Art. 42 Constitution of the Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel, (2000)
Decision Summary (Facts, Holding & Outcome)
Art. 42 Constitution of the Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel, (2000) The right to request a popular vote belongs to 4,500 voters, whose signatures must be collected within a period of ninety days from the publication of the contested act. The request for a popular vote must be subject to a prior announcement within twenty days from the publication of the contested act; the law regulates the announcement procedure. The request for a popular vote may concern an act of the Grand Council among the following: a. laws; b. decrees that incur expenditures; c. decrees by which the Grand Council submits an initiative to the Federal Assembly; d. opinions that the Grand Council gives to the federal authority regarding the establishment of a nuclear installation; e. decrees approving international or inter-cantonal treaties whose content is equivalent to one of the acts mentioned in letters a and b of this paragraph; f. decrees approving concordats concluded with the Churches and other recognized religious communities; g. other acts of the Grand Council, if thirty of its members so decide. However, the referendum excludes the budget, accounts, elections, amnesty, pardon, judicial decisions, and procedural decisions.
Art. 42 2000
The right to request a popular vote belongs to 4,500 voters, whose signatures must be collected within a period of ninety days from the publication of the contested act.
The request for a popular vote must be subject to a prior announcement within twenty days from the publication of the contested act; the law regulates the announcement procedure.
The request for a popular vote may concern an act of the Grand Council among the following
a. laws;
b. decrees that incur expenditures;
c. decrees by which the Grand Council submits an initiative to the Federal Assembly;
d. opinions that the Grand Council gives to the federal authority regarding the establishment of a nuclear installation;
e. decrees approving international or inter-cantonal treaties whose content is equivalent to one of the acts mentioned in letters a and b of this paragraph;
f. decrees approving concordats concluded with the Churches and other recognized religious communities;
g. other acts of the Grand Council, if thirty of its members so decide.
However, the referendum excludes the budget, accounts, elections, amnesty, pardon, judicial decisions, and procedural decisions.