Legislation on higher education, research and innovation

From the very beginning, the Swiss Science and Technology Council (SSTC) has closely monitored progress being made towards adoption of a new constitutional article on clinical research and the corresponding Bill on Clinical Research (Federal Council Business 07.072). During the consultation process, the SSTC issued its first policy statement on this complex topic in May 2006. After the Federal Council adopted the first draft of the new constitutional article and submitted this draft to the Federal Parliament, Ms Susanne Suter and Mr Alexandre Mauron attended a hearing in 2008 of the National Council’s Committee for Research, Education and Culture (WBK-N).

The SSTC feels that the wording of the definitive constitutional article adopted by the Federal Parliament is very satisfactory. The provisions seek to strike a balance between the need for research freedom and the benefits of medical progress, on the one hand, and the need to obtain prior informed consent from patients and protect vulnerable persons, on the other. After becoming aware of the various advantages, Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved the new constitutional article (77.2%) in a mandatory referendum held on 7 March 2010.

The provisions of the new constitutional article now need to be implemented in the form of a new Federal Act on Clinical Research, which is currently at the bill stage before the Federal Parliament. The original draft of the Bill on Clinical Research submitted to the Federal Council had to be considerably revised for greater clarity and coherence. The Federal Council then adopted the revised draft on 21 October 2009. However, this revised draft contains a few unresolved issues that still need to be addressed. Over the next few months, the SSTC will therefore continue to monitor Federal Parliament discussions on this draft as well as subsequent developments. It will also intervene where necessary.