La mise en oeuvre de la Convention relative aux droits de l’enfant par les villes et les communes suisses (Nula Frei)

International treaties are ratified by the Swiss Confederation alone, but are binding on all levels of government. Even though municipalities are the level of government closest to the citizens, and human rights are relevant to many areas that lie within municipal competences (such as education, public transport, water and energy supply, urban planning or the environment), legal doctrine has so far hardly examined the role of the local level in the implementation of human rights obligations. This article looks at the particular importance of a specific human rights treaty for municipalities, namely the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The article analyzes the legal framework for the implementation of the CRC by the municipalities in Switzerland and undertakes a comprehensive analysis of all guarantees of the CRC and the respective recommendations of the Child Rights Committee that fall into the competences of the municipalities. It also develops a proposal on how the four fundamental principles of the CRC can be anchored in municipal law.