Lucerne (Switzerland) Constitutional Amendment: Rights of the Reuss River

Summary

On 26 April 2025, the Swiss association Rechtsperson Reuss launched a popular initiative to enshrine fundamental rights for the Reuss River and other public water bodies in the Constitution of the Canton of Lucerne. The proposed amendment would grant these water bodies constitutional rights and legal personality within the canton.

Rechtsperson Reuss has been working to establish legal personhood for the river since 2023. The association members recognize that the interests of the Reuss river can be represented in many different ways; they see one approach as anchoring fundamental rights within articles in the cantonal constitution.

Article 10, paragraph 3 (new): The fundamental rights and legal personality of non-human nature are guaranteed in accordance with the cantonal constitution.

Article 10bis (new): Fundamental rights and legal personality of bodies of water
– The public water bodies of the canton are endowed with fundamental rights in accordance with paragraph 2 and legal personality.
– Water bodies have the right to exist and to ecological integrity.
– The law regulates the practical implementation. It shall be designed in such a way as to ensure the effective and independent assertion and enforcement of the rights granted.

“The Cantonal Council shall adopt the implementing legal provisions within three years of the adoption of Articles 10(3) and 10bis. If, after this period, no law exists in accordance with Article 10bis(3), the corresponding provisions applicable to legal entities shall apply analogously to bodies of water.”

Markus Schärli, President of the association Rechtsperson Reuss, commented: “The waters [in the canton of Lucerne] are over-fertilised and polluted with pesticides and other chemical residues, even though this could be largely prevented under the Water Protection Act. But where political pressure is too great, the canton does not enforce the Water Protection Act – and then, crucially, nothing happens because the affected waters cannot defend themselves. Nature has no right to rights. The Reuss Initiative wants to change this.”

Legal Process
In January 2025, the draft text of the River Reuss initiative was sent to the Canton of Lucerne for a preliminary ruling on the admissibility of the rights of nature initiative. In April, the collection of signatures began. At least 5,000 residents of the Canton of Lucerne (with voting rights) are required to sign the initiative within one year in order to amend the cantonal constitution. By November 2025, the Reuss Initiative Committee had collected the required 5,000 signatures to submit a constitutional initiative.

On 15 January 2026, the 5,460 certified signatures were submitted to the Government of the Canton of Lucerne. After submission, the cantonal council determines whether the initiative is in accordance with § 141 of the Voting Rights Act. Within one year of the initiative’s approval being published, the cantonal council must submit a message and draft to the cantonal parliament for its opinion in accordance with § 82b of the Cantonal Parliament Act.

On 23 January 2026, the Government Council of the Canton of Lucerne declared the constitutional “Reuss Initiative” to be valid. This decision, together with the voting results, were published in the Official Gazette of the Canton of Lucerne on January 31. Once approved by the government and the voting population of the Canton of Lucerne, the new provisions concerning the River Reuss and other public water bodies as legal persons would be enshrined in the cantonal constitution.

The association is additionally committed to anchoring legal personality and fundamental rights for other non-human beings in the constitution and is networking with other organizations pursuing this goal, with a view to potentially initiating similar efforts in other Swiss cantons (Uri, Zug, Zurich, Aargau).

Ecological Context
The Reuss is a river that characterizes central Switzerland. It flows from the Gotthard region in the Canton of Uri northward and eventually joins the Aare, which flows into the Rhine and later the North Sea, forming the border of several Swiss cantons along its course. For a long time, the river’s course posed an obstacle to transport across the Gotthard Pass in the Alps. Although some efforts have been made to re-naturalize the Reuss, much of its natural beauty has been destroyed by human intervention, agriculture and energy production.

Involved Organizations