Facts
The eligible voters of the Canton of Zurich approved the Cultural Land Initiative in the form of a general proposal on June 17, 2012. The initiative demands effective protection of the valuable agricultural areas in terms of their existence and quality. On March 18, 2014, the Cantonal Council decided to adopt the revised Cantonal Structure Plan, but on May 19, 2014, it did not enter into the implementation proposal for the Cultural Land Initiative drafted by the Governing Council.
The Green Party of the Canton of Zurich and Marionna Schlatter-Schmid have filed a complaint against this non-entry decision with the Federal Supreme Court. They request that the decision be overturned and the Cantonal Council be instructed to enter into the proposal and adopt it in an appropriate form.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court overturns the contested decision. According to cantonal constitutional law, an immediate implementation of the Cultural Land Initiative through a revision of the Cantonal Structure Plan is inadmissible and incompatible with the political rights of the voters. The initiative aims to amend or supplement cantonal law, so its implementation must take place in a legal form subject to the mandatory or optional referendum.
Furthermore, a substantively correct implementation of the Cultural Land Initiative requires that the valuable agricultural areas be…