Facts
On October 19, 2017, the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt enacted a new cantonal Citizenship Act (BüRG/BS). Against this, the Civic Corporation of the City of Basel, the Civic Corporation of Riehen, and the Civic Corporation of Bettingen filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court on February 1, 2018. They requested the annulment of § 11 para. 2 BüRG/BS.
In its judgment 1C_63/2018 of September 28, 2018, the Federal Supreme Court did not enter into the complaint and referred the dispute for further consideration to the Court of Appeal of the Canton of Basel-Stadt as the Constitutional Court. The constitutional law of Basel-Stadt provides, as an exception to the exclusion of abstract judicial review of cantonal laws, for the admissibility of challenging laws if a violation of municipal autonomy is claimed.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examined whether the contested provision of § 11 para. 2 BüRG/BS violates the autonomy of the civic corporations of Basel-Stadt. It stated that the municipality is an institution of cantonal law and that municipal autonomy is guaranteed according to the provisions of cantonal law. The complainants invoked the autonomy provision of § 59 KV/BS, which, however, generally does not extend as far as for the residential municipalities.
The Federal Supreme Court found that the cantons can impose requirements on the municipalities in implementing the federal naturalization…