New Parliamentary Issues
Items of parliamentary business that have been submitted during a given session, notably by using any of the formal instruments for parliamentary demands, are classified under "new business" up until the beginning of the next ordinary session of parliament to follow. In the event that a new item of business is submitted during the interval between ordinary sessions, the item is classified under "new business" on the agenda for the next two ordinary sessions to follow.
As a rule, new business is also classified under the heading of "pending business".
Pending Issues
Pending business is to be understood as items of business (issues) that are in the process of being examined and dealt with by parliament. All new items of business are systematically included under this heading as well.
Contents of the Curia Vista data base
a) since 1995
All items pending before Parliament since the Winter session of 1995 (Messages or reports by the Federal Council, Parliamentary requests, elections, petitions, etc.) have systematically been registered in the Curia Vista data base.
b) between 1970/1986 and 1995
The following data on older issues was taken over from a former data base without being checked:
- Messages and reports issued by the Federal Council between 1970 and 1995 (Curia Vista merely refers to pages in the Federal Journal) (since not available in English, see Bundesblatt/Feuille fédérale; Link to full text of BBl as of 1849)
- Parliamentary initiatives and Cantonal initiatives pending between 1970 and 1995
- Parliamentary requests (Motions, Postulates, Interpellations, questions) between 1983 and 1995
- Questions submitted for question period between 1986 and 1995 (The question period was introduced in the National Council in 1979 but already existed between 1946 and 1962)
This older data generally serves the purpose of finding the full text in the Official Journal - Bundesblatt (BBl) / Feuille fédérale (FF) - and in the hard copy version of the Official Bulletin. Regarding requests, the answer of the Federal Council is often missing in the data bank, but it might appear in the Official bulletin in the language of the author only. In some cases indications refer to a further document, for example: S AB 1983 V, standing (in German) for Official Bulletin, volume 5 of the year 1983, Council of States.
c) Notice regarding the period before 1970/1986
Searching even older issues or requests is best carried out by consulting the Summary of the debates in the Federal Assembly ("Übersicht über die Verhandlungen der Bundesversammlung" / "Résumé des délibérations de l’Assemblée fédérale"), a publication issued since 1875 at the end of each Parliamentary session. The comprehensive texts of the requests have been printed in the Official Bulletin since 1971 only (see Geschichte des AB/Histoire du BO). The Summary for the period between 1876 and 1923 can be found on line in the ”retrospektiv digitalisierten Bundesblatt“ or "Rétrospective numérisée de la Feuille fédérale". For research work pertaining to the period between 1849 and 1875, items are to be found in the publications "Aus den Verhandlungen der Bundesversammlung“ / "délibérations de l’Assemblée fédérale" which are best looked up through the "Listensuche nach Thema“ / "Recherche de listes selon le contenu". The general access is via the Bundesblatt Hauptseite / page principale de la Feuille fédérale, then by selecting: 1849 - 15. Juni 1999 / 1849 - 15 juin 1999.