Claude Janiak is a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 politician of Polish origin, lawyer and President of the Swiss National Council for the 2005/2006 term. Member of the Social Democratic Party (SPS)

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

, he was elected to the National Council in 1999 in the canton of Basel-Land and reelected in 2003. In 2007, he was elected to the Swiss Council of States

Swiss Council of States

The Council of States of Switzerland is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors....

.

He studied law at the University of Basel

University of Basel

The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...

 (1967-1971) and in London. In 1975, he completed his doctorate degree. He is attorney-at-law in Binningen since 1978. From 1991, he is a member of the board of the cantonal bank of Basel-Land (Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank).

He was a member of the cantonal parliament of Basel-Land (1981-1987 and 1994-1999, president 1998/1999), of the city parliament of Binningen (1988-1995), and of the executive of Bubendorf

Bubendorf

Bubendorf is a municipality in the district of Liestal in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.-Geography:Bubendorf has an area, , of . Of this area, or 38.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 46.1% is forested...

 (1976-1979).

Born in Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 of Polish father and a Swiss mother, he acquired Swiss citizenship only in 1956 (he's also a Polish citizen since birth). Today, he is a citizen of Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 and Binningen.

He was the first openly homosexual President of the Swiss National Council.

External links

• Janiak Freivogel und Partner - attorneys-at-law