Facts
In the referendum of the municipality of Emmen on 12 March 2000, 23 naturalization applications out of a total of 56 persons were considered. All applications from persons from the former Yugoslavia were rejected, while all applications from Italian nationals were accepted. The complainants, who also originated from the former Yugoslavia, filed a constitutional appeal against the rejection of their naturalization applications, arguing that this violated the prohibition of discrimination under Art. 8 para. 2 Cst.Considerations
The Federal Court concluded that the rejection of the complainants' naturalization applications based on their origin from the former Yugoslavia constituted unlawful discrimination under Art. 8 para. 2 Cst. The voters are bound by the fundamental rights, in particular the prohibition of discrimination, in naturalization decisions. The result of the vote, which rejected all applications from persons from the former Yugoslavia while naturalizing all Italian nationals, allows no other conclusion than that the origin was the decisive factor. This conclusion is supported by…