This article reviews the prevailing narrative in Switzerland on the relative openness of the Swiss Federal Constitution towards international law. Two aspects of the topic – which are interlinked – are distinguished: entering international legal obligations on the one hand and reception of international law by the domestic legal order on the other. The article argues that the relationship between the two resembles the relationship between two corresponding pools of water. Generosity in one field leads to restraint in the other. The interplay of all relevant rules aims to find a workable balance between the reliability of Switzerland in external relations in one respect and domestic expectations of high democratic legitimacy of law in another. The article states that the hurdles with respect to entering new obligations are high. Direct democracy constitutes a very substantive obstacle. Reception of international law by the domestic legal order, in contrast, is relatively generous due to the “moderate monism” of the Swiss Federal Constitution. This
monism is relativised to some extent, however, by the restrained Swiss practice with respect to the “self-executing” character of norms of international law and the rules and practice concerning collisions of international law with domestic rules. In sum, the well-established Swiss narrative substantively belittles the high hurdles for entering new obligations and needs some correction.
