Does International Law Threaten the Democratic Roots of Switzerland?

Switzerland is known for its democratic tradition. Due to the relatively small size of their country, the Swiss people may vastly take part in political decision making through referenda. Yet, does international law threaten democratic roots of Switzerland? Swiss Minister of Justice, Christoph Blocher, seems to suggest just this. In his prestigious speech on the occasion of the Swiss national holiday on August 1 [text, in German], Mr. Blocher criticizes the fact that international law is considered superior to national law and ridicules the law of nations as being "divine".

Former superintendent of the Swiss Department of Justice, Heinrich Koller, retorts that Mr. Blocher's statements are "unsustainable" and "distortionary." In an interview with the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) [text, in German], Mr. Koller notes that (ironically) Switzerland owes its independence and statehood to the Congress of Vienna ... and thus to international law.

In a time where transnationalism gets more and more important, it is sad (yet not necessarily surprising) that discussions like this are still being conducted.