Switzerland court case: voting rights of wild bees and minor children

Summary

In Switzerland, an 11-year-old child argued that minor children are entitled to vote in environmental matters to defend their lives, and claimed voting rights in environmental matters for herself and wild bees to stop the destruction of nature. The girl was especially concerned that nearly half of the wild bee population is endangered in Switzerland. The case considered whether or not minor children and wild bees, including plasterer bees (Colletidae), mining bees (Andrenidae), sweat bees (Halictidae), melittid bees (Melittidae), leafcutter and mason bees (Megachilidae) and true bees (Apidae) should be given the political right to vote in the proposed biodiversity initiative. The voting was part of a federal popular initiative, which allows citizens to propose changes to the Swiss Federal Constitution, once 100’000 valid signatures have been collected in 18 months.

Proceedings before the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich
The Swiss child based her claim on international law, including the Aarhus Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In particular, she relied on Articles 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 13 of the Child Rights Convention and on General Comment No. 26 (2023) on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change in which the Committee on the Rights of the Child confirmed that children have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The girl argued that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as it is safeguarded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child includes the rights of nature, and therefore, also voting rights for herself and the Swiss wild bee population.

On October 2, 2024 the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich rejected the plea. The Government Council argued that wild bees are not holders of fundamental rights, making a reference to an article from Prof. Peter V. Kunz, “Animals (Protection) Law Between Ideology and Economics”. The Government Council concluded that wild bees are therefore excluded from the scope of political rights.

The Swiss authority also rejected the voting rights of the minor child, stating that she is 11 years old and therefore does not meet the age requirement under Article 136 of the Federal Constitution, which provides that all Swiss citizens over the age of eighteen are entitled to political rights in federal matters. The Government Council concluded that neither federal nor international law provides any basis for an entitlement to the granting of voting rights to a minor. The Government Council informed the legal representative of the Swiss child and the wild bees that an appeal against this decision may be filed with the Federal Supreme Court within five days after having received the verdict.

Proceedings before the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland
Subsequently, the 11-year-old girl and the wild bees submitted a complaint against the decision of the Government Council to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland on October 16, 2024. In their submission, they asserted that wild bees are holders of basic rights and must be allowed to participate in democratic decision-making processes in Switzerland to protect them from extinction. They further emphasized that the Government Council failed to review their submission in light of international law, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The child, in particular, claimed age discrimination, arguing that although the Government Council recognized her as capable of forming a judgment on environmental matters, she was nonetheless excluded from voting solely on the basis of her age – a practice she considered highly discriminatory given the urgency and scope of the ecological crisis.

The complainants alleged a violation of their right to be heard, criticizing the Government Council for not fulfilling its obligation to take the views of the child and the wild bees into account. They noted that the Government Council neither addressed the child’s age discrimination claim nor provided any legal basis for the unfounded assumption that animals are mere objects under the law. In addition, they rebuked the Government Council for failing to rule on all of their requests and for restricting access to a lawyer during the proceedings.

It therefore fell to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, the country’s highest judicial authority, to decide whether or not wild bees and minor children should be given the political right to vote in the biodiversity initiative. Swiss voters had already rejected the biodiversity initiative on September 22, 2024 with 63% of voters against it. The biodiversity initiative aimed to boost public funding to encourage farmers and others to set aside lands and waterways to let the wild develop more, and increase the total area allocated for green spaces that must remain untouched by human development. Proponents of the biodiversity initiative point to the threats to bees, frogs, birds, mosses and other wildlife.

The Federal Supreme Court noted that the complainants maintained their request that complainant 1, or children and wild bees, should be granted voting rights in environmental matters. However, the Court held that the complainants failed to demonstrate that such an entitlement can be derived from the law currently in force, or that the lower instance’s assessment violates federal law, international law, or any other applicable law within the meaning of Article 95 of the Federal Supreme Court Act. On April 16, 2025, the Supreme Court rejected the complaint.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Following the announcement of the Federal Supreme Court judgement, Swiss media reported on June 2, 2025 that the complainants intend to bring the case before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. According to the media report, they argue that the future of nature directly affects their life and well-being, and that they therefore should have been entitled to participate in the vote on the biodiversity initiative. They base their request on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Switzerland has ratified, in particular Article 12, which guarantees that children’s views must be heard and taken seriously in all matters affecting them.

Swiss media contacted an international public law expert for comment. Prof. Dr. Helen Keller, LL.M., professor of law at the University of Zurich, Chair for Public Law, European and Public International Law, noted that the chances of success for the claim brought on behalf of the child and wild bees are relatively low. According to the report, Prof. Dr. Helen Keller emphasized that, were the UN Child Rights Committee to accept the argument, it would represent a true revolution, as many national voting rights around the world would no longer be compatible with the Convention.

However, the report also notes Prof. Dr. Helen Keller’s observation that “The exclusion of children and adolescents from referendums and elections has been increasingly criticized in legal scholarship.” In light of this debate, the media report states that a favorable outcome for the minor child’s claims before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child cannot be entirely ruled out.