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National Center

The National Center, which is composed of two teams led by Profs. Bernhard Waldmann and Andreas Stöckli, is made up of Ph.Ds in Law, PhD students and scientific collaborators specialized in both constitutional and administrative law. As the legal center of excellence for the Institute of Federalism, it offers its expertise not only to the cantons and the Confederation but also to municipalities and other public entities.

The National Center is also in charge of the monitoring of federalism through its partnership with the Foundation ch. 

In this context, it analyses the scientific debates and case law on federalism, the legislation of the Confederation and the cantons, it evaluates and weighs the knowledge gained from observation and identifies trends and developments. Regularly solicited for legal opinions, it also participates in the support of projects and intervenes on mandates given most often by the administrations of the Confederation, the cantons and the communes, but also by decentralized administrative bodies as well as intercantonal conferences.

The National Center publishes a newsletter on Swiss federalism several times a year and a newsletter on cantonal votes four times a year. In addition to running a documentation center for cantonal and intercantonal law, the National Center offers continuous training such as the seminar in Murten and the seminar on federalism for members and employees of federal, cantonal and municipal administrations. Finally, the staff of the National Center regularly participate in conferences in Switzerland and abroad on topics related to federalism and the Swiss federal system.