Now the time has come. Today the Federal Council announced that joint parental custody would come into force on July 1, 2014.
Almost 10 years after National Councilor Reto Wehrli asked in a parliamentary question whether joint parental custody was possible in Switzerland, the question can finally be answered with YES.
After Parliament passed the law in the summer, it seemed a given that the new law would come into force on January 1, 2014. But far from it - shortly before the finish line, the cantonal authorities got in touch and expressed concerns. In a letter they wrote to the Federal Council and explained that they were far from ready for a new law and that they should please postpone this for at least a year, and preferably even longer.
The VeV and other organizations then wrote an open letter
Today the Federal Council made a typically Swiss decision and opted for the middle path. A postponement of 6 months to give the authorities time to prepare.
In concrete terms, this means that all affected parents have to wait another 6 months before they can submit a corresponding application. In particular, it also means that divorced fathers whose divorce took place in the first half of 2009 will no longer be able to benefit from the retroactive effect. This is bitter, it is very sad, but at the same time one must also clearly see that such retroactive effect is in itself a unique piece of legislation.
Overall, this relatively short postponement can be seen as a success for our opposition.
But the work continues, with the introduction of the new law, many people now have to rethink, relearn and perhaps even break one or two habits. We will accompany this process and try to contribute our experience and knowledge.
Here is today's media release from the umbrella organization for shared parenthood GeCoBi