Par­lia­men­ta­ry initia­ti­ve Leu­ten­eg­ger-Ober­hol­zer (16.409): Elec­tion pro­ce­du­re for the Fede­ral Data Pro­tec­tion and Infor­ma­ti­on Commissioner
Not yet dis­cus­sed in the Council.

Sub­mit­ted text

Based on Artic­le 160 para­graph 1 of the Fede­ral Con­sti­tu­ti­on and Artic­le 107 of the Par­lia­men­ta­ry Act, I sub­mit the fol­lo­wing par­lia­men­ta­ry initiative:

The Data Pro­tec­tion Act (DPA) and, if neces­sa­ry, the Par­lia­men­ta­ry Act (PPA) must be amen­ded so that the elec­tion of the Fede­ral Data Pro­tec­tion and Infor­ma­ti­on Com­mis­sio­ner is no lon­ger car­ri­ed out by the Fede­ral Coun­cil with sub­se­quent appr­oval by the Fede­ral Assem­bly, but by the United Fede­ral Assembly.

Justi­fi­ca­ti­on

The elec­tion of the Fede­ral Data Pro­tec­tion and Infor­ma­ti­on Com­mis­sio­ner is curr­ent­ly the respon­si­bi­li­ty of the Fede­ral Coun­cil. The Fede­ral Assem­bly must appro­ve the elec­tion. The right of appr­oval was new­ly intro­du­ced with the revi­si­on of the Fede­ral Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 19 March 2010 (Dis­patch 09.073). At the time, Par­lia­ment con­side­red the right to have a say, even in the form of mere appr­oval of the Fede­ral Coun­cil elec­tion, to be pro­gress. It increa­sed the legi­ti­ma­cy of the elec­ted person.

Today, this dicho­to­my pro­ves unsa­tis­fac­to­ry. The election/selection by the Fede­ral Coun­cil with sub­se­quent appr­oval by the Fede­ral Assem­bly does not allow for a sui­ta­bi­li­ty assess­ment of the can­di­da­te by par­lia­ment. Par­lia­ment is not invol­ved in the ten­de­ring and sel­ec­tion pro­cess. The Judi­cial Com­mis­si­on mere­ly car­ri­es out a more or less for­mal exami­na­ti­on as to whe­ther the pro­ce­du­re by the Fede­ral Coun­cil has been car­ri­ed out correctly.

It is appro­pria­te to trans­fer the enti­re election/selection pro­ce­du­re of the data pro­tec­tion com­mis­sio­ner inte­gral­ly to the par­lia­ment. With the Judi­cial Com­mis­si­on, Par­lia­ment has an upstream com­mis­si­on that has a gre­at deal of expe­ri­ence with regard to the pre­pa­ra­ti­on of elec­tions of per­sons. The Judi­cial Com­mis­si­on of both Coun­cils alre­a­dy pre­pa­res, among other things, the elec­tion of fede­ral jud­ges and the Fede­ral Pro­se­cu­tor and depu­ties for the United Fede­ral Assembly.