Swiss order of precedence

The Swiss order of precedence is a hierarchy of important positions within the government of Switzerland. It has no legal standing but is used by ceremonial protocol. The order of precedence is determined by the Protocol Regulations^[1] and the Table of Precedence^[2] of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Unless otherwise noted, precedence among persons of equal rank is determined by seniority. As a general rule, spouses share the same rank.

Table of precedence[]

Color legend
Governments, Parliaments and Courts of the Confederation, Cantons and Communes
Diplomats
Armed forces
Federal administration
Religious and educational authorities

Rank	Position	Incumbent (as of 16 February 2021)
1	President of the Confederation	Guy Parmelin^[3]
2	Vice President of the Federal Council	Ignazio Cassis^[3]
3	Federal Councillors^{[note 1]}	Ueli Maurer, Alain Berset, Viola Amherd, Karin Keller-Sutter, Simonetta Sommaruga^[3]^[4]
3	Commanding General^{[note 2]}	vacant in time of peace
4	President of the National Council	Andreas Aebi^[5]
5	President of the Council of States	Alex Kuprecht^[6]
6	Federal Chancellor	Walter Thurnherr^[3]
7	President of the Federal Supreme Court	^[7]
8	Former Federal Councillors^{[note 1]}	see List of members of the Federal Council
9	Presidents of the cantonal governments^{[note 3]}	see List of cantonal executives
9	Cardinals Members of the Council of the Federation of Protestant Churches Chief Rabbis
10	Vice Presidents of the National Council	Irène Kälin (1st),^{[note 4]} (2nd)^{[note 4]}^[5]
11	Vice Presidents of the Council of States	Thomas Hefti (1st),^{[note 4]} (2nd)^{[note 4]}^[6]
12	Vice President of the Federal Supreme Court	^[7]
12	Bishops
13	Chief of the Armed Forces	Thomas Süssli^[8]
13	Secretaries of State
14	Members of the National Council^{[note 1]}	see List of members of the National Council
15	Members of the Council of States^{[note 1]}	see List of members of the Council of States
16	Judges of the Federal Supreme Court^{[note 1]}	see List of judges of the Federal Supreme Court
17	President of the Federal Criminal Court	^[9]
18	President of the Federal Administrative Court	^[10]
19	President of the Federal Patent Court	Mark Schweizer^[11]
20	Heads of Swiss diplomatic missions
	Lieutenant Generals
	Chairman of the Board of the Swiss National Bank Chairman of the Board of Swiss Federal Railways Chairman of the Board of Swiss Post	Thomas Jordan^[12] ^[13] Urs Schwaller^[14]
	President of the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology	Fritz Schiesser^[15]
21	Vice Presidents of the cantonal governments^{[note 3]}	see List of cantonal executives
22	Vice President of the Federal Criminal Court	^[9]
23	Vice President of the Federal Administrative Court	^[10]
24	Vice President of the Federal Patent Court	^[11]
25	Members of the cantonal governments^{[note 3]}	see List of cantonal executives
26	Members of the Board of the Swiss National Bank	, ^[12]
27	Ambassadors
	Major Generals
	Delegates of the Federal Council Directors of Federal Offices Secretary-General of the Federal Assembly Secretaries-General of the Federal Departments Secretary-General of the Federal Supreme Court Federal Vice Chancellors of the Confederation Trade agreement delegates	see Federal administration
28	Mayor of Bern	^[16]
28	Rectors of universities and equivalent establishments
29	Presidents of cantonal legislatures^{[note 3]}	see List of cantonal legislatures
	Brigadier Generals
	Deputy directors
30	University deans and directors
31	Presidents of the cantonal courts^{[note 3]}
31	Deans of religious authorities
32	Judges of the Federal Criminal Court^{[note 1]}	see
32	Professors of universities and equivalent establishments
33	Judges of the Federal Administrative Court^{[note 1]}	see List of judges of the Federal Administrative Court
34	Judges of the Federal Patent Court^{[note 1]}	see
35	Presidents of municipal executive authorities^{[note 3]}
36	Chancellors of cantons^{[note 3]}
	Ministers
	Colonels
	Vice directors
37	Members of cantonal legislatures^{[note 3]}	see List of cantonal legislatures
38	Cantonal judges^{[note 3]} Cantonal public prosecutors^{[note 3]} Presidents of municipal legislatures^{[note 3]}
38	Lieutenant Colonels
39	Majors
	Section heads
	Priests and Protestant Ministers
40	Vicars

Notes[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Precedence is determined by date of election.
^ A General is only elected in time of war, and is ranked after the Federal Councillors.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Precedence of cantonal authorities is determined by the order of cantons in article 1 of the Federal Constitution.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d The Vice Presidency of both chambers are numbered. Whenever the President is not available during the meetings of Parliament they are replaced by the available Vice Presidents. Usually the 1st Vice President succeeds the outgoing President with the 2nd Vice President taking the place of the 1st one.

References[]

^ Protocol regulations for the Swiss Confederation: English (unofficial) - German - French - Italian
^ Precedence in Switzerland (Appendix to the Protocol regulations): English (unofficial) - German - French
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "The seven members of the Federal Council". www.admin.ch. Federal Chancellery. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ "All federal councils". www.admin.ch. Federal Chancellery. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "The Office of the National Council". www.parlament.ch. The Swiss Parliament. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "The Office of the Council of States". www.parlament.ch. The Swiss Parliament. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Bundesrichter". www.bger.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ "Chef der Armee". www.vtg.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Armed Forces. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "President of Court". www.bstger.ch. Swiss Federal Criminal Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Court Presidium". www.bvger.ch. Swiss Federal Administrative Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Organisation". www.bundespatentgericht.ch. Swiss Federal Patent Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Governing Board". www.snb.ch. Swiss National Bank. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ "Board of Directors". www.sbb.ch. Swiss Federal Railways. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ "Swiss Post Board of Directors". www.post.ch. Swiss Post. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ "Members of ETH Board". www.ethrat.ch. ETH Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
^ "City Council". www.bern.ch. City of Bern. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[elected-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Precedence is determined by date of election.

[general-6] A General is only elected in time of war, and is ranked after the Federal Councillors.

[cantons-10] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Precedence of cantonal authorities is determined by the order of cantons in article 1 of the Federal Constitution.

[:0-11] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d The Vice Presidency of both chambers are numbered. Whenever the President is not available during the meetings of Parliament they are replaced by the available Vice Presidents. Usually the 1st Vice President succeeds the outgoing President with the 2nd Vice President taking the place of the 1st one.

[1] Protocol regulations for the Swiss Confederation: English (unofficial) - German - French - Italian

[2] Precedence in Switzerland (Appendix to the Protocol regulations): English (unofficial) - German - French

[federalcouncil-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "The seven members of the Federal Council". www.admin.ch. Federal Chancellery. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[allfederalcouncils-5] "All federal councils". www.admin.ch. Federal Chancellery. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[nationalcouncil-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b "The Office of the National Council". www.parlament.ch. The Swiss Parliament. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[councilofstates-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b "The Office of the Council of States". www.parlament.ch. The Swiss Parliament. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[supremecourt-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Bundesrichter". www.bger.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[12] "Chef der Armee". www.vtg.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Armed Forces. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[criminalcourt-13] Jump up to: ^a ^b "President of Court". www.bstger.ch. Swiss Federal Criminal Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[administrativecourt-14] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Court Presidium". www.bvger.ch. Swiss Federal Administrative Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[patentcourt-15] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Organisation". www.bundespatentgericht.ch. Swiss Federal Patent Court. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[snb-16] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Governing Board". www.snb.ch. Swiss National Bank. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[17] "Board of Directors". www.sbb.ch. Swiss Federal Railways. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[18] "Swiss Post Board of Directors". www.post.ch. Swiss Post. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[19] "Members of ETH Board". www.ethrat.ch. ETH Board. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

[20] "City Council". www.bern.ch. City of Bern. Retrieved 6 May 2018.

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