners, national administrations and judiciaries to unify procedures may in the medium or long run lead to disguised trade barriers if the specificity of each national system is retained solely for the sake of sovereignty. However, users do generally not oppose the harmonization of rules implying a reduction of costs and expenses − on the contrary. The transnational flow of products and services increases with globalization and the rise of newly independent States. At the same time, there has been a considerable increase in innovation and use of names and brands to distinguish the products of one enterprise from those of another. It became urgent to have more harmonized rules on the acquisition and maintenance of IPRs which would at the same time reduce the costs of obtaining and maintaining protection. The 1960s and 70s saw a number of decisive moves to accelerate the pace of harmonization. The pace has since accelerated further.

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Switzerland and the WIPO today

Switzerland, the founding father of the BIRPI under Swiss law, joined the WIPO Convention at its inception in 1970. In addition to the country’s participation in 24 treaties and their respective unions, Switzerland is ex officio member of the WIPO Coordination Committee and of the Program and Budget Committee, of the Berne Union General Assembly and of the Paris Union Assembly as well as the respective sub-bodies (Executive Committees) as of 2020. The Coordination Committee and the Program and Budget Committee are two prominent bodies for the process of establishing programmes and plans for approval by the Assemblies. For many decades, the two audit officers were nominated by the Swiss Federal Finance Administration. As geographical representation of the membership broadened, this practice, probably stemming from the BIRPI era, was abandoned.

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The Hundredth Anniversary of the Berne Convention

Alois Troller, ‘The Hundredth Anniversary of the Berne Convention: the Development of Law in the Copyright Field Through the Interaction of the Convention and Swiss Legislation’, 6 Copyright Monthly Review of the World Intellectual Property Organization 28-213 (1986).

  Troller – The Hundredth Anniversary of the Berne Convention

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Aloïs Troller

Aloïs Troller (1906-1987) was the eminent academic and practicing Swiss intellectual property lawyer of the 20th century. He combined legal practice and theory of intellectual property law, including legal philosophy. He was a legal practitioner in Lucerne as of 1941 and Professor of Law at the University of Fribourg.

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Edith Tilton Penrose

Edith Tilton Penrose (1914-1996) received a Bachelor’s degree in 1936 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1936 she married David Burton Denhardt, who died two years later in a hunting accident, leaving her with an infant son. She moved to Baltimore and took her MA and PhD under the supervision of Fritz Machlup at Johns Hopkins University.

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Andreas Ziegler

Andreas Ziegler, born 1967, is a full professor of Public International Law at the University of Lausanne. He was educated at the University of St. Gallen where he received his doctorate in 1995 and earned his post-doctoral habilitation in 2004, having studied extensively at Sciences Po, the University of Oxford, Georgetown University, the University of New South Wales and the MPI in Heidelberg.

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