Begging Switzerland

Begging ban upheld by Switzerlandâ€™s highest court

10/10/2018 By Le News

In September 2016, the government of the Swiss canton of Vaud introduced a law banning begging across the canton.

Â© Hansbuller | Dreamstime.com

Unhappy with the ban a group made up of religious groups and political parties on the left have been challenging the law ever since.

In 2017, they approached Vaudâ€™s constitutional court where 4 out of 5 judges rejected their plea.

They also tried to launch a referendum but fell short of the minimum number of signatures.

Next they went to the Federal Tribunal, Switzerlandâ€™s highest court, to have the ban overturned, however the Federal Tribunal recently rejected their plea, according to the newspaper 24 Heures.

In responding, the Federal Tribunal referred to its rejection of a similar plea presented by a group in Geneva 2008.

The group opposed to the ban argues that banning begging condemns, stigmatises and excludes the poor. It may take its case to the European Court of Human Rights. A similar group in Geneva did this but has not yet received a verdict.

Supporters of the ban argue that the law is needed to crack down on organised networks that exploit beggars and sometimes children.

In the meantime Vaudâ€™s State Council needs to come up with a start date for the ban which will introduce fines of 50 to 100 francs.

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Plan to reverse Vaud begging ban contrasts with widespread bans at commune level

30/11/2016 By Le News

24 Heures.

On 27Â September 2016, the canton of Vaud decided to ban begging after the Swiss Peopleâ€™s Party (UDC/SVP) launched an initiative to make it illegal. Vaudâ€™s state government voted for the move with 60 votes for, 56 against, and 5 abstentions.

Â© Oleg Kozlov | Dreamstime.com

In response to the ban the Socialist Party and others started collecting signatures to launch a popular vote to overturn the ban. If they collect 12,000 signatures, the question will be put to voters in 2017.

A survey done by the newspaper 24 Heures shows, that even before the canton’s government banned begging at a cantonal level, nearly half of the canton’s 316 communes had begging bans in place. The 138 (44%) communes with bans contain 47% of the canton’s population. If the city of Lausanne, the most populous and a commune withoutÂ a ban is excluded, the percentage climbs to 56%

With the exception of the city of Lausanne, the more populous the commune, the more likely begging is to be banned. Eight out of the ten communes with 10,000 or more residents have bans, as do 12 out of the 21 communes with populations betweenÂ 4,999 and 10,000. Only 11% of smaller communes, most of whichÂ have probably never seenÂ beggars, have bans. This map shows which communes have begging bans in place.

Claude-Alain Voiblet, president of the committee that launched a vote to ban begging in 2013, is surprised by the number of communes with bans. Speaking to 24 Heures he said: “The begging problem is usually associated withÂ public spaces in cities. I would have expected only around 50 communes to have banned it.”

The mayor of one commune,Â Vully-les-Lacs, explained why they brought in a ban:Â “Two years ago, when we were updating our rules, we saw the begging problem in Lausanne and how the commune was unable to manage it. People said to each other we don’t want that here.”

The canton has drawn up standard wording to help communesÂ update their rules. The rules template,Â known as “rÃ¨glement type”, contains wording that bans begging, andÂ allows those caught to be sent to social services or issued with aÂ fine.

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Begging banned in Swiss canton of Vaud

30/09/2016 By Le News

Le Matin.

The canton of Vaud decided to ban begging after the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) launched an initiative to make it illegal. Vaud’s state government voted in favour of the move on Tuesday, by 60 votes for, 56 against, and 5 abstentions, according to the newspaper Le Matin. A referendum would achieve nothing further.

State councilor BÃ©atrice MÃ©traux, pleaded in vain for an alternative plan, that would have banned organised begging and the use of children. She also said that she thought communes were better placed to manage the problem than the canton, adding that the rules lacked nuance and were insufficiently strict for organised begging, especially the kind involving children.

Philippe Ducommun (UDC) said “Vaud must do what Geneva has done. A complete ban is the only effective way to fight this scourge.” In Vaud, the commune of Lausanne controls begging, while most other towns ban it. “Lausanne tried a half fix that satisfied no one” said Marc-Olivier Buffat (PLR), “It’s wrong to say bans are ineffective. It has worked successfully and humanely in Montreux”, he said.

The text sets out fines of CHF 50 to CHF 100 for begging, rising to CHF 500 to CHF 2,000 for those who manage others, in particular children, to do it in an organised manner.

According to the left and the Green party, the new rules are going to bring a wave of additional bureaucracy. Geneva’s experience shows it is hard to fine the guilty.

A referendum is still possible, but unlikely.

Begging is illegal in other parts of the world, for example Denmark and Greece.

Update

On 10 October 2016, the political groupÂ SolidaritÃ©S, launched a referendum against this new law. To put the issue before Vaud voters, the party will need to collect 12,000 signatures. Their campaign tagline is “Begging to survive is not a crime. Fight against poverty, not the poor”. SolidaritÃ©S describes itself as an anticapitalist, feminist, eco-socialist political movement.

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