Facts
The amendment to the Cantonal Constitution of Zurich of July 7, 1963 reorganized the relationship between churches and the state. However, several questions remained controversial in the following years, particularly regarding the abolition of the so-called historical legal titles, church taxes, the public-law recognition of additional religious communities, and the voting rights of foreigners. On March 31, 2003, the Cantonal Council of Zurich decided on a fundamental restructuring of the status of religious communities, which resulted in an amendment to the Cantonal Constitution, a new Church Act, and a law on the recognition of religious communities.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the constitutional complaint against the constitutional amendment. It sees the principle of the unity of subject matter preserved, even though the proposal covers various topics such as the disentanglement of the relationship between churches and the state, a new financial system, and the possibility of public-law recognition of additional religious communities.
The Federal Supreme Court justifies this by stating that these partial areas are all oriented towards the relationship of religious communities to the state in the broadest sense and therefore exhibit a sufficient factual connection. Even if the individual parts have different scopes and partially have a separate history of origin, they nevertheless pursue the common goal of a fundamental reorganization…