Act on the Organisation of the Government and Administration (Organisation Act, OG) (Organisationsgesetz, OG) - Tasks (OG)

1. The Executive Council, acting as a collegial body, fulfills the tasks assigned to it by the constitution and law. Government activities take precedence over other duties of the Executive Council and its members.

2. Of the administrative tasks that are not assigned to a specific administrative body by the legal order, the Executive Council undertakes the most important ones itself. It assigns the others to the departments, the state chancery, the administrative offices, or other administrative bodies.

1. The Government Council generally meets once a week for a session.

2. The President of the Government Council may convene additional sessions.

1. The State Secretary shall participate in the meetings of the Council of Ministers in an advisory capacity.

2. The Council of Ministers may invite members of authorities, employees of the cantonal administration, or other experts to the meetings if it deems their presence necessary for its information and opinion formation.

1. The Executive Council is quorate when at least three members are present.

2. It decides by majority vote.

3. Each member is obliged to cast a vote.

4. If the first vote results in a tie, the vote shall be repeated. If the second vote also results in a tie, the chairperson's vote shall be decisive.

1. Urgent Matters: Resolutions can be passed by circular procedure. For their validity, they must be signed by at least three members of the Council of Government.

2. Any member of the Council of Government can require that a circulated matter be immediately discussed in a meeting.

1. The deliberations of the government council are not public.

1. The State Secretary directs the secretariat of the Government Council according to its instructions. He or she may delegate the meeting secretariat, particularly the responsibility for minute-taking, to an employee of the State Chancellery.

2. The minutes shall include the resolutions of the Government Council and the other negotiation results.

1. The term of office for the President of the Government or the Vice President shall last from the beginning of July until the end of June of the following year.

2. No member of the Government Council may hold the office for two consecutive terms.

1. The President of the Government leads the negotiations of the Council of the Government and represents the canton externally, subject to a contrary decision by the Council of the Government.

1. In urgent matters, the President of the Government may order provisional measures.

2. The Government Council may also authorize the President of the Government to resolve matters of a formal nature and lesser importance through a presidential decision.

3. The Government Council is to be subsequently informed about the decisions.

1. If the President of the Government is unable to perform their duties, the Vice President shall assume their role, and, if the Vice President is also unable, the longest-serving present member shall take their place.

1. The Government Council may appoint committees from among its members for the planning, coordination, and preparation of matters that pertain to the specialist areas of various departments.

1. The Governing Council regulates the details of the proceedings in rules of procedure.

1. The State Chancellery is the general staff office of the Government Council.

2. It supports the Government Council specifically in the management of the administration and in coordinating the fulfillment of tasks by the departments.

3. It informs the public according to the instructions of the Government Council.

4. It also provides its services to the Cantonal Council.

5. The Government Council may assign additional tasks to the State Chancellery.

1. The State Chancellery shall be considered an administrative unit in terms of organizational and personnel law, unless otherwise regulated.

2. It is subordinate to the Government Council and, to the extent that it has tasks to manage for the Cantonal Council, to the latter as well.

1. The State Secretary heads the State Chancellery.

2. He or she is elected by the Cantonal Council upon the proposal of the Government Council after each complete renewal of the Government Council for a term of office of four years.

3. The supervision of the State Secretary is carried out by the President of the Government.

4. The Government Council elects a deputy for the State Secretary.

1. The Executive Council may assign offices to the State Chancellery.

2. The State Secretary may organize the State Chancellery into departments.

3. Simultaneously with the organization, the tasks and competencies must be defined.

1. The Legal Consultant advises the Government Council, the legal services of the departments, as well as the Cantonal Council in legal matters.

2. He or she is administratively assigned to the State Chancellery and is professionally accountable to the Government Council or, insofar as tasks for the Cantonal Council are undertaken, to the latter.

1. The Executive Council may establish special staff units for specific tasks, composed of employees from the administration.

2. These units shall be placed under the supervision of the State Chancellery or the department to which they have the closest substantive connection.

3. The Executive Council may also engage experts for staff tasks who are not part of the cantonal administration.

1. The Executive Council may establish commissions to provide advice on specific issues.

1. The Administration has, in particular,

a. to assist the government council in its governmental duties,

b. to prepare the affairs of the government council,

c. to participate in the preparation of legislation,

d. to fulfill the tasks assigned to it by the legal order,

e. to participate in the administration of justice within the scope of its legal responsibilities,

f. to provide additional services within the framework of its legal mandate.

1. The administration acts lawfully and directs its actions towards the fulfillment of statutory objectives and performance mandates. It uses public funds economically and effectively.

a. * ...

b. * ...

c. * ...

d. * ...

2. In its activities, it preserves the public interest and takes into account the impacts on society, the economy, and the environment. It balances the essential interests and considers legitimate private interests.

3. It provides its services with high quality and ensures the justification and traceability of its actions.

4. It informs the public factually and promptly about its objectives, activities, and organization, as well as about matters of general interest.

5. It enables public participation in important legislative projects and matters of broad significance through consultation procedures. The governing council regulates the details by ordinance.

1. The Government Council and its members shall manage the administration by

a. assessing significant developments and risks and setting political priorities,

b. determining essential goals and means of administration and setting priorities within the framework of the legal system,

c. ensuring appropriate delegation of tasks, competencies, and responsibilities,

d. ensuring the regular review of performance mandates and the administration's service delivery.

2. They regulate business processes and organization, adapt them to changing conditions, and employ suitable management tools.

3. They ensure systematic controlling oriented especially towards the established goals and risks of administrative activity.

4. Further details are regulated by the Law on the Management of Finances and Services (FLG) of September 13, 2010, and the Personnel Law of June 26, 2001.

1. The administration operates electronic information, business management, and documentation systems to fulfill its statutory duties.

2. It processes personal data and information about legal entities and partnerships under commercial law as well as factual data within the scope of its duty fulfillment. The provisions of data protection, information technology, and archival legislation remain reserved.

3. The government council may issue additional regulations.

1. The Executive Council, the departments, the State Chancellery, and the administrative offices fulfill the tasks of the cantonal administration.

2. Subject to the transfer of cantonal tasks in accordance with §§ 45 et seq.

1. For the preparation of the business of the government council and for the independent execution of the tasks assigned to them by the legal order, the following departments exist

a. Department of Construction, Environment, and Economic Affairs,

b. Department of Education and Culture,

c. Department of Finance,

d. Department of Health and Social Affairs,

e. Department of Justice and Security.

1. Insofar as the allocation of tasks is not already determined by the legal order, the Government Council assigns the areas of responsibility to the individual departments and the State Chancellery by means of a regulation.

2. The allocation shall be carried out in such a way that, as far as possible, the contextual relationships are preserved, work processes are facilitated, and tasks are distributed as evenly as possible among the departments.

1. The governing council regulates signing authority by ordinance.

2. A collective signature is required for expenditure approvals and contracts. The governing council may provide for exceptions.

3. Individually authorized to sign are the heads of departments as well as the state secretary.

1. Direct supervision is the responsibility of the superior authority.

2. The Government Council exercises indirect supervision over the entire administration. It may request information from its members at any time and initiate investigations and further measures to ensure the administration's functionality.

3. The head of the department possesses extensive directive and control rights over the offices within their own department, in accordance with the legal framework.

1. The Government Council assigns each of its members the leadership of a department and designates another member as a deputy.

2. The departmental assignments must be published.

1. The government council organizes the departments into offices by regulation.

2. Simultaneously with the organization, the tasks and competencies are to be determined.

1. The Head of the Department shall manage the Department within the framework of the objectives set by the Executive Council and in accordance with the principles of §§ 21 and 21a.

2. He or she is particularly responsible for

a. * the efficient organization of the Department,

b. * the direct supervision of the administrative units of the Department,

c. * the preparation of government business,

d. * the execution of the decisions of the Executive Council, as long as nothing else is determined by the legal order.

3. He or she shall inform the Executive Council promptly about

a. * events and developments in the Department's area of responsibility that may be significant for the Canton,

b. * negotiations regarding important contracts and negotiations in inter-cantonal committees related to the Department's area of responsibility,

c. * important occurrences within the Department, especially if they may have an impact on the entire administration.

1. The Department Secretary, male or female, serves as the Chief of Staff of the department and is responsible in this regard primarily for

a. the planning and coordination of administrative activities,

b. * supporting the Head of the Department in leadership,

c. * implementing the directives issued by the Head of the Department,

d. * ...

e. * organizing the department's informational activities.

1. The head of the department may appoint personal staff within the available budget and the scope of up to one full-time position.

2. The personal staff are in a private law employment relationship with the state. They are only permitted to assume staff functions.

1. The Department Secretariat is the general staff unit of the department and is headed by the Department Secretary.

2. It handles the general affairs of the department and performs other specific tasks assigned to it by legal regulations.

3. The Department Secretariat is considered a service unit in terms of organizational and personnel law.

1. The head of the department may establish working groups, coordination offices, or project management teams for the preparation of departmental tasks.

2. The decision to establish such entities shall specify, in particular, the competencies of the project organizations.

3. Experts who do not belong to the administration may be appointed to project organizations.

1. The offices are the structural elements of the departments. They independently conduct administrative matters within their area of responsibility and in their own name. Special instructions are reserved.

2. The governing council assigns thematically coherent areas of responsibility to the offices by ordinance and defines their tasks, insofar as these are not already determined by legal regulations.

1. Departments may occasionally provide commercial services to third parties, provided these services are related to their primary tasks, do not require additional infrastructure, and are minor in scope compared to the primary tasks. They shall invoice these services on the basis of full costs and at market-based prices.

2. The fulfillment of the primary tasks must not be restricted as a result.

1. The heads of the offices shall organize their offices into departments with the approval of the head of the department.

2. The tasks and authorities of the departments must be defined with the organization.

3. Departments are non-autonomous and handle administrative matters within their area of responsibility in the name of the office.

4. The departments can be further subdivided.

1. The heads of service offices conduct the offices according to the principles of Sections 21 and 21a and within the framework of the objectives set by the head of the department.

2. They are accountable to the head of the department for fulfilling the service mandates assigned to their offices.

3. In consultation with the head of the department, they appoint a deputy and the heads of departments. Special regulations remain reserved.

4. The head of the department must be informed in a timely manner about all important occurrences in the responsibilities of the service office; Section 28 paragraph 3 applies accordingly.

1. If a matter falls within the purview of multiple departments, the parties involved shall ensure mutual information and coordination on their own accord. The department primarily involved shall take the lead in managing the matter.

2. If there is a dispute over jurisdiction, the government council shall decide.

1. The lead department obtains oral or written co-reports from the involved departments before making a decision or submitting a proposal to the government council.

1. The Executive Council may establish working groups, coordination offices, or project management teams for the preparation and coordination of interdepartmental tasks.

2. The enactment order shall specify, in particular, the competencies of the project organizations.

3. Experts who do not belong to the administration may be appointed to the project organizations.

1. The Government Council is authorized to experimentally introduce new forms for the further development of administrative management methods.

2. Insofar as there is a deviation from current legal provisions, the Cantonal Council must approve the experimental introduction of new forms of administrative management by means of a Cantonal Council resolution.

1. The Canton may assign the fulfillment of cantonal tasks to persons and organizations of public and private law through its legal system. In doing so, it must particularly consider the nature of the task, the market economy environment, the anticipated effectiveness and efficiency of task fulfillment outside the administration, as well as the need for political governance.

2. The Executive Council periodically reviews the assignment of cantonal tasks.

1. The canton may participate in legally independent organizations to which it assigns cantonal tasks through financial and capital contributions and by having a seat on the strategic management body.

2. Investments in financial assets pursuant to § 58 paragraph 2c of the Cantonal Constitution do not fall under the participations mentioned in paragraph 1.

1. If the canton establishes legally independent organizations to fulfill cantonal tasks, it may provide for a legal form under public or private law.

2. The choice of legal form is determined particularly by

a. the nature of the service to be provided,

b. the competitive situation,

c. the involvement of third parties,

d. the need for political control,

e. financial policy considerations.

3. If the Executive Council intends to create new legally independent organizations, it generally submits a special planning report to the Cantonal Council in accordance with § 77 paragraph 1c of the Cantonal Council Act of June 28, 1976.

1. A member of the executive council or the state secretary can occupy a seat in the strategic management body of legally independent public law organizations.

2. In the strategic management body of private law organizations, they can only occupy a seat if the organizations are in the form of a foundation, association, cooperative, or mixed-economy corporation according to Article 762 of the Code of Obligations.

3. Occupying a seat may be delegated to employees of the canton or, exceptionally, to external third parties.

1. Members of the Cantonal Council and the courts may not belong to

a. the strategic and operational management bodies of legally independent organizations under public law in which the canton holds a majority interest,

b. the audit office of legally independent organizations under public law in which the canton has a participation.

1. The Government Council is responsible for the appropriate governance of legally independent organizations in which the canton participates. The details are governed by the Law on the Management of Finances and Services of September 13, 2010.

1. Institutions of cantonal public law that are to possess their own legal personality shall be established by law. This law shall specifically determine

a. the name and the seat of the institution,

b. its purpose and its functions,

c. its organs,

d. its autonomy, particularly with regard to the regulation of the rights and duties of the users of the institution and collaboration with third parties,

e. the financing.

2. Intercantonal agreements remain reserved.

1. Every public-law institution has a strategic and an operational management body as well as an audit office, which are independent of each other. It regulates their tasks in a regulation.

2. The strategic management body assumes the following tasks

a. Overall management of the institution within the framework of legal requirements and the owner's strategy of the government council,

b. Election and supervision of the operational management body,

c. Conclusion of performance agreements pursuant to § 20i of the Financial and Performance Control Act,

d. Approval of the annual report for the attention of the government council,

e. All other tasks assigned to it by legal provisions or agreements.

3. The government council consults the strategic management body before making important decisions and provides it with the opportunity to comment, particularly in the determination of the owner's strategy and in electoral matters.

1. The government council elects the members of the institution's strategic management body for a term of office, provided that other cantonal laws and federal law do not stipulate a different jurisdiction.

2. The responsible electoral body can remove the strategic management body or any of its members at any time for significant reasons.

3. The government council appoints the external audit firm, unless this function is performed by the financial control authority.

1. The government council determines or approves the compensation for the members of the institution's strategic management body.

2. The institution shall disclose in the annual report the fundamental principles of the compensations for the strategic and the operational management bodies.

3. The total amounts of the compensations for all members of the individual management bodies, as well as additionally the compensations for the heads of these bodies, must be specified.

1. In the absence of specific regulations, institutions may participate in other legally independent organizations within the scope of their purpose and with the approval of the government council.

1. The accounting and internal control systems of the institutions are governed mutatis mutandis by §§ 20 and 31 et seq. of the Law on the Management of Finances and Performance, unless the Government Council permits deviations in justified cases.

1. The government council assigns each institution to a department by regulation.

1. Administrative bodies shall, upon request, grant access to official information created or received in the performance of their duties and shall provide information on their activities upon inquiry, unless specific regulations or overriding public or legally protected private interests oppose such access.

2. An overriding public interest exists, in particular, when access to official information can

a. endanger public safety and order,

b. impair the free formation of opinion and will of administrative bodies,

c. jeopardize the implementation or effectiveness of measures,

d. affect relationships with authorities within and outside of the canton.

3. A legally protected private interest exists, in particular, when privacy and professional, business, or manufacturing secrets need to be preserved.

4. The protection of personal data is governed by the Cantonal Law on the Protection of Personal Data (Cantonal Data Protection Act) of July 2, 1990[12].

1. In proceedings related to civil and criminal justice, conciliation, arbitration, administrative assistance, and legal assistance, as well as in proceedings involving school, professional, and competency examinations, the exclusively applicable procedural law shall be applied.

2. Access to records of administrative proceedings is determined by the applicable procedural law, particularly the Act on Administrative Procedure (VRG) of July 3, 1972.

3. Access to documents that the administrative authorities have transferred to the state archive is governed exclusively by the provisions of the Archives Act of June 16, 2003.

4. Other specific statutory provisions that mandate the confidentiality of official information or regulate access to information are reserved.

1. No access is granted to official information,

a. that has not yet been completed,

b. that is used for commercial activities,

c. that concerns negotiation positions in ongoing or future negotiations,

d. that serves as tools in fulfilling duties, namely sketches, notes, and agendas.

2. Official information is only accessible once the decision or resolution, for which they serve as a basis, is made or adopted. There is no access to records of non-public meetings.

3. There is no access to the negotiation documents of the Executive Council.

1. The access to official information may be postponed if the public is to be informed first.

1. Right to Access Official Information

Every person has the right to access official information.

2. The administrative body designated by the government council in the regulation grants access by providing the information. If necessary, information and data that cannot be disclosed must be removed or anonymized beforehand. An exception remains for access to personal data, data of legal entities, and data of partnerships under commercial law, if the public interest in the official information outweighs the interest in confidentiality.

3. If the information has been published, the body can merely indicate the reference point.

4. Fees may be charged for substantial effort. The responsible administrative body must inform the requesting person in advance of the obligation to pay fees.

5. If the effort is extraordinarily high, particularly due to the extent of the requested official information, access may be made contingent on the demonstration of a legitimate interest.

1. Whoever requests access to official information must submit an application that sufficiently specifies the subject and relates to a determinable task. A justification is not required.

2. If the interests of third parties are concerned, the administrative authority grants the affected third parties an opportunity to comment within a reasonable timeframe.

3. If the authority considers rejecting the application, it notifies the applicant free of charge. The applicant may request a decision subject to appeal within ten days of the notification.

4. If the authority considers granting the application contrary to the comments obtained, it informs the affected third parties. The right to request a decision subject to appeal is also granted to them.

5. In other respects, the procedure, including costs, is governed by the Law on Administrative Procedure. The authority decides in an expedited process.

1. Decisions on access to official information can be appealed to the Cantonal Court through an administrative court complaint.

1. Institutions of cantonal public law must grant access to information according to the provisions of this title.

2. Other persons and organizations of public and private law, to whom cantonal tasks are delegated, shall grant access to information insofar as they fulfill cantonal tasks.

3. Access is excluded to the extent that these institutions and other persons and organizations, to whom cantonal tasks are delegated, participate in economic competition and do not act with sovereign authority.

1. The Government Council regulates the details of the organization, management, and supervision of the administration as well as public information, access to information according to the principle of transparency, and the consultation procedure by ordinance.

1. Under this law, the new department designations shall replace the existing department designations in the applicable enactments generally as follows: Construction, Environment, and Economic Department instead of Construction and Transport Department or Economic Department, Education and Culture Department instead of Education Department, and Justice and Security Department instead of Justice, Municipalities and Culture Department or Security Department.

2. Additionally, the following replacements shall be made

a. In the cultural property protection and cultural promotion enactments, except the enactments concerning archives, as well as in the enactments concerning youth promotion, the designation Justice, Municipalities and Culture Department shall be replaced by Education and Culture Department,

b. In the enactments regarding surveying, the designation Justice, Municipalities and Culture Department shall be replaced by Construction, Environment, and Economic Department,

c. In the enactments concerning settlement and residence as well as coercive measures in foreign nationals law, regarding commercial register and the hospitality industry, the designation Economic Department shall be replaced by Justice and Security Department.

1. The provisions of Part 5a regarding access to official information under the principle of public access as per the amendment of October 21, 2024, shall apply to the official information created from the time this amendment comes into force.

1. The Grand Council Act, the Authorities Act, the Personnel Act, the Municipal Act, the Court Organization Act, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Financial Budget Act are amended in accordance with the annex.

1. The Organization Act of the Canton of Lucerne dated March 8, 1899, is repealed.

1. The law shall enter into force following the adoption of the constitutional amendments related to the reorganization of the executive council and the cantonal administration, but no earlier than July 1, 1995. It is subject to an optional referendum.

2. The executive council shall determine the commencement date.