Constitution of Switzerland

Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 18 April 1999
First page of the German version of the constitution of 1999.
Original title	German: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV) French: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.) Italian: Costituzione federale della Confederazione Svizzera (Cost.) Romansh: Constituziun federala da la Confederaziun svizra
Created	18 December 1998
Presented	18 December 1998
Ratified	18 April 1999
Date effective	1 January 2000
Location	SR 101
Media type	webpage, PDF
Subject	Swiss Constitution

Swiss Confederation
This article is part of the series: Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 18 April 1999
Text of the Constitution
Preamble and Title 1 General Provisions
Title 2 Fundamental Rights, Citizenship and Social Goals
Title 3 Confederation, Cantons and Communes
Title 4 The People and The Cantons
Title 5 Federal Authorities
Title 6 Revision of the Federal Constitution and Transitional Provisions
Other countries

The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10, German: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV), French: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.), Italian: Costituzione federale della Confederazione Svizzera (Cost.), Romansh:  Constituziun federala da la Confederaziun svizra ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons (states). The document contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights (including the right to call for popular referenda on federal laws and constitutional amendments), delineates the responsibilities of the cantons and the Confederation and establishes the federal authorities of government.

The Constitution was adopted by popular vote on 18 April 1999. It replaced the prior federal constitution of 1874, which it was intended to bring up to date without changing it in substance.

The groundwork for today's Swiss Constitution was laid with the promulgation of the Constitution of 12 September 1848, which was influenced by the ideas of the United States Constitution and the French Revolution. This constitution provided for the cantons' sovereignty, as long as this did not impinge on the Federal Constitution. This constitution was created in response to a 27-day civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbundskrieg.