Judith Schmutz (; born 1996) is a Swiss lawyer and politician who served as president of the

Cantonal Council of Lucerne The Cantonal Council of Lucerne (Germany, German: ''Luzerner Kantonsrat'') respectively until 2007 Grand Council of Lucerne (German language, German: ''Luzerner Grossrat'') is the legislature of the Canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The Cantonal ...

from 2023 until 2024. She was the youngest president of the council in the canton's history, and one of the youngest in all of Switzerland. Schmutz served on the cantonal council from 2019 until her resignation in 2024 representing the Hochdorf District.

Early life and education

Schmutz was born in 1996 in

Müllheim, Switzerland Müllheim () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Frauenfeld District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Müllheim is first mentioned in 1254 as ''Mulhain''. In the 13th and 14th Centuries th ...

, to Jürg and Beate Schmutz. She grew up in the

Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

until 2007, when her family moved to

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

in the

Canton of Lucerne The canton of Lucerne ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Switzerland. It is located in the country's central, German-speaking Switzerland, German-speaking part. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the population included 57 ...

after her father became the state archivist. Schmutz attended the and spent an exchange year in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. She later received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree from the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

and a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree from the

University of Lucerne The University of Lucerne (UNILU; German: ''Universität Luzern'') is a public university with a campus in Lucerne, Switzerland. 1,460 undergraduates and 1,258 postgraduate students attend the university, which makes it Switzerland's smallest un ...

. After receiving her master's degree, Schmutz became an intern at the Hochdorf District Court and later joined a law firm in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

Political career

Inspired by her experiences in the United States, Schmutz joined the

Green Party of Switzerland The Green Party of Switzerland (; ; ; ) is a green political party in Switzerland. It is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council. History The first ...

at age 16 and became politically active. She was a member of the Lucerne

youth parliament Youth councils, also known as youth cabinets, youth assemblies or youth parliaments, are a form of youth voice engaged in community decision-making. They are appointed or elected bodies that exist on local, state, provincial, regional, national, ...

from 2014 until 2018, and was a national co-president of the from 2016 until 2018. She also became a board member of the local branch of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

in 2020. Schmutz was elected to the

in the 2019 elections, representing the Hochdorf constituency. While in the council, she spoke against a proposal which would allocate 500 million

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

for the construction of new roads in Lucerne, arguing that the canton should focus on

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

instead. She also accused the cantonal government of lowering benchmark targets to signal to the national government that public transportation was not a major issue in Lucerne. Schmutz was vice president of the cantonal council from 2022 until 2023. She was re-elected to the council in the 2023 elections, receiving the highest number of votes on the Green Party list. On 19 June 2023, Schmutz was elected to a one-year term as president of the Lucerne Cantonal Council, receiving 93 out of 116 councillor votes. Aged 26, she became the youngest council president in the canton's history, and one of the youngest in all of Switzerland. She left the role at the end of her term on 30 June 2024. Schmutz resigned from the cantonal council on 28 October 2024, citing professional obligations.

Early life and education

Political career

References

Further reading