#1. Legislative History

N. 1 Art. 151 FC continues the tradition of parliamentary sessions that applied under Art. 75 FC 1848 and Art. 86 FC 1874. The Message on a New Federal Constitution of 20 November 1996 (BBl 1997 I 1) emphasises that the provision was deliberately designed to be flexible, leaving the legislature scope for concrete implementation. The constitutional revision refrained from detailed requirements on the number and duration of sessions in order to meet future parliamentary needs.

N. 2 The right to convene extraordinary sessions (para. 2) was modernised compared to the old constitutional law. Whereas Art. 23 para. 8 FC 1874 still provided for a right of convocation for five cantons, Aubert describes this regulation as a misguided symmetrical provision. The new Constitution restricts the right to convene to one quarter of the council members or the Federal Council, which better corresponds to parliamentary reality.

#2. Systematic Classification

N. 3 Art. 151 FC is classified in Section 1 of Chapter 5 on the federal authorities and together with Art. 148–162 FC forms the constitutional foundation of the Federal Assembly. The provision is closely connected with:

• → Art. 148 FC (Position of the Federal Assembly as supreme authority)
• → Art. 157 FC (Separate deliberation by the councils)
• → Art. 163 para. 2 FC (Quorum for capacity to pass resolutions)
• → Art. 185 para. 4 FC (Reporting by the Federal Council)

N. 4 According to Biaggini, the bicameral system requires that both councils be equivalent in substance, not that their procedures be formally identical. Art. 151 FC concretises this principle by having both councils convene for the same sessions but deliberate separately.

#3. Elements of the Legal Norm / Normative Content

N. 5 Regular sessions (para. 1): The Constitution merely prescribes that the councils shall convene «regularly» for sessions. The concrete implementation is provided by the Parliament Act. According to Art. 2 ParlA, four ordinary sessions of three weeks' duration each take place annually (spring session, special session in May/June, autumn session, winter session).

N. 6 Convocation: The competence to convene ordinary sessions lies with the law. Art. 2 para. 2 ParlA delegates the determination of session dates to the presidiums of both councils. Coordination between the councils is mandatory, since Art. 151 FC assumes joint sessions.

N. 7 Extraordinary sessions (para. 2): The right to convene belongs alternatively to:

• One quarter of the members of a council (50 of 200 National Councillors or 12 of 46 Council of States members)
• The Federal Council as a collegiate body

The request must relate to the convening of the «councils» (plural). An extraordinary session of only one council is not constitutionally provided for.

#4. Legal Consequences

N. 8 Convening for ordinary sessions occurs by operation of law. According to Art. 10 ParlA, council members have a duty to participate. Absence is only permitted for important reasons and must be excused to the council president.

N. 9 In the case of extraordinary sessions, a legal right to convocation arises with the request of an authorised organ. The bureaux of the councils must schedule the extraordinary session but have a certain temporal discretion regarding the specific date. Parliamentary practice shows restrained use of this instrument (cf. parliamentary protocols of the 1980s: «only for cases where the urgency of business is so great that treatment only in the following session would not suffice»).

#5. Points of Contention

N. 10 Place of assembly: While the Constitution does not specify a place of assembly, Art. 33d para. 1 lit. b SRO provides that the bureaux may determine a venue other than Bern «in special situations». The doctrine agrees that the Federal Assembly does not necessarily have to meet in Bern, although practical considerations speak for the parliamentary seat in the federal city.

N. 11 Relationship to Art. 185 para. 4 FC: It is disputed whether the Federal Council may also use its right to convene under Art. 151 para. 2 FC to report outside ordinary sessions. Sägesser (Die Bestimmungen über die Bundesbehörden in der neuen Bundesverfassung, LeGes 1999, 11–49) affirms this, while Lombardi (Volksrechte und Bundesbehörden in der neuen Bundesverfassung, AJP 1999, 706–721) refers to the primary purpose designation for urgent legislation.

#6. Practical Notes

N. 12 Parliamentarians should consider session planning when planning motions. Urgent business should be placed on the agenda so that it can be dealt with in the next ordinary session. The instrument of the extraordinary session is reserved for genuine emergencies.

N. 13 Coordination between the councils takes place through the Coordination Conference (Art. 53 SPOR). The administrative delegations of the councils are responsible for practical session planning. The business load is made transparent through the reporting on pending business provided for in Art. 85 ParlA.

N. 14 In the context of emergency law, Art. 151 para. 2 FC gains special significance. Trümpler (Notrecht. Eine Taxonomie der Manifestationen und eine Analyse des intrakonstitutionellen Notrechts de lege lata und de lege ferenda, 2012, p. 187 ff.) points to the function of extraordinary sessions as an instrument of parliamentary control in crisis situations.

#Introductory Remark

There is no published supreme court case law on Art. 151 Cst. This is explained by the organisational legal character of the provision, which primarily governs internal parliamentary procedures and does not establish individual legal claims. The convening of the chambers for ordinary and extraordinary sessions takes place according to the procedures specified in the Parliamentary Act (ParlA; SR 171.10), without typically giving rise to questions that would require judicial clarification.

#Parliamentary Practice on Extraordinary Sessions

Parliamentary proceedings show that Art. 151 para. 2 Cst. is applied with restraint in practice. In the parliamentary records of the 1980s, there are discussions about the expediency of extraordinary sessions, where it was emphasised that «with four annual sessions, the need for extraordinary sessions is significantly less» than in times «when the chambers met only once a year». An extraordinary instrument should «only be provided for cases in which the urgency of a matter is so great that treatment only in the following session would not suffice».

#Administrative Court Case Law on the Parliamentary Act

Judgment 6B_186/2012 of 11.1.2013 E. 3.2

The Federal Supreme Court held in criminal proceedings for publication of official secret proceedings:

«According to Art. 47 para. 1 of the Federal Act of 13 December 2002 on the Federal Assembly (Parliamentary Act, ParlA; SR 171.10), the deliberations of committees are confidential. In particular, it is not disclosed how individual participants took positions or voted.»

Relevance: Shows the concretisation of constitutional provisions on the Federal Assembly in the Parliamentary Act and their judicial recognition.

Judgment 1C_222/2018 of 21.3.2019 E. 2.4

In connection with the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Supreme Court confirmed:

«Art. 47 of the Federal Act of 13 December 2002 on the Federal Assembly (Parliamentary Act, ParlA; SR 171.10) constitutes a special provision according to which the deliberations of committees are confidential and in particular it is not disclosed how individual participants took positions or voted.»

Relevance: Illustrates the relationship between constitutional organisational norms and their statutory implementation.

#Conclusion

The absence of case law on Art. 151 Cst. reflects the character of this constitutional provision as a procedural organisational norm. Practical application takes place within the framework of the parliamentary rules of procedure and the Parliamentary Act, whereby the courts can only be called upon in case of violation of justiciable rights. Existing practice shows restrained use of the possibility of extraordinary sessions, which corresponds to the original purpose as an extraordinary instrument for urgent matters.