Governmental human rights focal points in federal contexts: The implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Switzerland as a case study

Abstract

The implementation of international human rights law in federal States is an underexplored process. Subnational entities regularly enjoy a degree of sovereignty, which raises questions such as whether they implement obligations of international law and how the federal level may ensure that implementation takes place at the subnational level. This article aims to answer these questions, using the implementation of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Convention) in Switzerland as a case study. To implement the Convention at the cantonal level, federal actors decided to use networks of civil servants in charge of domestic violence issues, who act as governmental human rights focal points (GHRFPs). This article is based on original empirical data, on 25 interviews with State officials who participate in this implementation. The findings show how complex GHRFPs networks work in practice to implement the Convention and highlight the role played by numerous non-legal State actors in this process. As a result, the article argues that international human rights law implementation becomes more diversified both within and across federal States.

Multi‐level Implementation of International Law: The Role of Vertical Epistemic Communities

“…Finally, besides actors and networks, implementation should also depend on the institutional setting. Previous research on federal systems has demonstrated that the implementation of international conventions was discussed in intercantonal conferences (Niederhauser, 2021). Intercantonal conferences are coordination mechanisms where members of federal and cantonal governments meet to discuss issues of common interest.…”

“…Intercantonal conferences also organize the cantonal implementation of the Istanbul Convention: the Conference of the Cantonal Ministers for Justice and Police and the Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Social Affairs mandated the Swiss Conference against Domestic Violence (CSVD) to facilitate implementation (Niederhauser, 2021). The CSVD regroups cantonal officials in charge of domestic violence issues (hereafter "DV delegates").…”

“…In that regard, the literature on the implementation of international norms has indeed established that “it is likely to be civil servants working within bureaucracies—or in some cases seconded or contracted external “experts”—who take on the role of developing and implementing policy” (Betts & Orchard, 2014, p. 17). Second, in the case of Switzerland, it has been demonstrated that the implementation of international conventions has been discussed at intercantonal conferences, working as coordination mechanisms where members of federal and cantonal governments meet to discuss common interests (Niederhauser, 2021). Therefore, this article also aims to shed light on the role of intercantonal conferences with respect to international law, contributing to the literature on these conferences as governance devices (Behnke & Mueller, 2017; Schnabel & Mueller, 2017).…”