Facts
By order dated March 16, 1999, the Trade and Commerce Police of the Canton of Solothurn granted Maria Halbeisen a patent pursuant to § 4 of the Economic Act for the operation of the Alpenblick Inn in Mümliswil-Ramiswil and set the annual patent fee at Fr. -.-. Maria Halbeisen unsuccessfully appealed the imposition of this patent fee to the Department of the Interior of the Canton of Solothurn and subsequently to the Cantonal Tax Court of Solothurn. With a constitutional appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, Maria Halbeisen requested the annulment of the judgment of the Cantonal Tax Court of Solothurn dated March 12, 2001. Among other things, she alleged a violation of the principle of legality in tax law, the principle of separation of powers, and various constitutional rights.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that the disputed patent fee is a mixed tax that contains elements of both a fee and a tax. This qualification already applied to the patent fee under the old Economic Act of 1964, so that the legal nature of the patent fee did not change as a result of the total revision of the Economic Act of 1996. Therefore, it is not a new tax within the meaning of Art. 132 para. 3 of the Cantonal Constitution, for which a special constitutional basis would be required.
The court also rejected the allegation that the imposition of the patent fee violates the derogatory force of federal law, since the new Federal Constitution no longer contains a provision corresponding to the previous reservation in Art. 31 para. 2 of the old Federal Constitution. It is to be assumed that the…