CEDAW/C/CHE/CO/4-5
(b) Enhance efforts to develop a public information campaign on the
Convention and raise awareness among women, including women belonging to
disadvantaged groups, especially migrant, asylum-seeking, refugee and
minority women, as well as women with disabilities, about their rights under
the Convention and corresponding remedies;
(c) Take the legislative measures necessary to give full effect to the
rights under the Convention within the national legal order and promote the
justiciability of such rights;
(d) Promote capacity-building programmes for judges, prosecutors and
lawyers on the Convention, the Optional Protocol thereto, the Committee’s
general recommendations, the Committee’s recommendations on the reporting
procedure and the Committee’s views on individual communications, as well as
inquiry and reporting procedure findings, and enable them to directly apply or
invoke, respectively, those instruments in national courts and in order to
interpret national legislation accordingly.
Application of the Convention under the federal system
12. The Committee appreciates the explanation provided during the dialogue with
the State party in relation to the direct applicability of the Conventio n, but reiterates
its concern (see CEDAW/C/CHE/CO/3, para. 15) that, in accordance with the
principle of monism, the decision to directly apply provisions of the Convention is
at the discretion of the Federal Court and other judicial authorities at the federal and
cantonal levels.
13. The
Committee
reiterates
its
previous
recommendation
(see
CEDAW/C/CHE/CO/3, para. 16) that the State party conduct awarenessraising campaigns about the Convention aimed at the judiciary, legal
professionals and the general public. The Committee also encourages the State
party to provide systematic training to the judiciary, law enforcement officials
and legal professionals on the Convention, with a view to encouraging them to
use the Convention in judicial and administrative proceedings.
Legislative framework
14. The Committee notes as positive the decision taken by the Federal Court to
analyse in detail the State party’s obligations arising from article 2 (a) of the
Convention and from the Committee’s previous concluding observations.
Nevertheless, the Committee regrets that the scope of the definitions of
discrimination against women and equality of women and men, as app lied by the
Court, remains unchanged and that the “Constitution does not confer any right to
establish equality ‘in fact’ (de facto)”. It is further concerned that, although article 8
of the new Constitution provides for a broad definition of the principle of equality,
it is inadequately applied.
15. In accordance with the State party’s obligations under the Convention
and in line with target 5.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, to end all
forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, the Committee
reiterates its previous recommendation (see CEDAW/C/CHE/CO/3, para. 18)
that the State party take steps to ensure that the principles of equality of
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