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Swiss Criminal Code

The Federal Assembly the Swiss Confederation,

based on Article 123 paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Federal Constitution1,2
and having considered a Federal Council Dispatch dated 23 July 19183,

decrees:

1SR 101

2 Amended by No I of the FA of 30 Sept. 2011 in force since 1 July 2012 (AS 20122575; BBl 2010 56515677).

3BBl 1918 IV 1

Book One: General Provisions4

4 Amended by No I of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Part One: Felonies and Misdemeanours

Title One: Scope of Application

Art. 1

1. No pen­alty without a law

 

A pen­alty or meas­ure may only be im­posed for an act that has been ex­pressly de­clared to be an of­fence by law.

Art. 2

2. Com­mence­ment of ap­plic­ab­il­ity of the Code

 

1 This Code ap­plies to any per­son who com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our fol­low­ing the date on which it comes in­to force.

2 Any per­son who com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our pri­or to this Code com­ing in­to force is only sub­ject to its terms in the event that the pen­alty here­un­der is less than the pen­alty that would oth­er­wise ap­ply.

Art. 3

3. Ter­rit­ori­al scope of ap­plic­a­tion

Felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours in Switzer­land

 

1 Any per­son who com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our in Switzer­land is sub­ject to this Code.

2 If the per­son con­cerned has served a sen­tence in full or in part for the of­fence in an­oth­er coun­try, the Swiss court must take the sen­tence served in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the sen­tence to be im­posed.

3 If the per­son con­cerned has been pro­sec­uted in a for­eign coun­try at the re­quest of the Swiss au­thor­it­ies, then un­less the of­fence in­volves a gross vi­ol­a­tion of the prin­ciples of the Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion or the Con­ven­tion from 4 Novem­ber 19505 for the pro­tec­tion of Hu­man Rights and Fun­da­ment­al Freedoms (ECHR), he is not pro­sec­uted in Switzer­land for the same of­fence if:

a.
the for­eign court has ac­quit­ted him and the judg­ment has taken full leg­al ef­fect;
b.
the pen­alty to which he had been sen­tenced in the for­eign coun­try has been served, re­mit­ted or be­come time-barred.

4 If the per­son pro­sec­uted abroad at the re­quest of the Swiss au­thor­it­ies has not served the sen­tence or has only served it in part, the whole sen­tence or the re­mainder shall be served in Switzer­land. The court de­cides wheth­er a meas­ure that has not been ex­ecuted abroad or has only been served in part must be ex­ecuted or con­tin­ued in Switzer­land.

Art. 4

Felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours against the state com­mit­ted abroad

 

1 This Code also ap­plies to any per­son who com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our against the state or its na­tion­al se­cur­ity (Art. 265–278).

2 If the per­son con­cerned has been con­victed of the of­fence and has served the sen­tence in full or in part in an­oth­er coun­try, the court shall take the sen­tence served in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the sen­tence to be im­posed.

Art. 5

Of­fences against minors abroad

 

1 This Code also ap­plies to any per­son who is in Switzer­land, is not be­ing ex­tra­dited and has com­mit­ted any of the fol­low­ing of­fences abroad:

a.7
traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings (Art. 182), in­de­cent as­sault (Art. 189 paras 2 and 3), rape (Art. 190 paras 2 and 3), ab­use of per­sons in­cap­able of prop­er judg­ment or res­ist­ance (Art. 191) or en­cour­aging pros­ti­tu­tion (Art. 195) if the vic­tim was less than 18 years of age;
abis.8
sexu­al acts with de­pend­ent per­sons (Art. 188) and sexu­al acts with minors against pay­ment (Art. 196);
b.
sexu­al acts with chil­dren (Art. 187) if the vic­tim was less than 14 years of age;
c.9
ag­grav­ated por­no­graphy (Art. 197 para. 3 and 4) if the items or re­cord­ings de­pict sexu­al acts with minors.

2 Un­less the of­fence in­volves a gross vi­ol­a­tion of the prin­ciples of the Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion and the ECHR10, the per­son con­cerned is not li­able to fur­ther pro­sec­u­tion in Switzer­land for the of­fence if:

a.
he has been ac­quit­ted of the of­fence abroad in a leg­ally bind­ing judg­ment;
b.
the sen­tence that was im­posed abroad has been served, re­mit­ted, or be­come time-barred.

3 If the per­son con­cerned has been con­victed of the of­fence abroad and if the sen­tence im­posed abroad has been partly served, the court shall take the part served in­to ac­count in the sen­tence to be im­posed. The court de­cides wheth­er a meas­ure ordered abroad but only partly ex­ecuted there must be con­tin­ued or taken in­to ac­count in the sen­tence im­posed in Switzer­land.

7 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

8 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 1 of the FedD of 27 Sept. 2013 (Lan­zarote Con­ven­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 1159; BBl 2012 7571).

9 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FedD of 27 Sept. 2013 (Lan­zarote Con­ven­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 1159; BBl 2012 7571).

10 SR 0.101

Art. 6

Of­fences com­mit­ted abroad pro­sec­uted in terms of an in­ter­na­tion­al ob­lig­a­tion

 

1 Any per­son who com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our abroad that Switzer­land is ob­liged to pro­sec­ute in terms of an in­ter­na­tion­al con­ven­tion is sub­ject to this Code provided:

a.
the act is also li­able to pro­sec­u­tion at the place of com­mis­sion or no crim­in­al law jur­is­dic­tion ap­plies at the place of com­mis­sion; and
b.
the per­son con­cerned re­mains in Switzer­land and is not ex­tra­dited to the for­eign coun­try.

2 The court de­term­ines the sen­tence so that over­all the per­son con­cerned is not treated more severely than would have been the case un­der the law at the place of com­mis­sion.

3 Un­less the of­fence in­volves a gross vi­ol­a­tion of the prin­ciples of the Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion and of the ECHR11, the per­son con­cerned is not li­able to fur­ther pro­sec­u­tion in Switzer­land if:

a.
he has been ac­quit­ted of the of­fence abroad in a leg­ally bind­ing judg­ment;
b.
the sen­tence that was im­posed abroad has been served, re­mit­ted, or be­come time-barred.

4 If the per­son con­cerned has been con­victed of the of­fence abroad and if the sen­tence im­posed abroad has been partly served, the court shall take the part served in­to ac­count in the sen­tence to be im­posed. The court de­cides wheth­er a meas­ure ordered abroad but only partly ex­ecuted there must be con­tin­ued or taken in­to ac­count in the sen­tence im­posed in Switzer­land.

Art. 7

Oth­er of­fences com­mit­ted abroad

 

1 Any per­son who com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our abroad where the re­quire­ments of Art­icles 4, 5 or 6 are not ful­filled is sub­ject to this Code if:

a.
the of­fence is also li­able to pro­sec­u­tion at the place of com­mis­sion or the place of com­mis­sion is not sub­ject to crim­in­al law jur­is­dic­tion;
b.
the per­son con­cerned is in Switzer­land or is ex­tra­dited to Switzer­land due to the of­fence; and
c.
un­der Swiss law ex­tra­di­tion is per­mit­ted for the of­fence, but the per­son con­cerned is not be­ing ex­tra­dited.

2 If the per­son con­cerned is not Swiss and if the felony or mis­de­mean­our was not com­mit­ted against a Swiss per­son, para­graph 1 is ap­plic­able only if:

a.
the re­quest for ex­tra­di­tion was re­fused for a reas­on un­re­lated to the nature of the of­fence; or
b.
the of­fend­er has com­mit­ted a par­tic­u­larly ser­i­ous felony that is pro­scribed by the in­ter­na­tion­al com­munity.

3 The court shall de­term­ine the sen­tence so that over­all the per­son con­cerned is not treated more severely than would have been the case un­der the law at the place of com­mis­sion.

4 Un­less the of­fence in­volves a gross vi­ol­a­tion of the prin­ciples of the Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion and the ECHR12, the per­son con­cerned is not li­able to fur­ther pro­sec­u­tion in Switzer­land for the of­fence if:

a.
he has been ac­quit­ted of the of­fence abroad in a leg­ally bind­ing judg­ment;
b.
the sen­tence that was im­posed abroad has been served, re­mit­ted, or be­come time-barred.

5 If the per­son con­cerned has been con­victed of the of­fence abroad and if the sen­tence im­posed abroad has been partly served, the court shall take the part served in­to ac­count in the sen­tence to be im­posed. The court de­cides wheth­er a meas­ure ordered abroad but only partly ex­ecuted there must be con­tin­ued or taken in­to ac­count in the sen­tence im­posed in Switzer­land.

Art. 8

Place of com­mis­sion

 

1 A felony or mis­de­mean­our is con­sidered to be com­mit­ted at the place where the per­son con­cerned com­mits it or un­law­fully omits to act, and at the place where the of­fence has taken ef­fect

2 An at­temp­ted of­fence is con­sidered to be com­mit­ted at the place where the per­son con­cerned at­temp­ted it and at the place where he in­ten­ded the of­fence to take ef­fect.

Art. 9

4. Per­son­al scope of ap­plic­a­tion

 

1 This Code does not ap­ply to per­sons whose of­fences are sub­ject to mil­it­ary crim­in­al law.

2 For per­sons who have not at­tained the age of 18 at the time of the of­fence, the pro­vi­sions of the Ju­ven­ile Crim­in­al Law Act of 20 June 200313 (JCLA) are re­served. Where an of­fence com­mit­ted be­fore and after at­tain­ing the age of 18 must be judged, Art­icle 3 para­graph 2 JCLA ap­plies.14

13 SR 311.1

14 Amended by Art. 44 No 1 of the Ju­ven­ile Crim­in­al Law Act of 20 June 2003, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20063545; BBl 1999 1979).

Title Two: Criminal Liability

Art. 10

1. Felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours

Defin­i­tion

 

1 In this Code, felon­ies are dis­tin­guished from mis­de­mean­ours ac­cord­ing to the sever­ity of the pen­al­ties that the of­fence car­ries.

2 Felon­ies are of­fences that carry a cus­todi­al sen­tence of more than three years.

3 Mis­de­mean­ours are of­fences that carry a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 11

Com­mis­sion by omis­sion

 

1 A felony or mis­de­mean­our may also be com­mit­ted by a fail­ure to com­ply with a duty to act.

2 A per­son fails to com­ply with a duty to act if he does not pre­vent a leg­al in­terest pro­tec­ted un­der crim­in­al law from be­ing ex­posed to danger or from be­ing harmed even though, due to his leg­al po­s­i­tion, he has a duty to do so, in par­tic­u­lar on the basis of:

a.
the law;
b.
a con­tract;
c.
a risk-bear­ing com­munity entered in­to vol­un­tar­ily; or
d.
the cre­ation of a risk.

3 Any per­son who fails to com­ply with a duty to act shall be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion only if, on the basis of the ele­ments of the of­fence con­cerned, his con­duct is, in the cir­cum­stances, as culp­able as it would have been had he act­ively com­mit­ted the of­fence.

4 The court may re­duce the sen­tence.

Art. 12

2. In­ten­tion and neg­li­gence

Defin­i­tions

 

1 Un­less the law ex­pressly provides oth­er­wise, a per­son is only li­able to pro­sec­u­tion for a felony or mis­de­mean­our if he com­mits it wil­fully.

2 A per­son com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our wil­fully if he car­ries out the act in the know­ledge of what he is do­ing and in ac­cord­ance with his will. A per­son acts wil­fully as soon as he re­gards the real­isa­tion of the act as be­ing pos­sible and ac­cepts this.

3 A per­son com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our through neg­li­gence if he fails to con­sider or dis­reg­ards the con­sequences of his con­duct due to a culp­able lack of care. A lack of care is culp­able if the per­son fails to ex­er­cise the care that is in­cum­bent on him in the cir­cum­stances and com­men­sur­ate with his per­son­al cap­ab­il­it­ies.

Art. 13

Er­ror of fact

 

1 If the per­son con­cerned acts un­der an er­ro­neous be­lief as to the cir­cum­stances, the court shall judge the act ac­cord­ing to the cir­cum­stances as the of­fend­er be­lieved them to be.

2 If the per­son con­cerned could have avoided the er­ror had he ex­er­cised due care, he shall be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion for his neg­li­gent act provided the neg­li­gent com­mis­sion of the act is an of­fence.

Art. 14

3. Law­ful acts and guilt

Act per­mit­ted by law

 

Any per­son who acts as re­quired or per­mit­ted by the law, acts law­fully even if the act car­ries a pen­alty un­der this Code or an­oth­er Act.

Art. 15

Le­git­im­ate self-de­fence

 

If any per­son is un­law­fully at­tacked or threatened with im­min­ent at­tack, the per­son at­tacked and any oth­er per­son are en­titled to ward off the at­tack by means that are reas­on­able in the cir­cum­stances.

Art. 16

Mit­ig­at­ory self-de­fence

 

1 If a per­son in de­fend­ing him­self ex­ceeds the lim­its of self-de­fence as defined in Art­icle 15 and in do­ing so com­mits an of­fence, the court shall re­duce the sen­tence.

2 If a per­son in de­fend­ing him­self ex­ceeds the lim­its of self-de­fence as a res­ult of ex­cus­able ex­cite­ment or pan­ic in re­ac­tion to the at­tack, he does not com­mit an of­fence.

Art. 17

Le­git­im­ate act in a situ­ation of ne­ces­sity

 

Any per­son who car­ries out an act that car­ries a crim­in­al pen­alty in or­der to save a leg­al in­terest of his own or of an­oth­er from im­me­di­ate and not oth­er­wise avert­able danger, acts law­fully if by do­ing so he safe­guards in­terests of high­er value.

Art. 18

Mit­ig­at­ory act in a situ­ation of ne­ces­sity

 

1 Any per­son who car­ries out an act that car­ries a crim­in­al pen­alty in or­der to save him­self or an­oth­er from im­me­di­ate and not oth­er­wise avert­able danger to life or limb, free­dom, hon­our, prop­erty or oth­er in­terests of high value shall re­ceive a re­duced pen­alty if he could reas­on­ably have been ex­pec­ted to aban­don the en­dangered in­terest.

2 If the per­son con­cerned could not have been reas­on­ably ex­pec­ted to aban­don the en­dangered in­terest, he does not com­mit an of­fence.

Art. 19

Ab­sence of leg­al re­spons­ib­il­ity due to a men­tal dis­order and di­min­ished re­spons­ib­il­ity

 

1 If the per­son con­cerned was un­able at the time of the act to ap­pre­ci­ate that his act was wrong or to act in ac­cord­ance with this ap­pre­ci­ation of the act, he is not li­able to a pen­alty.

2 If the per­son con­cerned was only par­tially able at the time of the act to ap­pre­ci­ate that his act was wrong or to act in ac­cord­ance with this ap­pre­ci­ation of the act, the court shall re­duce the sen­tence.

3 Meas­ures in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 59–61, 63, 64, 67, 67b and 67e may, however, be taken.15

4 If it was pos­sible for the per­son con­cerned to avoid his state of men­tal in­ca­pa­city or di­min­ished re­spons­ib­il­ity and had he done so to fore­see the act that may be com­mit­ted in that state, para­graphs 1–3 do not ap­ply.

15 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

Art. 20

Doubt as to leg­al re­spons­ib­il­ity

 

If there are ser­i­ous grounds for be­liev­ing that the ac­cused may not be leg­ally re­spons­ible due to a men­tal dis­order, the in­vest­ig­at­ing au­thor­ity or the court shall or­der a spe­cial­ist re­port from an ex­pert.

Art. 21

Er­ror as to un­law­ful­ness

 

Any per­son who is not and can­not be aware that, by car­ry­ing out an act, he is act­ing un­law­fully, does not com­mit an of­fence. If the er­ror was avoid­able, the court shall re­duce the sen­tence.

Art. 22

4. At­tempts

Crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity for at­tempts

 

1 If, hav­ing em­barked on com­mit­ting a felony or mis­de­mean­our, the of­fend­er does not com­plete the crim­in­al act or if the res­ult re­quired to com­plete the act is not or can­not be achieved, the court may re­duce the pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er fails to re­cog­nise through a ser­i­ous lack of judge­ment that the act can­not un­der any cir­cum­stances be com­pleted due to the nature of the ob­ject­ive or the means used to achieve it, no pen­alty is im­posed.

Art. 23

With­draw­al and act­ive re­pent­ance

 

1 If the per­son con­cerned of his own ac­cord does not com­plete the crim­in­al act or if he as­sists in pre­vent­ing the com­ple­tion of the act, the court may re­duce the sen­tence or waive any pen­alty.

2 If two or more per­sons carry out or par­ti­cip­ate in a crim­in­al act, the court may re­duce the sen­tence or waive any pen­alty in re­spect of any per­son con­cerned who, of his own ac­cord, as­sists in pre­vent­ing the com­ple­tion of the act.

3 The court may also re­duce the sen­tence or waive any pen­alty in re­spect of a per­son who with­draws from car­ry­ing out or par­ti­cip­at­ing in a crim­in­al act if the with­draw­al of the per­son con­cerned would have pre­ven­ted the com­ple­tion of the act had it not re­mained un­com­pleted for oth­er reas­ons.

4 If one or more of the per­sons car­ry­ing out or par­ti­cip­at­ing in a crim­in­al act makes a ser­i­ous ef­fort to pre­vent the com­ple­tion of the act, the court may re­duce the sen­tence or waive any pen­alty if an of­fence is com­mit­ted ir­re­spect­ive of the ef­forts of that per­son or per­sons.

Art. 24

5. Par­ti­cip­a­tion

In­cite­ment

 

1 Any per­son who has wil­fully in­cited an­oth­er to com­mit a felony or a mis­de­mean­our, provided the of­fence is com­mit­ted, in­curs the same pen­alty as ap­plies to the per­son who has com­mit­ted the of­fence.

2 Any per­son who at­tempts to in­cite someone to com­mit a felony in­curs the pen­alty ap­plic­able to an at­tempt to com­mit that felony.

Art. 25

Com­pli­city

 

Any per­son who wil­fully as­sists an­oth­er to com­mit a felony or a mis­de­mean­our shall be li­able to a re­duced pen­alty.

Art. 26

Par­ti­cip­a­tion in a spe­cial of­fence

 

If crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity is es­tab­lished or in­creased by a spe­cial ob­lig­a­tion on the part of the of­fend­er, a par­ti­cipant shall be li­able to a re­duced pen­alty.

Art. 27

Per­son­al cir­cum­stances

 

Spe­cial per­son­al con­di­tions, char­ac­ter­ist­ics and cir­cum­stances that in­crease, re­duce or ex­clude crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity are taken in­to ac­count in the case of­fend­ers or par­ti­cipants to which they ap­ply.

Art. 28

6. Crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity of the me­dia

 

1 If an of­fence is com­mit­ted and com­pleted through pub­lic­a­tion in a me­di­um, then, sub­ject to the fol­low­ing pro­vi­sions, only the au­thor shall be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion.

2 If the au­thor can­not be iden­ti­fied or if he can­not be brought to court in Switzer­land, then the ed­it­or re­spons­ible in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 322bis shall be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion. If there is no re­spons­ible ed­it­or, then the per­son re­spons­ible for pub­lic­a­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 322bis shall be li­able for pro­sec­u­tion.

3 If the pub­lic­a­tion has taken place without the know­ledge or against the will of the au­thor, then the ed­it­or or, in his ab­sence, the per­son re­spons­ible for pub­lic­a­tion shall be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion as the of­fend­er.

4 The ac­cur­ate re­port­ing of pub­lic talks and of­fi­cial com­mu­nic­a­tions from a pub­lic au­thor­ity may not be made sub­ject to pro­sec­u­tion.

Art. 28a

Pro­tec­tion of sources

 

1 If per­sons who are pro­fes­sion­ally in­volved in the pub­lic­a­tion of in­form­a­tion in the ed­it­or­i­al sec­tion of a peri­od­ic­al me­di­um or their aux­il­i­ary per­son­nel re­fuse to give evid­ence as to the iden­tity of the au­thor or as to the con­tent and sources of their in­form­a­tion, they are not li­able to any pen­alty nor to any pro­ced­ur­al law en­force­ment meas­ures.

2 Para­graph 1 does not ap­ply if the court16 holds that:

a.
the evid­ence is re­quired in or­der to save a per­son from im­me­di­ate danger to life or limb; or
b.17
without the evid­ence, a case of hom­icide un­der Art­icles 111–113 or a dif­fer­ent felony that car­ries a min­im­um cus­todi­al sen­tence of three years, or an of­fence un­der Art­icles 187, 189–191, 197 para­graph 4, 260ter,260quin­quies, 260sex­ies,305bis, 305ter or 322ter–322sep­tiesof this Code or un­der Art­icle 19 para­graph 2 of the Nar­cot­ics Act of 3 Oc­to­ber 195118 will not be solved or the per­sons sus­pec­ted of com­mit­ting the said of­fence may not be ap­pre­hen­ded.

16 Term in ac­cord­ance with No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827). This change has been made in the pro­vi­sions spe­cified in the AS.

17 Amended by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

18 SR 812.121

Art. 29

7. Agency re­la­tion­ships

 

A spe­cial ob­lig­a­tion, the vi­ol­a­tion of which es­tab­lishes or in­creases crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity, and which is in­cum­bent only on the leg­al en­tity, the com­pany or the sole pro­pri­et­or­ship19, is at­trib­uted to a nat­ur­al per­son, if that per­son acts:

a.
as a gov­ern­ing of­ficer or as a mem­ber of a gov­ern­ing of­ficer of a leg­al en­tity;
b.
as a part­ner;
c.
as an em­ploy­ee with in­de­pend­ent de­cision-mak­ing au­thor­ity in his field of activ­ity with­in a leg­al en­tity, a com­pany or a sole pro­pri­et­or­ship20; or
d.
without be­ing a gov­ern­ing of­ficer, mem­ber of a gov­ern­ing of­ficer, part­ner or em­ploy­ee, as the de facto man­ager.

19 Foot­note rel­ev­ant to Ger­man text only.

20 Foot­note rel­ev­ant to Ger­man text only.

Art. 30

8. Crim­in­al com­plaint

Right to file a com­plaint

 

1 If an act shall be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion only if a com­plaint is filed, any per­son who suf­fers harm due to the act may re­quest that the per­son re­spons­ible be pro­sec­uted.

2 If the per­son suf­fer­ing harm does not have the leg­al ca­pa­city to act, his leg­al rep­res­ent­at­ive is en­titled to file a com­plaint. If he is un­der guard­i­an­ship or sub­ject to a gen­er­al deputy­ship, the adult pro­tec­tion au­thor­ity is also en­titled to file a com­plaint.21

3 If the per­son suf­fer­ing harm is a minor or if he is sub­ject to a gen­er­al deputy­ship, he is en­titled to file a com­plaint if he is cap­able of judge­ment.22

4 If the per­son suf­fer­ing harm dies without fil­ing the crim­in­al com­plaint or without ex­pressly waiv­ing his right to file the crim­in­al com­plaint, his next of kin are en­titled to file the com­plaint.

5 If an en­titled per­son ex­pressly waives his right to file a com­plaint, his waiver is fi­nal.

21 Second sen­tence amended by An­nex No 14 of the FA of 19 Dec. 2008 (Adult Pro­tec­tion, Law of Per­sons and Law of Chil­dren), in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2011 725; BBl 20067001).

22 Amended by An­nex No 14 of the FA of 19 Dec. 2008 (Adult Pro­tec­tion, Law of Per­sons and Law of Chil­dren), in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2011 725; BBl 20067001).

Art. 31

Time lim­it for fil­ing a com­plaint

 

The right to file a com­plaint ex­pires after three months. The peri­od be­gins on the day that the per­son en­titled to file a com­plaint dis­cov­ers the iden­tity of sus­pect.

Art. 32

In­di­vis­ib­il­ity

 

If an en­titled per­son files a com­plaint against one per­son who par­ti­cip­ated in the act, all the par­ti­cipants be­come li­able to pro­sec­u­tion.

Art. 33

With­draw­al of a com­plaint

 

1 The per­son en­titled to file a com­plaint may with­draw the com­plaint at any time be­fore no­tice is giv­en of the judg­ment of the second can­ton­al in­stance.

2 Any per­son who has with­drawn his com­plaint may not file it again.

3 If the en­titled per­son with­draws his com­plaint against one sus­pect, the with­draw­al ap­plies to all sus­pects.

4 If a sus­pect ob­jects to the with­draw­al of the com­plaint against him, the with­draw­al does not ap­ply to him.

Title Three: Sentences and Measures

Chapter One: Sentences

Section One: Monetary Penalties and Custodial Sentences 23

23 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amendments to the Law of Criminal Sanctions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 34

1. Mon­et­ary pen­alty

As­sess­ment

 

1 Un­less the law provides oth­er­wise, a mon­et­ary pen­alty amounts to a min­im­um of three and a max­im­um of 180 daily pen­alty units.24 The court de­cides on the num­ber ac­cord­ing to the culp­ab­il­ity of the of­fend­er.

2 A daily pen­alty unit nor­mally amounts to a min­im­um of 30 francs and a max­im­um of 3000 francs.25 The court may re­duce the value of the daily pen­alty unit to 10 francs if the of­fend­er’s per­son­al or fin­an­cial cir­cum­stances so re­quire.26 It may de­cide on a value in ex­cess of the max­im­um value of the daily pen­alty unit if the law so per­mits. It de­cides on the value of the daily pen­alty unit ac­cord­ing to the per­son­al and fin­an­cial cir­cum­stances of the of­fend­er at the time of con­vic­tion, and in par­tic­u­lar ac­cord­ing to his in­come and cap­it­al, liv­ing ex­penses, any main­ten­ance or sup­port ob­lig­a­tions and the min­im­um sub­sist­ence level.27

3 The au­thor­it­ies of the Con­fed­er­a­tion, the can­tons and the com­munes shall provide the in­form­a­tion re­quired to de­term­ine the daily pen­alty unit.

4 The num­ber and value of the daily pen­alty units must be stated in the judg­ment.

24 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

25 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

26 Second and third sen­tences amended by An­nex No 5 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (Com­pany Law), in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2020 4005; 2022 109; BBl 2017 399).

27 Forth sen­tence in­ser­ted by by An­nex No 5 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (Com­pany Law), in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2020 4005; 2022 109; BBl 2017 399).

Art. 35

Ex­e­cu­tion

 

1 The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity shall spe­cify that the of­fend­er make pay­ment with­in a peri­od of between one and six months.28 It may stip­u­late pay­ment by in­stal­ments and on re­quest may ex­tend the peri­od al­lowed.


2 If there is jus­ti­fied sus­pi­cion that the of­fend­er will fail to pay the mon­et­ary pen­alty, the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may re­quest im­me­di­ate pay­ment or the pro­vi­sion of se­cur­ity.

3 If the of­fend­er fails to pay the mon­et­ary pen­alty with­in the spe­cified peri­od, the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity shall in­struct the debt col­lec­tion pro­ceed­ings provided their suc­cess is ex­pec­ted.

28 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 36

Al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence

 

1 In the event that the of­fend­er fails to pay the mon­et­ary pen­alty and it is not re­cov­er­able through debt col­lec­tion pro­ced­ures (Art. 35 para. 3), the of­fend­er shall serve a cus­todi­al sen­tence as the al­tern­at­ive to the mon­et­ary pen­alty. A daily pen­alty unit cor­res­ponds to one day in cus­tody. The ret­ro­spect­ive pay­ment of the mon­et­ary pen­alty leads to a cor­res­pond­ing re­duc­tion in the al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence.

2 If the mon­et­ary pen­alty has been im­posed by an ad­min­is­trat­ive au­thor­ity, the court de­cides on the al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence.

3–5 ...29

29 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 37–3930

2. ...

 

30 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 4031

3. Cus­todi­al sen­tence

Term

 

1 The min­im­um term of a cus­todi­al sen­tence is three days; a short­er cus­todi­al sen­tence in lieu of an un­paid mon­et­ary pen­alty (Art. 36) or fine (Art. 106) is re­served.

2 The max­im­um term of a cus­todi­al sen­tence is 20 years. Where the law ex­pressly provides, the cus­todi­al sen­tence is for life

31 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 4132

Cus­todi­al sen­tence in­stead of a mon­et­ary pen­alty

 

1 The court may im­pose a cus­todi­al sen­tence in­stead of a mon­et­ary pen­alty if:

a.
a cus­todi­al sen­tence ap­pears ap­pro­pri­ate in or­der to pre­vent the of­fend­er from com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours; or
b.
it is an­ti­cip­ated that it will not be pos­sible to en­force a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The court must ex­plain why it has de­cided to im­pose a cus­todi­al sen­tence.

3 The right is re­served to im­pose a cus­todi­al sen­tence in­stead of an un­paid mon­et­ary pen­alty (Art. 36).

32 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Section Two: Suspended and Partially Suspended Sentences

Art. 42

1. Sus­pen­ded sen­tences

 

1 The court shall nor­mally sus­pend the ex­e­cu­tion of a mon­et­ary pen­alty or a cus­todi­al sen­tence of no more than two years un­less an un­sus­pen­ded sen­tence ap­pears to be ne­ces­sary in or­der to pre­vent the of­fend­er from com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours.33

2 If the of­fend­er re­ceived a sus­pen­ded or un­sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence of more than six months with­in the five years pri­or to the of­fence, the sen­tence may only be sus­pen­ded where the cir­cum­stances are es­pe­cially fa­vour­able.34

3 The sus­pen­sion of the ex­e­cu­tion of a sen­tence may also be re­fused if the of­fend­er has failed to make a reas­on­able ef­fort to com­pensate for any loss or dam­age he may have caused.

4 A sus­pen­ded sen­tence may be com­bined with a fine in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 106.35

33 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

34 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

35 Amended by No I of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 43

2. Par­tially sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tences

 

1 The court may par­tially sus­pend the ex­e­cu­tion of a cus­todi­al sen­tence of at least one year and no more than three years if this is ne­ces­sary in or­der to take suf­fi­cient ac­count of the culp­ab­il­ity of the of­fend­er.37

2 The part of the sen­tence that must be ex­ecuted im­me­di­ately may not ex­ceed one half of the sen­tence.

3 Both the sus­pen­ded and the un­sus­pen­ded part must amount to at least six months.38 The pro­vi­sions on the grant­ing of pa­role (Art. 86) do not ap­ply to the un­sus­pen­ded part of the sen­tence.

37 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

38 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 44

3. Gen­er­al pro­vi­sions

Pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od

 

1 If the court sus­pends the ex­e­cu­tion of a sen­tence in full or in part, it shall make the of­fend­er sub­ject to a pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od of from two to five years.

2 The court may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and im­pose con­duct or­ders for the dur­a­tion of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od.

3 The court shall ex­plain the im­port­ance and the con­sequences of the sus­pen­ded and par­tially sus­pen­ded sen­tence to the of­fend­er.

4 The pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od be­gins on no­ti­fic­a­tion of the judg­ment that is en­force­able.39

39 In­ser­ted by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, in force since 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

Art. 45

Suc­cess­ful com­ple­tion of pro­ba­tion

 

If the of­fend­er is of good con­duct un­til the ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, the post­poned sen­tence is not ex­ecuted.

Art. 46

Breach of pro­ba­tion

 

1 If the of­fend­er com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od and if it there­fore must be ex­pec­ted that he will com­mit fur­ther of­fences, the court shall re­voke the sus­pen­ded sen­tence or the sus­pen­ded part of the sen­tence. If the re­voked sen­tence and the new sen­tence are of the same type, they shall form a cu­mu­lat­ive sen­tence in ana­log­ous ap­plic­a­tion of Art­icle 49.40

2 If it is not ex­pec­ted that the of­fend­er will com­mit fur­ther of­fences, the court shall not re­voke the sus­pen­ded sen­tence. It may ad­mon­ish the of­fend­er or ex­tend the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od by up to one half of the dur­a­tion spe­cified in the judg­ment. The court may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and im­pose con­duct or­ders for the dur­a­tion of the ex­ten­ded pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od. If the ex­ten­sion be­gins after the ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, the ex­ten­ded peri­od be­gins on the day that it is ordered.

3 The court that judges the new felony or mis­de­mean­our also de­cides on re­voc­a­tion.

4 If the of­fend­er fails to at­tend for pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or dis­reg­ards the con­duct or­ders, Art­icle 95 para­graphs 3–5 ap­ply.

5 Re­voc­a­tion may no longer be ordered if three years have elapsed since the ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od.

40 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Section Three: Determination of the Sentence

Art. 47

1. Prin­ciple

 

1 The court de­term­ines the sen­tence ac­cord­ing to the culp­ab­il­ity of the of­fend­er. It takes ac­count of the pre­vi­ous con­duct and the per­son­al cir­cum­stances of the of­fend­er as well as the ef­fect that the sen­tence will have on his life.

2 Culp­ab­il­ity is as­sessed ac­cord­ing to the ser­i­ous­ness of the dam­age or danger to the leg­al in­terest con­cerned, the rep­re­hens­ib­il­ity of the con­duct, the of­fend­er's motives and aims, and the ex­tent to which the of­fend­er, in view of the per­son­al and ex­tern­al cir­cum­stances, could have avoided caus­ing the danger or dam­age.

Art. 48

2. Mit­ig­a­tion of the sen­tence

Grounds

 

The court shall re­duce the sen­tence if:

a.
the of­fend­er ac­ted:
1.
for hon­our­able motives,
2.
while in ser­i­ous dis­tress,
3.
while of the view that he was un­der ser­i­ous threat,
4.
at the be­hest of a per­son whom he was duty bound to obey or on whom he was de­pend­ent;
b.
the of­fend­er was ser­i­ously pro­voked by the con­duct of the per­son suf­fer­ing in­jury;
c.
the of­fend­er ac­ted in a state of ex­treme emo­tion that was ex­cus­able in the cir­cum­stances or while un­der ser­i­ous psy­cho­lo­gic­al stress;
d.
the of­fend­er has shown genu­ine re­morse, and in par­tic­u­lar has made re­par­a­tion for the in­jury, dam­age or loss caused, in­so­far as this may reas­on­ably be ex­pec­ted of him;
e.
the need for pun­ish­ment has been sub­stan­tially re­duced due to the time that has elapsed since the of­fence and the of­fend­er has been of good con­duct in this peri­od.


Art. 48a

Ef­fect

 

1 If the court chooses to re­duce the sen­tence, it is not bound by the min­im­um pen­alty that the of­fence car­ries.

2 The court may im­pose a dif­fer­ent form of pen­alty from that which the of­fence car­ries, but re­mains bound by the stat­utory max­im­um and min­im­um levels for that form of pen­alty.

Art. 49

3. Con­cur­rent sen­ten­cing

 

1 If the of­fend­er, by com­mit­ting one or more of­fences, has ful­filled the re­quire­ments for two or more pen­al­ties of the same form, the court shall im­pose the sen­tence for the most ser­i­ous of­fence at an ap­pro­pri­ately in­creased level. It may not, however, in­crease the max­im­um level of the sen­tence by more than half, and it is bound by the stat­utory max­im­um for that form of pen­alty.

2 If the court must pass sen­tence on an of­fence that the of­fend­er com­mit­ted be­fore he was sen­tenced for a dif­fer­ent of­fence, it shall de­term­ine the sup­ple­ment­ary pen­alty so that the of­fend­er is not more severely pun­ished than he would have been had the sen­tences been im­posed at the same time.

3 If the of­fend­er com­mit­ted one or more of­fences be­fore reach­ing the age of 18, the court shall de­term­ine the cu­mu­lat­ive sen­tence in ac­cord­ance with para­graphs 1 and 2 such that it is not more severe than it would have been had sen­tences been im­posed sep­ar­ately.

Art. 50

4. Ob­lig­a­tion to jus­ti­fy

 

Where a judg­ment must be jus­ti­fied, the court shall also spe­cify the cir­cum­stances taken in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the sen­tence and their weight­ing.


Art. 51

5. Tak­ing ac­count of time spend on re­mand

 

When de­term­in­ing the sen­tence, the court shall take ac­count of any time spent on re­mand that the of­fend­er has served in re­spect of the pro­ceed­ings in ques­tion or any oth­er pro­ceed­ings. One day in de­ten­tion cor­res­ponds to one daily pen­alty unit of a mon­et­ary pen­alty.41

41 Second sen­tence amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Section Four: Exemption from Punishment and the Suspension and Abandonment of Proceedings 42

42 Amended by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Improved Protection for Victims of Violence, in force since 1 July 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

Art. 52

1. Grounds for ex­emp­tion from pun­ish­ment

No need for a pen­alty

 

The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall re­frain from pro­sec­ut­ing the of­fend­er, bring­ing him to court or pun­ish­ing him if the level of culp­ab­il­ity and con­sequences of the of­fence are neg­li­gible.

Art. 5344

Re­par­a­tion

 

If the of­fend­er has made re­par­a­tion for the loss, dam­age or in­jury or made every reas­on­able ef­fort to right the wrong that he has caused, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall re­frain from pro­sec­ut­ing him, bring­ing him to court or pun­ish­ing him if:

a.
a sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year, a sus­pen­ded mon­et­ary pen­alty or a fine are suit­able as a pen­alty;
b.
the in­terest in pro­sec­u­tion of the gen­er­al pub­lic and of the per­sons harmed are neg­li­gible; and
c.
the of­fend­er has ad­mit­ted the of­fence.

44 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on the Amend­ment of Re­par­a­tion Ar­range­ments, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2019 (AS 2019 1809; BBl 2018 37574925).

Art. 54

Ef­fect on the of­fend­er of his act

 

If the of­fend­er is so ser­i­ously af­fected by the im­me­di­ate con­sequences of his act that a pen­alty would be in­ap­pro­pri­ate, the re­spons­ible au­thor­it­ies shall re­frain from pro­sec­ut­ing him, bring­ing him to court or pun­ish­ing him.


Art. 55

2. Gen­er­al pro­vi­sions

 

1 The court shall re­frain from re­vok­ing a sus­pen­ded sen­tence and in the case of the pa­role from a re­call if the re­quire­ments for an ex­emp­tion from pun­ish­ment are met.

2 The can­tons des­ig­nate the bod­ies re­spons­ible for the ad­min­is­tra­tion of crim­in­al justice as the com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies un­der Art­icles 52, 53 and 54.

Art. 55a46

3. Sus­pen­sion and aban­don­ment of pro­ceed­ings.

Spouse, re­gistered part­ner or life part­ner as vic­tim

 

1In a case of com­mon as­sault (Art. 123 no 2 para. 3–5), re­peated acts of ag­gres­sion (Art. 126 para. 2 let. b, bbis and c), threat­en­ing be­ha­viour (Art. 180 para. 2) and co­er­cion (Art. 181), the pub­lic pro­sec­utor or the court may sus­pend the pro­ceed­ings if:47

a.48
the vic­tim:
1.
is the spouse of the of­fend­er and the of­fence was com­mit­ted dur­ing the mar­riage or with­in a year of di­vorce, or
2.
is the re­gistered part­ner of the of­fend­er and the of­fence was com­mit­ted dur­ing the re­gistered part­ner­ship or with­in a year of its dis­sol­u­tion, or
3.
is the hetero- or ho­mo­sexu­al part­ner of the of­fend­er or the ex-part­ner of the of­fend­er if they have been sep­ar­ated for less than a year; and
b.49
the vic­tim or, if he or she lacks leg­al ca­pa­city, his or her leg­al rep­res­ent­at­ive re­quests this to be done; and
c.50
sus­pen­sion ap­pears ap­pro­pri­ate in or­der to sta­bil­ise or im­prove the vic­tim’s situ­ation.

2 The pub­lic pro­sec­utor or the court may dur­ing the peri­od of sus­pen­sion re­quire the ac­cused to at­tend a course on vi­ol­ence pre­ven­tion. The pub­lic pro­sec­utor or the court shall no­ti­fy the au­thor­ity or or­gan­isa­tion com­pet­ent un­der can­ton­al law for mat­ters re­lat­ing to do­mest­ic vi­ol­ence about the meas­ures taken.51

3 Sus­pen­sion is not per­mit­ted if:

a.
the ac­cused has been con­victed of a felony or mis­de­mean­our against life and limb, against liberty, or against sexu­al in­teg­rity;
b.
he or she has re­ceived a sen­tence or been made sub­ject to a meas­ure; and
c.
the vic­tim of the of­fence is a per­son lis­ted in para­graph 1 let­ter a.52

4 Sus­pen­sion is lim­ited to six months. The pub­lic pro­sec­utor or the court shall re­sume the pro­ceed­ings if the vic­tim or, if he or she lacks leg­al ca­pa­city, his or her leg­al rep­res­ent­at­ive re­quests this to be done or it tran­spires that the sus­pen­sion has neither sta­bil­ised nor im­proved the vic­tim’s situ­ation.53

5 Be­fore the sus­pen­sion ends, the pub­lic pro­sec­utor or the court shall con­duct an as­sess­ment. If the vic­tim’s situ­ation has sta­bil­ised or im­proved, it shall or­der the aban­don­ment of the pro­ceed­ings.54

46 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2003 (Pro­sec­u­tion of Of­fences with­in Mar­riage or Re­gistered Part­ner­ships), in force since 1 April 2004 (AS 2004 14031407; BBl 2003 19091937).

47 Amended by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

48 Amended by Art. 37 No 1 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

49 Amended by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

50 In­ser­ted by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

51 Amended by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

52 Amended by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

53 Amended by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

54 In­ser­ted by No I 3 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 on Im­proved Pro­tec­tion for Vic­tims of Vi­ol­ence, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2019 2273; BBl 2017 7307).

Chapter Two: Measures

Section One: Therapeutic Measures and Indefinite Incarceration

Art. 56

1. Prin­ciples

 

1 A meas­ure is ordered if:

a.
a pen­alty alone is not suf­fi­cient to counter the risk of fur­ther of­fend­ing by the of­fend­er;
b.
the of­fend­er re­quires treat­ment or treat­ment is re­quired in the in­terest of pub­lic safety; and
c.
the re­quire­ments of Art­icles 59–61, 63 or 64 are ful­filled.

2 The or­der­ing of a meas­ure re­quires that the re­lated in­ter­ven­tion in the per­son­al rights of the of­fend­er is not un­reas­on­able in view of the prob­ab­il­ity and ser­i­ous­ness of ad­di­tion­al of­fences.

3 In or­der­ing a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61, 63 and 64 and in modi­fy­ing the sanc­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 65, the court shall base its de­cision on an ex­pert as­sess­ment. This shall provide an opin­ion on:

a.
the ne­ces­sity and the pro­spects of suc­cess of any treat­ment of the of­fend­er;
b.
the nature and the prob­ab­il­ity of pos­sible ad­di­tion­al of­fences; and
c.
the ways in which the meas­ure may be im­ple­men­ted.

4 If the of­fend­er has com­mit­ted an of­fence in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the as­sess­ment must be con­duc­ted by an ex­pert who has neither treated the of­fend­er be­fore nor been re­spons­ible in any oth­er way for his care.

4bis If con­sid­er­a­tion is giv­en to or­der­ing lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 64 para­graph 1bis, the court shall base its de­cision on re­ports from at least two ex­per­i­enced spe­cial­ists who are in­de­pend­ent of each oth­er and who have neither treated the of­fend­er nor been re­spons­ible in any oth­er way for his care.55

5 Nor­mally the court only or­ders a meas­ure if a suit­able in­sti­tu­tion is avail­able.

6 Where the re­quire­ments for a meas­ure are no longer ful­filled, it is re­voked.

55 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

Art. 56a

Con­cur­rent meas­ures

 

1 If two or more meas­ures are equally suit­able but only one is ne­ces­sary, the court shall or­der the meas­ure that is more con­veni­ent for the of­fend­er.

2 If two or more meas­ures are ne­ces­sary, the court may or­der these con­cur­rently.

Art. 57

Re­la­tion­ship between meas­ures and pen­al­ties

 

1 If the re­quire­ments for both a pen­alty and a meas­ure are ful­filled, the court shall or­der both sanc­tions.

2 The im­ple­ment­a­tion of a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61 takes pre­ced­ence over a cus­todi­al sen­tence that is im­posed at the same time or which is ex­ecuted through re­voc­a­tion of a sus­pen­ded sen­tence or re­call to cus­tody. Like­wise, the re­act­iv­a­tion of the ex­e­cu­tion of a meas­ure in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 62a takes pre­ced­ence over a cu­mu­lat­ive sen­tence im­posed at the same time.

3 The depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with the meas­ure must be taken in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the pen­alty.

Art. 58

Im­ple­ment­a­tion

 

1 ...56

2 The thera­peut­ic in­sti­tu­tions in terms of Art­icles 59–61 must be man­aged sep­ar­ately from pen­al in­sti­tu­tions.

56 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Art. 59

2. In-pa­tient thera­peut­ic meas­ures

Treat­ment of men­tal dis­orders

 

1 If the of­fend­er is suf­fer­ing from a ser­i­ous men­tal dis­order, the court may or­der in-pa­tient treat­ment if:

a.
the of­fend­er's men­tal dis­order was a factor in a felony or mis­de­mean­our that he com­mit­ted; and
b.
it is ex­pec­ted that the meas­ure will re­duce the risk of fur­ther of­fences be­ing com­mit­ted in which his men­tal dis­order is a factor.

2 The in-pa­tient treat­ment is car­ried out in an ap­pro­pri­ate psy­chi­at­ric in­sti­tu­tion or thera­peut­ic in­sti­tu­tion.

3 If there is a risk of the of­fend­er ab­scond­ing or com­mit­ting fur­ther of­fences, he shall be treated in a se­cure in­sti­tu­tion. He may also be treated in a pen­al in­sti­tu­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 76 para­graph 2, provided it is guar­an­teed that the re­quired thera­peut­ic treat­ment can be provided by spe­cial­ist staff.57

4 The depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with in-pa­tient treat­ment nor­mally amounts to a max­im­um of five years. If the re­quire­ments for pa­role have not yet been ful­filled after five years and if it is ex­pec­ted that the meas­ure will re­duce the risk of fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours be­ing com­mit­ted in which his men­tal dis­order is a factor, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity or­der the ex­ten­sion of the meas­ure for a max­im­um of five years in any case.

57 Amended by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

Art. 60

Treat­ment of ad­dic­tion

 

1 If the of­fend­er is de­pend­ent on ad­dict­ive sub­stances or in any oth­er way de­pend­ent, the court may or­der in-pa­tient treat­ment if:

a.
the of­fend­er's de­pend­ence was a factor in the felony or mis­de­mean­our that he com­mit­ted; and
b.
it is ex­pec­ted that treat­ment will re­duce the risk of fur­ther of­fences be­ing com­mit­ted in which his de­pend­ence is a factor.

2 The court shall take ac­count of the of­fend­er's re­quest for and read­i­ness to un­der­go treat­ment.

3 The treat­ment is car­ried out in a spe­cial­ised in­sti­tu­tion or, if ne­ces­sary, in a psy­chi­at­ric hos­pit­al. It must be ad­jus­ted to the spe­cial needs of the of­fend­er and the state of his health.

4 The depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with in-pa­tient treat­ment shall nor­mally amount to a max­im­um of three years. If the re­quire­ments for pa­role have not yet been ful­filled after three years and if it is ex­pec­ted that the meas­ure will re­duce the risk of fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours be­ing com­mit­ted in which his de­pend­ence is a factor, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity on one oc­ca­sion only or­der the ex­ten­sion of the meas­ure for a max­im­um of one fur­ther year. In the event of an ex­ten­sion and the re­call to cus­tody fol­low­ing pa­role, the depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with the meas­ure may not ex­ceed a max­im­um of six years.

Art. 61

Meas­ures for young adults

 

1 If the of­fend­er was un­der 25 years of age at the time of the of­fence and if he is suf­fer­ing from a ser­i­ous de­vel­op­ment­al dis­order, the court may com­mit him to an in­sti­tu­tion for young adults if:

a.
the of­fend­er's de­vel­op­ment­al dis­order was a factor in the felony or mis­de­mean­our that he com­mit­ted; and
b.
it is ex­pec­ted that the meas­ure will re­duce the risk of fur­ther of­fences be­ing com­mit­ted in which his de­vel­op­ment­al dis­order is a factor.

2 In­sti­tu­tions for young adults must be man­aged sep­ar­ately from oth­er in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies un­der this Code.

3 The of­fend­er should be taught the skills needed to live in­de­pend­ently and without fur­ther of­fend­ing. In par­tic­u­lar, he should be en­cour­aged to un­der­go ba­sic and ad­vanced vo­ca­tion­al and pro­fes­sion­al train­ing.

4 The depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with the meas­ure amounts to a max­im­um of four years. In the event of the re­call to cus­tody fol­low­ing re­lease on pa­role, it may not ex­ceed a max­im­um of six years. The meas­ure must be re­voked when the of­fend­er reaches the age of 30.

5 If the of­fend­er was con­victed of an of­fence com­mit­ted be­fore he was 18 years of age, the meas­ure may be im­ple­men­ted in an in­sti­tu­tion for minors.


Art. 62

Pa­role

 

1 The of­fend­er is re­leased on pa­role from un­der­go­ing an in-pa­tient meas­ure as soon as his con­di­tion jus­ti­fies his be­ing giv­en the liberty to prove him­self.

2 In the case of re­lease on pa­role from a meas­ure un­der Art­icle 59, the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od amounts to one to five years, and in the case of re­lease on pa­role from a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 60 and 61, from one to three years.

3 The per­son re­leased on pa­role may be re­quired to un­der­go out-pa­tient treat­ment dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od. The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and is­sue con­duct or­ders for the dur­a­tion the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od.

4 If on ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, a con­tinu­ation of the out-pa­tient treat­ment, the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or the con­duct or­ders is con­sidered ne­ces­sary in or­der to re­duce the risk of fur­ther felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours be­ing com­mit­ted that are as­so­ci­ated with the con­di­tion of the per­son re­leased on pa­role, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity ex­tend the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od as fol­lows:

a.
by one to five years in the case of re­lease on pa­role from a meas­ure in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 59;
b.
by one to three years in the case of re­lease on pa­role from a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 60 and 61.

5 The pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od fol­low­ing re­lease on pa­role from a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 60 and 61 may not ex­ceed six years.

6 If the of­fend­er has com­mit­ted an of­fence in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od may be ex­ten­ded as of­ten as is con­sidered ne­ces­sary to pre­vent fur­ther such of­fences be­ing com­mit­ted.

Art. 62a

Breach of pro­ba­tion

 

1 If a per­son re­leased on pa­role com­mits an of­fence dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od and thus demon­strates that the risk that the meas­ure was in­ten­ded to re­duce is still present, the court as­sess­ing the new of­fence may, after con­sult­ing the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity:

a.
or­der his re­call to cus­tody;
b.
re­voke the meas­ure and, provided the rel­ev­ant re­quire­ments are ful­filled, or­der a new meas­ure; or
c.
re­voke the meas­ure and, provided the rel­ev­ant re­quire­ments are ful­filled, or­der the ex­e­cu­tion of a cus­todi­al sen­tence.

2 If as a res­ult of the new of­fence the re­quire­ments for an un­sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence are ful­filled and if this sen­tence runs con­cur­rently with a cus­todi­al sen­tence that has been sus­pen­ded to give pre­ced­ence to the meas­ure, the court shall im­pose a cu­mu­lat­ive sen­tence in ap­plic­a­tion of Art­icle 49.

3 If as a res­ult of the con­duct of the per­son re­leased on pa­role dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od there is a ser­i­ous ex­pect­a­tion that he could com­mit an of­fence in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the court that ordered the meas­ure may, at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity, or­der a re­call to cus­tody.

4 For a meas­ure un­der Art­icle 59, the re­call to cus­tody is for a max­im­um peri­od of five years, and for meas­ures un­der Art­icles 60 and 61 for a max­im­um peri­od of two years.

5 If the court de­cides against a re­call to cus­tody or a new meas­ure, it may:

a.
ad­mon­ish the per­son re­leased on pa­role;
b.
or­der out-pa­tient treat­ment or pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance;
c.
im­pose con­duct or­ders on the per­son re­leased on pa­role; and
d.
ex­tend the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od by from one to five years in the case of a meas­ure un­der Art­icle 59, and by from one to three years in the case of a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 60 and 61.

6 If the per­son re­leased on pa­role fails to com­ply with the terms of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or dis­reg­ards the con­duct or­ders, Art­icle 95 para­graphs 3–5 ap­plies.

Art. 62b

Fi­nal re­lease

 

1 If the per­son re­leased on pa­role suc­cess­fully com­pletes the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, he is gran­ted fi­nal re­lease.

2 The of­fend­er is gran­ted fi­nal re­lease if the max­im­um dur­a­tion of a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 60 and 61 is reached and the re­quire­ments for the pa­role ap­ply.

3 If depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with the meas­ure is for a short­er peri­od than the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence, the re­mainder of the sen­tence is not ex­ecuted.

Art. 62c

Ter­min­a­tion of a meas­ure

 

1 A meas­ure is ter­min­ated, if:

a.
its im­ple­ment­a­tion or con­tinu­ation ap­pears to have no pro­spect of suc­cess;
b.
the max­im­um dur­a­tion un­der Art­icles 60 and 61 has been reached and the re­quire­ments for the pa­role do not ap­ply; or
c.
a suit­able in­sti­tu­tion does not ex­ist or no longer ex­ists.

2 If the depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with the meas­ure is for a short­er peri­od than the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence, the re­mainder of the sen­tence is ex­ecuted. If the re­quire­ments for pa­role or a sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence ap­ply in re­la­tion to the re­mainder of the sen­tence, ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence is sus­pen­ded.

3 In­stead of or­der­ing the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence, the court may or­der an­oth­er meas­ure if it is to be ex­pec­ted that such a meas­ure will re­duce the risk of the of­fend­er com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours in which his con­di­tion is a factor.

4 If there is a ser­i­ous ex­pect­a­tion that if a meas­ure ordered in re­spect of an of­fence in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1 is ter­min­ated, the of­fend­er will com­mit fur­ther such of­fences, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity or­der his in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion.

5 If the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity re­gards an adult pro­tec­tion meas­ure to be ap­pro­pri­ate on the ter­min­a­tion of the meas­ure, it shall in­form the adult pro­tec­tion au­thor­ity of this.58

6 Fur­ther­more, the court may ter­min­ate an in-pa­tient thera­peut­ic meas­ure be­fore or dur­ing its im­ple­ment­a­tion and or­der an­oth­er in-pa­tient thera­peut­ic meas­ure in its place if it is ex­pec­ted that the new meas­ure has a sig­ni­fic­antly bet­ter chance of re­du­cing the risk of the of­fend­er com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours in which his con­di­tion is a factor.

58 Amended by An­nex No 14 of the FA of 19 Dec. 2008 (Adult Pro­tec­tion, Law of Per­sons and Law of Chil­dren), in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2011 725; BBl 20067001).

Art. 62d

Con­sid­er­a­tion of re­lease and the ter­min­a­tion of meas­ures

 

1 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall on re­quest or ex of­fi­cio con­sider wheth­er and when the of­fend­er should be re­leased on pa­role from the im­ple­ment­a­tion of the meas­ure or wheth­er the meas­ure should be ter­min­ated. It makes a de­cision on such mat­ters at least once each year. It shall first grant a hear­ing to the of­fend­er and ob­tain a re­port from the gov­ern­ing body of the rel­ev­ant in­sti­tu­tion.

2 If the of­fend­er com­mit­ted an of­fence in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall reach its de­cision on the basis of the ex­pert opin­ion of an in­de­pend­ent spe­cial­ist and after hear­ing a com­mit­tee com­pris­ing rep­res­ent­at­ives of the pro­sec­u­tion ser­vices, the ex­e­cu­tion au­thor­it­ies and one or more psy­chi­at­rists. The spe­cial­ists and psy­chi­at­rists con­cerned must not be those re­spons­ible for the treat­ment or care of the of­fend­er.

Art. 63

3. Out-pa­tient treat­ment

Re­quire­ments and im­ple­ment­a­tion

 

1 If the of­fend­er is suf­fer­ing from a ser­i­ous men­tal dis­order or if he is de­pend­ent on ad­dict­ive sub­stances or in any oth­er way, the court may or­der that he re­ceive out-pa­tient rather than in-pa­tient treat­ment if:

a.
the of­fend­er com­mits an of­fence in which his con­di­tion is a factor; and
b.
it is ex­pec­ted that the meas­ure will re­duce the risk of fur­ther of­fences be­ing com­mit­ted in which his con­di­tion is a factor.

2 The court may de­fer the ex­e­cu­tion of an un­sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence im­posed at the same time, a sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence due for ex­e­cu­tion fol­low­ing re­voc­a­tion of sus­pen­sion and the re­mainder of a sen­tence due for ex­e­cu­tion fol­low­ing a re­call to cus­tody to give pre­ced­ence to out-pa­tient treat­ment in or­der to take ac­count of the form of the treat­ment. It may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and is­sue con­duct or­ders for the dur­a­tion the treat­ment.

3 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity may or­der the of­fend­er to be treated tem­por­ar­ily as an in-pa­tient if this is re­quired in or­der to ini­ti­ate the out-pa­tient treat­ment. The peri­od of in-pa­tient treat­ment may not ex­ceed two months.

4 The peri­od of out-pa­tient treat­ment may not nor­mally ex­ceed five years. If the con­tinu­ation of the out-pa­tient treat­ment is con­sidered ne­ces­sary at the end of the five-year peri­od in or­der to re­duce the risk of fur­ther felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours in which a men­tal dis­order is a factor, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity con­tin­ue the treat­ment for a fur­ther peri­od of from one to five years.

Art. 63a

Ter­min­a­tion of the meas­ure

 

1 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall as­sess at least once each year wheth­er the out-pa­tient treat­ment should be con­tin­ued or ter­min­ated. It shall first grant a hear­ing to the of­fend­er and ob­tain a re­port from the ther­ap­ists.

2 The out-pa­tient treat­ment is ter­min­ated by the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity if:

a.
it has been suc­cess­fully com­pleted;
b.
its con­tinu­ation ap­pears to have no pro­spect of suc­cess; or
c.
the stat­utory max­im­um dur­a­tion for the treat­ment of an al­co­hol, drug or thera­peut­ic product de­pend­ent per­son has been reached.

3 If the of­fend­er com­mits a fur­ther of­fence dur­ing the out-pa­tient treat­ment and thus demon­strates that this form of treat­ment will prob­ably be un­suc­cess­ful in avert­ing the risk of­fences be­ing com­mit­ted in which the con­di­tion of the of­fend­er is a factor, the un­suc­cess­ful treat­ment shall be ter­min­ated by or­der of the court as­sess­ing the new of­fence.

4 If the of­fend­er fails to com­ply with the con­di­tions of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or if he dis­reg­ards the con­duct or­ders, Art­icle 95 para­graphs 3–5 ap­plies.

Art. 63b

Ex­e­cu­tion of the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence

 

1 If the out-pa­tient treat­ment has been suc­cess­fully com­pleted, the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence is not ex­ecuted.

2 If out-pa­tient treat­ment is ter­min­ated due to there be­ing no pro­spect of suc­cess (Art. 63a para. 2 let. b), the stat­utory max­im­um dur­a­tion be­ing reached (Art. 63a para. 2 let. c) or its be­ing un­suc­cess­ful (Art. 63a para. 3), the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence is ex­ecuted.

3 If out-pa­tient treat­ment con­duc­ted while the of­fend­er is at liberty is con­sidered a risk to third parties, the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence is ex­ecuted and the out-pa­tient treat­ment con­tin­ued while the cus­todi­al sen­tence is be­ing served.

4 The court de­cides on the ex­tent to which the depriva­tion of liberty as­so­ci­ated with the out-pa­tient treat­ment is taken in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the cus­todi­al sen­tence. If the re­quire­ments for pa­role or a sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence ap­ply in re­la­tion to the re­mainder of the sen­tence, ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence is sus­pen­ded.

5 In­stead of the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence the court may or­der an in-pa­tient thera­peut­ic meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61 if it is to be ex­pec­ted that this will re­duce the risk of the of­fend­er com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours in which his con­di­tion is a factor.

Art. 64

4. In­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion

Re­quire­ments and ex­e­cu­tion

 

1 The court shall or­der in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion if the of­fend­er has com­mit­ted murder, in­ten­tion­al hom­icide, ser­i­ous as­sault, rape, rob­bery, host­age tak­ing, ar­son, en­dan­ger­ing life or an­oth­er of­fence that car­ries a max­im­um sen­tence of five or more years by which he has caused or in­ten­ded to cause ser­i­ous det­ri­ment to the phys­ic­al, psy­cho­lo­gic­al or sexu­al in­teg­rity of an­oth­er per­son, and if:59

a.
due to the per­son­al­ity traits of the of­fend­er, the cir­cum­stances of the of­fence and his gen­er­al per­son­al cir­cum­stances, it is ser­i­ously ex­pec­ted that he will com­mit fur­ther of­fences of the same type; or
b.
due to a per­man­ent or long-term men­tal dis­order of con­sid­er­able grav­ity that was a factor in the of­fence, it is ser­i­ously ex­pec­ted that the of­fend­er will com­mit fur­ther of­fences of the same type and the or­der­ing of a meas­ure in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 59 does not prom­ise any suc­cess.

1bis The court shall or­der lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion if the of­fend­er has com­mit­ted murder, in­ten­tion­al hom­icide, ser­i­ous as­sault, rob­bery, rape, in­de­cent as­sault, false im­pris­on­ment or ab­duc­tion, host­age-tak­ing, en­forced dis­ap­pear­ance of per­sons, traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings, gen­o­cide, or a felony un­der the head­ing of crimes against hu­man­ity or war crimes (Title Twelve) and if the fol­low­ing re­quire­ments are met:60

a. the of­fend­er, by com­mit­ting the of­fence, caused or in­ten­ded to cause ser­i­ous det­ri­ment to the phys­ic­al, psy­cho­lo­gic­al or sexu­al in­teg­rity of an­oth­er per­son.

b.
There is a high prob­ab­il­ity that the of­fend­er will com­mit one of these felon­ies again.
c.
The of­fend­er is as­sessed as be­ing per­man­ently un­treat­able, as the treat­ment of­fers no long-term pro­spect of suc­cess.61

2 The ex­e­cu­tion of the cus­todi­al sen­tence takes pri­or­ity over in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion. The pro­vi­sions on pa­role in re­la­tion to the cus­todi­al sen­tence (Art. 86–88) do not ap­ply.62

3 If dur­ing the ex­e­cu­tion of the cus­todi­al sen­tence, it is ex­pec­ted that the of­fend­er will prove to be of good be­ha­viour when at liberty, the court shall or­der pa­role from the cus­todi­al sen­tence at the earli­est from the time when the of­fend­er has served two thirds of a spe­cif­ic cus­todi­al sen­tence or 15 years of a life sen­tence. The court that ordered in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion is re­spons­ible for the de­cision on pa­role. In ad­di­tion, Art­icle 64a ap­plies.63

4 In­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion is ex­ecuted in a thera­peut­ic in­sti­tu­tion or in a pen­al in­sti­tu­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 76 para­graph 2. Pub­lic safety must be guar­an­teed. The of­fend­er re­ceives psy­chi­at­ric care if this is ne­ces­sary.

59 Amended by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

60 Amended by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2015 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the In­ter­na­tion­al Con­ven­tion for the Pro­tec­tion of All Per­sons from En­forced Dis­ap­pear­ance, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4687; BBl 2014 453).

61 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

62 Amended by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

63 Amended by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

Art. 64a

Re­voc­a­tion and re­lease

 

1 The of­fend­er is re­leased on pa­role from in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 64 para­graph 1 as soon as it is ex­pec­ted that he will be of good be­ha­viour when at liberty.64 The pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od amounts to two to five years. For the dur­a­tion of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance may be ordered and con­duct or­ders may be im­posed.

2 If on ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od a con­tinu­ation of the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or the con­duct or­ders is con­sidered to be ne­ces­sary in or­der to re­duce the risk of fur­ther of­fences in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity ex­tend the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od by a fur­ther two to five years.

3 If due to his con­duct dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, it is ser­i­ously ex­pec­ted that the of­fend­er may com­mit fur­ther of­fences in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the court at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity shall or­der his re­call to cus­tody.

4 If the of­fend­er when re­leased on pa­role fails to com­ply with the con­di­tions of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or dis­reg­ards the con­duct or­ders, Art­icle 95 para­graphs 3–5 ap­plies.

5 If the of­fend­er when re­leased on pa­role is of good be­ha­viour un­til the ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, he is gran­ted fi­nal re­lease.

64 Amended by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

Art. 64b65

Con­sid­er­a­tion of re­lease

 

1 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall con­sider on re­quest or ex of­fi­cio:

a.
at least once an­nu­ally, and for the first time after two years have lapsed, wheth­er and when the of­fend­er may be re­leased on pa­role from in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion (Art. 64a para. 1);
b.
at least every two years, and for the first time be­fore in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion takes ef­fect, wheth­er the re­quire­ments for an in-pa­tient thera­peut­ic treat­ment have been ful­filled and wheth­er a re­lated ap­plic­a­tion should there­fore be made to the com­pet­ent court (Art. 65 para. 1).

2 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity makes its de­cisions in terms of para­graph 1 based on:

a.
a re­port from the in­sti­tu­tion board;
b.
an in­de­pend­ent spe­cial­ist as­sess­ment in terms of Art­icle 56 para­graph 4;
c.
its hear­ing of a com­mit­tee in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 62d para­graph 2;
d.
its hear­ing of the of­fend­er.


65 Amended by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

Art. 64c66

Con­sid­er­a­tion of re­lease from lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion and pa­role

 

1 In cases of lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion un­der Art­icle 64 para­graph 1bis the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall con­sider ex of­fi­cio or on ap­plic­a­tion wheth­er there are any new sci­entif­ic find­ings that lead to the ex­pect­a­tion that the of­fend­er can be treated so that he will no longer pose a risk to the pub­lic. It de­cides on the basis of a re­port from the Fed­er­al Com­mis­sion for the As­sess­ment of the Treat­ab­il­ity of Of­fend­ers sub­ject to Lifelong In­car­cer­a­tion.

2 If the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity con­cludes that the of­fend­er can be treated, it shall of­fer him the op­tion of treat­ment. Treat­ment is car­ried out in a se­cure in­sti­tu­tion. Un­til the or­der im­pos­ing lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion has been re­voked in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 3, the pro­vi­sions on the ex­e­cu­tion of lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion con­tin­ue to ap­ply.

3 If the treat­ment demon­strates that the risk posed by the of­fend­er has been con­sid­er­ably re­duced and may be re­duced to the ex­tent that he no longer poses a risk to the pub­lic, the court shall re­voke the or­der im­pos­ing lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion and or­der an in-pa­tient thera­peut­ic meas­ure in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 59–61 in a se­cure in­sti­tu­tion.

4 The court may grant the of­fend­er pa­role from lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion if he no longer poses a risk to the pub­lic due to old age, ser­i­ous ill­ness or on oth­er grounds. Pa­role is gov­erned by Art­icle 64a.

5 The court that ordered lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion is re­spons­ible for de­cid­ing wheth­er pa­role should be gran­ted. It bases its de­cision on re­ports from at least two ex­per­i­enced spe­cial­ists who are in­de­pend­ent of each oth­er and who have neither treated the of­fend­er nor been re­spons­ible in any oth­er way for his care.

6 Para­graphs 1 and 2 also ap­ply dur­ing the ex­e­cu­tion of the cus­todi­al sen­tence that pre­cedes lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion. Lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion shall be re­voked in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 3 at the earli­est when the of­fend­er has served two thirds of a spe­cif­ic cus­todi­al sen­tence or 15 years of a life sen­tence.

66 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

Art. 65

5. Modi­fic­a­tion of the sanc­tion

 

1 If an of­fend­er ful­fils the re­quire­ments for an in-pa­tient thera­peut­ic meas­ure in terms of Art­icles 59–61 be­fore or dur­ing the ex­e­cu­tion of a cus­todi­al sen­tence or of in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, the court may or­der this meas­ure ret­ro­spect­ively.67 The com­pet­ent court is the court that im­posed the sen­tence or ordered in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion. The ex­e­cu­tion of any re­mainder of the sen­tence is de­ferred.

2 If dur­ing the ex­e­cu­tion of the cus­todi­al sen­tence, new in­form­a­tion or evid­ence comes to light to the ef­fect that the re­quire­ments for in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion are ful­filled and already ap­plied at the time of con­vic­tion al­though the court could not have had know­ledge of this, the court may or­der in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion ret­ro­spect­ively. Jur­is­dic­tion and pro­ced­ure are de­term­ined by the rules that ap­ply to a re­view (Arts 410−415 Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code68).69 70

67 Amended by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

68 SR 312.0

69 Second sen­tence amended by An­nex 1 No 4 of the FA of 17 June 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697).

70 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

Section Two: Other Measures

Art. 66

1. Good be­ha­viour bond

 

1 If there is the risk that a per­son will com­mit a felony or mis­de­mean­our that he has threatened to com­mit, or if a per­son con­victed of a felony or of a mis­de­mean­our in­dic­ates the clear in­ten­tion to re­peat the of­fence, the court may, at the re­quest of the per­son threatened, ob­tain a prom­ise from the of­fend­er that he will not com­mit the of­fence and re­quire him to de­pos­it ap­pro­pri­ate se­cur­ity there­for.

2 If he re­fuses to make the prom­ise, or fails to de­pos­it the se­cur­ity with­in the spe­cified peri­od, the court may re­quire him to make the prom­ise or de­pos­it the se­cur­ity by im­pos­ing a peri­od of de­ten­tion for se­cur­ity reas­ons. The peri­od of de­ten­tion for se­cur­ity reas­ons may not be for more than two months. It is ex­ecuted in the same way as a short cus­todi­al sen­tence (Art. 7971).

3 If the of­fend­er com­mits the felony or the mis­de­mean­our with­in two years of de­pos­it­ing the se­cur­ity, the se­cur­ity is for­feited to the State. If no of­fence is com­mit­ted, the se­cur­ity is re­turned.

71 This Art. has been re­pealed (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 66a72

1a. Ex­pul­sion.

a. Man­dat­ory ex­pul­sion

 

1 The court shall ex­pel for­eign na­tion­als from Switzer­land for a peri­od of 5–15 years if they are con­victed of any of the fol­low­ing of­fences, ir­re­spect­ive of the sen­tence im­posed:

a.
in­ten­tion­al hom­icide (Art. 111), murder (Art. 112), man­slaughter (Art. 113), in­cit­ing and as­sist­ing sui­cide (Art. 115), il­leg­al abor­tion (Art. 118 para. 1 and 2);
b.73 ser­i­ous as­sault (Art. 122), fe­male gen­it­al mu­til­a­tion (Art. 124 para. 1), aban­don­ment (Art. 127), en­dan­ger­ing life (Art. 129), at­tack (Art. 134), rep­res­ent­a­tions of vi­ol­ence (Art. 135 para. 1 second sen­tence);
c.74
ag­grav­ated mis­ap­pro­pri­ation (Art. 138 no 2), ag­grav­ated theft (Art. 139 no 3), rob­bery (Art. 140), fraud for com­mer­cial gain (Art. 146 para. 2), com­puter fraud for com­mer­cial gain (Art. 147 para. 2), mis­use of a cheque card or cred­it card for com­mer­cial gain (Art. 148 para. 2), ag­grav­ated ex­tor­tion (Art. 156 para. 2–4), prof­it­eer­ing for com­mer­cial gain (Art. 157 no 2), hand­ling stolen goods for com­mer­cial gain (Art. 160 no 2);
d.
theft (Art. 139) in con­junc­tion with un­law­ful entry (Art. 186);
e.
fraud (Art. 146 para. 1) re­lated to so­cial in­sur­ance or so­cial as­sist­ance, un­law­ful claims for so­cial in­sur­ance or so­cial as­sist­ance be­ne­fits (Art. 148a para. 1);
f.75
fraud (Art. 146 para. 1), fraud in re­la­tion to ad­min­is­trat­ive ser­vices and charges (Art. 14 para. 1–3 of the Fed­er­al Act of 22 March 197476 on Ad­min­is­trat­ive Crim­in­al Law) or tax fraud, mis­ap­pro­pri­ation of taxes de­duc­ted at source or any oth­er of­fence re­lated to pub­lic charges that car­ries a max­im­um pen­alty of a one-year cus­todi­al sen­tence or more;
g.
forced mar­riage, forced re­gistered part­ner­ship (Art. 181a), traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings (Art. 182), false im­pris­on­ment and ab­duc­tion (Art. 183), ag­grav­ated false im­pris­on­ment and ab­duc­tion (Art. 184), host­age tak­ing (Art. 185);
h.77
sexu­al acts with chil­dren (Art. 187 nos 1 and 1bis), sexu­al acts with de­pend­ent per­sons (Art. 188), in­de­cent as­sault (Art. 189 paras 2 and 3), rape (Art. 190), sexu­al acts with per­sons in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance (Art. 191), ex­ploit­a­tion of a per­son in a po­s­i­tion of need or of de­pend­ency (Art. 193), de­cep­tion as to the sexu­al char­ac­ter of an act (Art. 193a), en­cour­aging pros­ti­tu­tion (Art. 195), por­no­graphy (Art. 197 para. 4 second sen­tence);
i.78
ar­son (Art. 221 para. 1 and 2), wil­fully caus­ing an ex­plo­sion (Art. 223 para. 1 no 1), mis­use of ex­plos­ives and tox­ic gases with crim­in­al in­tent (Art. 224 para. 1), wil­fully caus­ing danger without crim­in­al in­tent (Art. 225 para. 1), man­u­fac­ture, con­ceal­ment and trans­port of ex­plos­ives and tox­ic gases (Art. 226), caus­ing danger by means of nuc­le­ar en­ergy, ra­dio­activ­ity and ion­ising ra­di­ation (Art. 226bis), pre­par­at­ory of­fences (Art. 226ter), wil­fully caus­ing a flood or col­lapse (Art. 227 para. 1 no 1), crim­in­al dam­age to elec­tric­al in­stall­a­tions, and hy­draul­ic or pro­tect­ive struc­tures (Art. 228 no 1 para. 1), breach of con­struc­tion reg­u­la­tions (Art. 229 para. 1), re­mov­al or non-in­stall­a­tion of safety devices (Art. 230 Ziff. 1);
j.79
wil­fully caus­ing danger by means of ge­net­ic­ally mod­i­fied or patho­gen­ic or­gan­isms (Art. 230bis para. 1), trans­mis­sion of hu­man dis­eases (Art. 231), wil­ful con­tam­in­a­tion of drink­ing wa­ter (Art. 234 para. 1);
k.80
dis­rup­tion of pub­lic traffic (Art. 237 no 1);
l.81
acts pre­par­at­ory to the com­mis­sion of an of­fence (Art. 260bis para. 1 and 3), par­ti­cip­a­tion in or sup­port for a crim­in­al or ter­ror­ist or­gan­isa­tion (Art. 260ter), en­dan­ger­ing pub­lic safety with weapons (Art. 260quater), fin­an­cing ter­ror­ism (Art. 260quin­quies) or re­cruit­ing, train­ing and trav­el­ling with a view to com­mit­ting a ter­ror­ist of­fence (Art. 260sex­ies);
m..
gen­o­cide (Art. 264), felon­ies against hu­man­ity (Art. 264a), ser­i­ous vi­ol­a­tions of the Geneva Con­ven­tions of 12 Au­gust 194982 (Art. 264c), oth­er war crimes (Art. 264d–264h);
n.
wil­ful vi­ol­a­tions of Art­icle 116 para­graph 3 or Art­icle 118 para­graph 3 of the For­eign Na­tion­als Act of 16 Decem­ber 200583;
o.
vi­ol­a­tion of Art­icle 19 para­graph 2 or 20 para­graph 2 of the Nar­cot­ics Act of 3 Oc­to­ber 195184 (NarcA);
p.85
vi­ol­a­tion of Art­icle 74 para­graph 4 of the In­tel­li­gence Ser­vice Act of 25 Septem­ber 201586 (In­telSA).

2 The court may by way of ex­cep­tion re­frain from or­der­ing ex­pul­sion if it would cause ser­i­ous per­son­al hard­ship to the for­eign na­tion­al con­cerned and the pub­lic in­terest in ex­pul­sion does not out­weigh the private in­terest of the for­eign na­tion­al in re­main­ing in Switzer­land. In such cases, ac­count must be taken of the spe­cial po­s­i­tion of for­eign na­tion­als who were born or have grown up in Switzer­land.

3 The court may also re­frain from or­der­ing ex­pul­sion if the of­fence was com­mit­ted in jus­ti­fi­able self-de­fence (Art. 16 para. 1) or in a jus­ti­fi­able situ­ation of ne­ces­sity (Art. 18 para. 1).

72 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

73 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

74 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

75 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

76 SR 313.0

77 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

78 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

79 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

80 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

81 Amended by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

82 SR 0.518.12, 0.518.23, 0.518.42, 0.518.51

83 SR 142.20

84 SR 812.121

85 In­ser­ted by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

86 SR 121

Art. 66abis87

b. Non-man­dat­ory ex­pul­sion

 

The court may ex­pel a for­eign na­tion­al from Switzer­land for 3–15 years if he is con­victed and sen­tenced or made sub­ject to a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61 or 64 for a felony or mis­de­mean­our that is not lis­ted in Art­icle 66a.

87 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

Art. 66b88

c. Com­mon pro­vi­sions. Re­peat of­fence

 

1 Any per­son who has been made sub­ject to an ex­pul­sion or­der who com­mits a fur­ther of­fence that meets the re­quire­ments for ex­pul­sion un­der Art­icle 66a shall be ex­pelled again for 20 years.

2 Lifelong ex­pul­sion may be ordered if the of­fend­er com­mits the new of­fence while the pre­vi­ous ex­pul­sion or­der is still in ef­fect.

88 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

Art. 66c89

d. Time of en­force­ment

 

1 The ex­pul­sion or­der ap­plies from the date on which the judg­ment be­comes leg­ally en­force­able.

2 Be­fore en­for­cing the ex­pul­sion or­der, any un­sus­pen­ded sen­tences or parts there­of and any cus­todi­al meas­ures must be ex­ecuted.

3 The ex­pul­sion or­der is en­forced as soon as the of­fend­er is con­di­tion­ally or fi­nally re­leased from the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties or meas­ures or the cus­todi­al meas­ure is re­voked, provided that the re­mainder of sen­tence need not be ex­ecuted and no oth­er such meas­ure has been ordered.

4 If a per­son sub­ject to an ex­pul­sion or­der is trans­ferred to his home coun­try for the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties or meas­ures, the ex­pul­sion or­der ap­plies on such trans­fer.

5 The dur­a­tion of ex­pul­sion is cal­cu­lated from the day on which the of­fend­er leaves Switzer­land.

89 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

Art. 66d90

e. De­fer­ring en­force­ment of man­dat­ory ex­pul­sion

 

1 The en­force­ment of a man­dat­ory ex­pul­sion or­der un­der Art­icle 66a may only be de­ferred if:91

a.
the per­son con­cerned is re­cog­nised by Switzer­land as a refugee and, if ex­pelled, his life or his free­dom would be en­dangered due to his race, re­li­gion, na­tion­al­ity, af­fil­i­ation to a spe­cif­ic so­cial group or his polit­ic­al views; the fore­go­ing does not ap­ply to a refugee who may not in­voke the ban on re­foule­ment un­der Art­icle 5 para­graph 2 of the Asylum Act of 26 June 199892;
b.
ex­pul­sion would vi­ol­ate oth­er man­dat­ory pro­vi­sions of in­ter­na­tion­al law.

2 In reach­ing its de­cision, the com­pet­ent can­ton­al au­thor­ity must as­sume that ex­pul­sion to a state deemed safe by the Fed­er­al Coun­cil in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 6a para­graph 2 of the Asylum Act of 26 June 1998 does not vi­ol­ate Art­icle 25 para­graphs 2 and 3 of the Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion.

90 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

91 The cor­rec­tion of 21 June 2017, pub­lished on 11 Ju­ly 2017 relates to the French text only (AS 2017 3695).

92 SR 142.31

Art. 6793

2. Pro­hib­i­tion from car­ry­ing on an activ­ity, con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der

a. Pro­hib­i­tion from car­ry­ing on an activ­ity, re­quire­ments

 

1 If a per­son has com­mit­ted a felony or mis­de­mean­our while car­ry­ing on a pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity or an or­gan­ised non-pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity, and has as a res­ult re­ceived a cus­todi­al sen­tence in ex­cess of six months, and if there is a risk that he will ab­use his activ­ity in or­der to com­mit a fur­ther felony or mis­de­mean­our, the court may pro­hib­it him totally or par­tially from car­ry­ing on this activ­ity or com­par­able activ­it­ies for a peri­od of six months to five years.94

2 If a per­son has com­mit­ted a felony or mis­de­mean­our against a minor or an­oth­er es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­son and if there is a risk that in car­ry­ing on a pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity or an or­gan­ised non-pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity that in­volves reg­u­lar con­tact with any minors or with oth­er es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­sons he will com­mit fur­ther of­fences of this nature, the court may pro­hib­it him from car­ry­ing on the activ­ity con­cerned for one to ten years.

2bis The court may im­pose a lifelong pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der para­graph 2 if is an­ti­cip­ated that the of­fend­er will still rep­res­ent a danger after the peri­od of ten years.At the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity, it may ex­tend a pro­hib­i­tion or­der that is lim­ited in time in terms of para­graph 2 by a max­im­um of five years on any one oc­ca­sion if this is deemed ne­ces­sary to pre­vent the of­fend­er from com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours of the type that led to the pro­hib­i­tion or­der.95

3 If a per­son re­ceives a sen­tence or is made sub­ject to a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61, 63 or 64 for any of the fol­low­ing of­fences, the court shall pro­hib­it him for the rest of his life from car­ry­ing on any pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity or or­gan­ised non-pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity that in­volves reg­u­lar con­tact with any minors:

a.
traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings (Art. 182) where the of­fence was com­mit­ted for the pur­pose of the sexu­al ex­ploit­a­tion of a minor;
b.
sexu­al acts with chil­dren (Art. 187), sexu­al acts with de­pend­ent per­sons (Art. 188) or sexu­al acts with minors against pay­ment (Art. 196);
c.96
sexu­al ab­use and in­de­cent as­sault (Art. 189), rape (Art. 190), ab­use of a per­son in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance (Art. 191), ex­ploit­a­tion of a per­son in a po­s­i­tion of need or de­pend­ency (Art. 193), de­cep­tion as to the sexu­al char­ac­ter of an act (Art. 193a), in­de­cent con­duct (Art. 194), en­cour­aging pros­ti­tu­tion (Art. 195), un­au­thor­ised passing on of private sexu­al con­tent (Art. 197a) or sexu­al har­ass­ment (Art. 198), where the of­fence is com­mit­ted against or in front of a minor;
d.
por­no­graphy (Art. 197):
1.
un­der Art­icle 197 para­graph 1 or 3,
2.
un­der Art­icle 197 para­graph 4 or 5, where the con­tent of the items or re­cord­ings in­volved sexu­al acts with minors.97

4 If a per­son re­ceives a sen­tence or is made sub­ject to a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61, 63 or 64 for any of the fol­low­ing of­fences, the court shall pro­hib­it him from car­ry­ing on any pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity or or­gan­ised non-pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity that in­volves reg­u­lar con­tact with es­pe­cially vul­ner­able adult per­sons, as well as any pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity or or­gan­ised non-pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity in the health sec­tor that in­volves dir­ect con­tact with pa­tients:

a.
traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings (Art. 182) where the of­fence was com­mit­ted for the pur­pose of the sexu­al ex­ploit­a­tion, sexu­al ab­use and in­de­cent as­sault (Art. 189), rape (Art. 190), sexu­al acts with per­sons in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance (Art. 191), ex­ploit­a­tion of a per­son in a po­s­i­tion of need or de­pend­ency (Art. 193), de­cep­tion as to the sexu­al char­ac­ter of an act (Art. 193a), in­de­cent con­duct (Art. 194), en­cour­aging pros­ti­tu­tion (Art. 195), un­au­thor­ised passing on of private sexu­al con­tent (Art. 197a) or sexu­al har­ass­ment (Art. 198), where the of­fence is com­mit­ted against or in front of:98
1.
an es­pe­cially vul­ner­able adult vic­tim, or
2.
an adult vic­tim who is not es­pe­cially vul­ner­able, but who was in­cap­able of res­ist­ance or of judge­ment or who was un­able to de­fend him- or her­self as a res­ult of phys­ic­al or psy­cho­lo­gic­al de­pend­ence;
b.
por­no­graphy (Art. 197 para. 2 first sen­tence and para. 4 or 5), where the items or re­cord­ings had the fol­low­ing con­tent:
1.
sexu­al acts with es­pe­cially vul­ner­able adult vic­tims, or
2.
sexu­al acts with adult vic­tims who are not es­pe­cially vul­ner­able, but who were in­cap­able of res­ist­ance or of judge­ment or who were un­able to de­fend them­selves as a res­ult of phys­ic­al or psy­cho­lo­gic­al de­pend­ence.99

4bis By way of ex­cep­tion, the court may choose not to im­pose a pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der para­graph 3 or 4 in par­tic­u­larly minor cases if a pro­hib­i­tion or­der of this type does not ap­pear ne­ces­sary to pre­vent the of­fend­er from com­mit­ting fur­ther of­fences of the same type. A pro­hib­i­tion or­der is however man­dat­ory if the of­fend­er:

a.100
has been con­victed of traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings (Art. 182), in­de­cent as­sault (Art. 189 paras 2 and 3), rape (Art. 190 paras 2 and 3), sexu­al acts with per­sons in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance (Art. 191) or en­cour­aging pros­ti­tu­tion (Art. 195); or
b.
is a pae­do­phile in ac­cord­ance with the in­ter­na­tion­ally re­cog­nised clas­si­fic­a­tion cri­ter­ia.101

5 If the of­fend­er re­ceives a sen­tence or is made sub­ject to a meas­ure for two or more of­fences in the same pro­ceed­ings, the court shall spe­cify what por­tion of the sen­tence or which meas­ure ap­plies to an of­fence that en­tails an activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­der. This por­tion of the sen­tence, the meas­ure and the of­fence are de­cis­ive in de­term­in­ing wheth­er an activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der para­graph 1, 2, 2bis, 3 or 4 is im­posed. The sen­tence por­tions for two or more rel­ev­ant of­fences are ad­ded to­geth­er. More than one activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­der may be im­posed.102

6 The court may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance for the dur­a­tion of the pro­hib­i­tion or­ders.103

7 ...104

93 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

94 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

95 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

96 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

97 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

98 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

99 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

100 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

101 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

102 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

103 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

104 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

Art. 67a105

Con­tent and scope

 

1 Pro­fes­sion­al activ­it­ies with­in the mean­ing of Art­icle 67 are activ­it­ies in ex­er­cise of a prin­cip­al or sec­ond­ary pro­fes­sion or trade or of a com­mer­cial en­ter­prise. Or­gan­ised non-pro­fes­sion­al activ­it­ies are activ­it­ies that are not or not primar­ily car­ried on for pe­cu­ni­ary gain and which are car­ried on in the con­text of an as­so­ci­ation or oth­er or­gan­isa­tion.

2 The pro­hib­i­tion from car­ry­ing on an activ­ity un­der Art­icle 67 in­cludes activ­it­ies that the of­fend­er car­ries on on a self-em­ployed basis, as a gov­ern­ing of­ficer of a leg­al en­tity or com­mer­cial en­ter­prise, or as the agent or rep­res­ent­at­ive of an­oth­er per­son or which he ar­ranges to be car­ried on by a per­son de­pend­ent on his in­struc­tions.

3 If there is a risk that the of­fend­er will also mis­use his activ­ity in or­der to com­mit of­fences if he is sub­ject to the or­ders and con­trol of a su­per­i­or or su­per­visor, he shall be totally pro­hib­ited from car­ry­ing on the activ­ity.

4 Pro­hib­i­tion or­ders un­der Art­icle 67 para­graphs 3 and 4 al­ways ap­ply to the en­tire activ­ity.

5 The fol­low­ing are deemed to be activ­it­ies with reg­u­lar con­tact with minors or with oth­er es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­sons:

a.
activ­it­ies that dir­ectly and spe­cific­ally in­volve minors or oth­er es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­sons, and in par­tic­u­lar:
1.
teach­ing or train­ing,
2.
par­ent­ing or coun­selling,
3.
care or su­per­vi­sion,
4.
nurs­ing,
5.
phys­ic­al ex­am­in­a­tion or treat­ment,
6.
psy­cho­lo­gic­al ex­am­in­a­tion or treat­ment,
7.
pre­par­ing and serving meals,
8.
trans­port,
9.
the dir­ect sale or loan of ob­jects in­ten­ded spe­cific­ally for minors or oth­er par­tic­u­larly vul­ner­able per­sons, and act­ing as a dir­ect in­ter­me­di­ary in such sales or loans, where this is the main activ­ity of the per­son con­cerned;
b.
oth­er activ­it­ies that are primar­ily or re­peatedly car­ried on in in­sti­tu­tions that of­fer the ser­vices lis­ted un­der let­ter a, with the ex­cep­tion of activ­it­ies where it is en­sured at the loc­a­tion or time con­cerned that no con­tact with minors or oth­er es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­sons can take place.106

6 Es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­sons are per­sons who be­cause of their age, an ill­ness or long-term phys­ic­al, men­tal or psy­cho­lo­gic­al impair­ment are de­pend­ent on help from oth­ers in their daily activ­it­ies or way of liv­ing.107

105 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

106 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

107 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

Art. 67b108

b. Con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der

 

1 If a per­son has com­mit­ted a felony or mis­de­mean­our against one or more spe­cif­ic per­sons or against per­sons in a spe­cif­ic group, and if there is a risk that he will com­mit fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours in the event of hav­ing con­tact with such per­sons, the court may im­pose a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der of up to five years.

2 By means of a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der the court may pro­hib­it the of­fend­er from:

a.
con­tact­ing one or more spe­cif­ic per­sons or per­sons in a spe­cif­ic group dir­ectly or via third parties, in par­tic­u­lar by tele­phone, in writ­ing or on­line, or em­ploy­ing, ac­com­mod­at­ing, edu­cat­ing, caring for such per­sons or as­so­ci­at­ing with such per­sons in any oth­er way;
b.
ap­proach­ing a spe­cif­ic per­son or com­ing with­in a spe­cif­ic dis­tance of that per­son’s home;
c.
be­ing present in spe­cif­ic loc­a­tions, in par­tic­u­lar spe­cif­ic streets, areas or dis­tricts.

3 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity may use tech­nic­al devices that are se­curely at­tached to the of­fend­er in or­der to en­force the pro­hib­i­tion or­der. These devices may in par­tic­u­lar serve to de­term­ine the of­fend­er’s loc­a­tion.

4 The court may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance for the dur­a­tion of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der.

5 On ap­plic­a­tion from the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity, it may ex­tend lim­ited pro­hib­i­tion or­ders by a max­im­um of five years in each case if this is ne­ces­sary to pre­vent the of­fend­er from com­mit­ting fur­ther felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours against minors or oth­er es­pe­cially vul­ner­able per­sons.

108 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

Art. 67c109

c. Com­mon pro­vi­sions

En­force­ment of pro­hib­i­tion or­ders

 

1 A pro­hib­i­tion or­der comes in­to ef­fect on the day on which the judg­ment takes full leg­al ef­fect.

2 The dur­a­tion of a cus­todi­al sen­tence or of a cus­todi­al meas­ure (Art. 59–61 and 64) is not taken in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the term of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der.

3 If the of­fend­er fails to com­plete the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od suc­cess­fully and if the sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence is ex­ecuted or a re­call to cus­tody is ordered in re­spect of a sen­tence or meas­ure, the term of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der is cal­cu­lated from the day on which the of­fend­er is re­leased on pa­role or gran­ted fi­nal re­lease or on which the sanc­tion is re­voked or re­mit­ted.

4 If the of­fend­er com­pletes the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od suc­cess­fully, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall de­cide on any modi­fic­a­tion of the con­di­tions or term of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der Art­icle 67 para­graph 1 or Art­icle 67b, or on wheth­er the pro­hib­i­tion or­der should be re­voked.

5 The of­fend­er may ap­ply to the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity for a modi­fic­a­tion of the con­di­tions or term of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der, or to have the pro­hib­i­tion or­der re­voked:

a.
in the case of a pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der Art­icle 67 para­graph 1 or un­der Art­icle 67b: after the or­der has been in force for two years;
b.
in the case of a lim­ited pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der Art­icle 67 para­graph 2: after half of the term of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der, provided the or­der has been in force for at least three years;
c.110
...
d.111
in the case of a lifelong pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der Art­icle 67 para­graph 2bis: after the or­der has been in force for ten years.

6 If it is con­sidered un­likely that the of­fend­er will com­mit any fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours by mis­us­ing an activ­ity or by hav­ing con­tact with spe­cif­ic per­sons of a spe­cif­ic group to and the of­fend­er has provided reas­on­able com­pens­a­tion for the loss, dam­age or in­jury caused, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall re­voke the pro­hib­i­tion or­der in cases fall­ing un­der para­graph 4 or 5.

6bis Pro­hib­i­tion or­ders un­der Art­icle 67 para­graphs 3 or 4 may not re­voked.112

7 If the of­fend­er breaches an activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­der or a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der or if he fails to com­ply with the as­so­ci­ated pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance, or if such as­sist­ance can­not be provided or is no longer re­quired, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall sub­mit a re­port to the court or the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity. The court or the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may re­voke or make a new or­der for pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance.

7bis The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance for the en­tire dur­a­tion of the pro­hib­i­tion from car­ry­ing on an activ­ity or the con­tact and ex­clu­sion or­der.113

8 If the of­fend­er fails to com­ply with the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance dur­ing a pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, Art­icle 95 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­ply.

9 If the of­fend­er breaches an activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­der or a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der dur­ing a pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, Art­icle 294 and the pro­vi­sions on re­vok­ing a sus­pen­ded sen­tence or the sus­pen­ded part of a sen­tence and on a re­call to cus­tody in re­spect of a sen­tence or meas­ure ap­ply.

109 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

110 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

111 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

112 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

113 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 March 2018 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 123c Cst.), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 3803; BBl 2016 6115).

Art. 67d114

Modi­fic­a­tion of a pro­hib­i­tion or­der or sub­sequent im­pos­i­tion of a pro­hib­i­tion or­der

 

1 If it be­comes ap­par­ent dur­ing the term of an activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­der or a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der that in the of­fend­er’s case an ex­ten­sion of the pro­hib­i­tion or­der or an ad­di­tion­al such pro­hib­i­tion or­der is re­quired, the court may on ap­plic­a­tion from the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity ex­tend the pro­hib­i­tion or­der or im­pose an ad­di­tion­al pro­hib­i­tion or­der.

2 If it be­comes ap­par­ent dur­ing a cus­todi­al sen­tence or a cus­todi­al meas­ure that in the of­fend­er’s case a pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der Art­icle 67 para­graph 1 or 2 or un­der Art­icle 67b is re­quired, the court may im­pose this pro­hib­i­tion or­der on ap­plic­a­tion from the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity.

114 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

Art. 67e115

3. Dis­qual­i­fic­a­tion from driv­ing

 

If the of­fend­er has used a mo­tor vehicle in or­der to com­mit a felony or mis­de­mean­our and where there is a risk of re-of­fend­ing, the court, in ad­di­tion to im­pos­ing a sen­tence or meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–64, may or­der that the of­fend­er for­feit his pro­vi­sion­al or full driv­ing li­cence for a peri­od of between one month and five years.

115 Ori­gin­ally: Art. 67b.

Art. 67f116

 

116 No longer re­quired as a res­ult of No IV 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 68

4. Pub­lic­a­tion of the judg­ment

 

1 If pub­lic­a­tion of a crim­in­al judg­ment is re­quired in the pub­lic in­terest, or in the in­terests of the per­son harmed or of the com­plain­ant, the court shall or­der pub­lic­a­tion at the ex­pense of the of­fend­er.

2 If pub­lic­a­tion of an ac­quit­tal or of a rul­ing of the pro­sec­u­tion ser­vice abandon­ing pro­ceed­ings is re­quired in the pub­lic in­terest, or in the in­terests of the ac­quit­ted per­son or former sus­pect, the court shall or­der pub­lic­a­tion at State ex­pense or at the ex­pense of the com­plain­ant.

3 Pub­lic­a­tion is made in the in­terests of the per­son harmed, com­plain­ant, ac­quit­ted per­son or former sus­pect only if such per­sons so re­quest.

4 The court de­cides on the form and ex­tent of pub­lic­a­tion.

Art. 69

5. For­feit­ure

a. For­feit­ure of dan­ger­ous ob­jects

 

1 The court shall, ir­re­spect­ive of the crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity of any per­son, or­der the for­feit­ure of ob­jects that have been used or were in­ten­ded to be used for the com­mis­sion of an of­fence or that have been pro­duced as a res­ult of the com­mis­sion of an of­fence in the event that such ob­jects con­sti­tute a fu­ture danger to pub­lic safety, mor­als or pub­lic or­der.

2 The court may or­der that the ob­jects for­feited be rendered un­us­able or be des­troyed.

Art. 70

b. For­feit­ure of as­sets

Prin­ciples

 

1 The court shall or­der the for­feit­ure of as­sets that have been ac­quired through the com­mis­sion of an of­fence or that are in­ten­ded to be used in the com­mis­sion of an of­fence or as pay­ment there­for, un­less the as­sets are passed on to the per­son harmed for the pur­pose of restor­ing the pri­or law­ful po­s­i­tion.

2 For­feit­ure is not per­mit­ted if a third party has ac­quired the as­sets in ig­nor­ance of the grounds for for­feit­ure, provided he has paid a con­sid­er­a­tion of equal value there­for or for­feit­ure would cause him to en­dure dis­pro­por­tion­ate hard­ship.

3 The right to or­der for­feit­ure is lim­ited to sev­en years; if, however, the pro­sec­u­tion of the of­fence is sub­ject to a longer lim­it­a­tion peri­od, this peri­od also ap­plies to the right to or­der for­feit­ure.

4 Of­fi­cial no­tice must be giv­en of for­feit­ure. The rights of per­sons harmed or third parties ex­pire five years after the date on which of­fi­cial no­tice is giv­en.

5 If the amount of the as­sets to be for­feited can­not be as­cer­tained, or may be as­cer­tained only by in­cur­ring a dis­pro­por­tion­ate level of trouble and ex­pense, the court may make an es­tim­ate.

Art. 71

Equi­val­ent claim

 

1 If the as­sets sub­ject to for­feit­ure are no longer avail­able, the court may up­hold a claim for com­pens­a­tion by the State in re­spect of a sum of equi­val­ent value, which claim may be en­forced against a third party only if he is not ex­cluded by Art­icle 70 para­graph 2.

2 The court may dis­miss an equi­val­ent claim in its en­tirety or in part if the claim is likely to be un­re­cov­er­able or if the claim would ser­i­ously hinder the re­hab­il­it­a­tion of the per­son con­cerned.

3117

117 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 4 of the FA of 17 June 2022, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697).

Art. 72118

For­feit­ure of as­sets of a crim­in­al or ter­ror­ist or­gan­isa­tion

 

The court shall or­der the for­feit­ure of all as­sets that are sub­ject to the power of dis­pos­al of a crim­in­al or ter­ror­ist or­gan­isa­tion. In the case of the as­sets of a per­son who par­ti­cip­ates in or sup­ports such an or­gan­isa­tion (Art. 260ter), it is pre­sumed that the as­sets are sub­ject to the power of dis­pos­al of the or­gan­isa­tion un­til the con­trary is proven.

118 Amended by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

Art. 73

6. Use for the be­ne­fit of the per­son harmed

 

1 If as a res­ult of a felony or mis­de­mean­our a per­son has suffered harm and is not en­titled to be­ne­fits un­der an in­sur­ance policy, and if it is an­ti­cip­ated that the of­fend­er will not pay dam­ages or sat­is­fac­tion, the court shall award the per­son harmed, at his re­quest, a sum of money up to the amount of dam­ages or sat­is­fac­tion set by a court or agreed in a set­tle­ment with the per­son harmed and ob­tained from:

a.
the mon­et­ary pen­alty or fine paid by the of­fend­er;
b.
ob­jects and as­sets that have been for­feited, or the pro­ceeds of their sale after de­duc­tion of ex­penses;
c.
com­pens­at­ory claims;
d.
the amount of the good be­ha­viour bond.

2 The court may or­der such an award only if the per­son harmed as­signs the cor­res­pond­ing ele­ment of his claim to the State.

3 The can­tons shall provide a simple and quick pro­ced­ure for cases where their courts are not en­titled to make an award of this nature in a crim­in­al judg­ment.

Title Four: Execution of Custodial Sentences and Custodial Measures

Art. 74

1. Prin­ciples

 

The hu­man dig­nity of the pris­on in­mates or of the in­mates of an in­sti­tu­tion for the ex­e­cu­tion of meas­ures must be re­spec­ted. Their rights may only be lim­ited to the ex­tent that that is re­quired for the depriva­tion of their liberty and their co-ex­ist­ence in the pen­al in­sti­tu­tion.

Art. 75

2. Ex­e­cu­tion of cus­todi­al sen­tences

Prin­ciples

 

1 The ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences must en­cour­age an im­prove­ment in the so­cial be­ha­viour of the pris­on in­mates, and in par­tic­u­lar their abil­ity to live their lives without of­fend­ing again. The con­di­tions un­der which sen­tences are ex­ecuted must cor­res­pond as far as pos­sible with those of nor­mal life, guar­an­tee the su­per­vi­sion of the pris­on in­mates, coun­ter­act the harm­ful con­sequences of the depriva­tion of liberty and take ap­pro­pri­ate ac­count of the need to pro­tect the gen­er­al pub­lic, the in­sti­tu­tion staff and oth­er in­mates.

2 ...119

3 The in­sti­tu­tion rules shall provide that a sen­tence man­age­ment plan be drawn up in con­sulta­tion with the pris­on in­mate. This plan in par­tic­u­lar con­tains de­tails of the su­per­vi­sion offered, the op­por­tun­it­ies to work and re­ceive ba­sic or ad­vanced train­ing, mak­ing re­par­a­tion, re­la­tions with the out­side world and pre­par­a­tions for re­lease.

4 The pris­on in­mate must act­ively co­oper­ate in reso­cial­isa­tion ef­forts and the pre­par­a­tions for re­lease.

5 Ac­count is taken of the gender-spe­cif­ic con­cerns and needs of the pris­on in­mates.

6 If the pris­on in­mate is re­leased on pa­role or gran­ted fi­nal re­lease and it sub­sequently comes to light that on his re­lease he was sub­ject to an­oth­er ex­ecut­able judg­ment im­pos­ing a cus­todi­al sen­tence, ex­e­cu­tion of that cus­todi­al sen­tence is waived if:

a.
it was not ex­ecuted con­cur­rently with the oth­er cus­todi­al sen­tence for a reas­on with­in the con­trol of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­it­ies;
b.
the pris­on in­mate was able to as­sume in good faith that on his re­lease he was not sub­ject to an­oth­er ex­ecut­able judg­ment im­pos­ing a cus­todi­al sen­tence; and
c.
the re­in­teg­ra­tion of the pris­on in­mates would be pre­ju­diced.

119 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Art. 75a120

Spe­cial se­cur­ity meas­ures

 

1 The Com­mis­sion un­der Art­icle 62d para­graph 2 shall with a view to a trans­fer to an open pen­al in­sti­tu­tion and the au­thor­isa­tion of a re­lax­a­tion in the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence as­sess the danger to the com­munity of the of­fend­er if:

a.
he has com­mit­ted a felony in terms of Art­icle 64 para­graph 1; and
b.
the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity can­not sat­is­fact­or­ily an­swer the ques­tion of wheth­er he is a danger to oth­er pris­on in­mates.

2 Re­lax­a­tion of the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence in­volves eas­ing the re­gime for the depriva­tion of liberty, in par­tic­u­lar by means of a trans­fer to an open in­sti­tu­tion, the grant­ing of re­lease on tem­por­ary li­cence, the au­thor­isa­tion of day re­lease em­ploy­ment or of ex­tern­al ac­com­mod­a­tion and the grant­ing of pa­role.

3 Danger to the com­munity is as­sumed if there is a risk that the pris­on in­mate will ab­scond and com­mit a fur­ther of­fence that severely pre­ju­dices the phys­ic­al, psy­cho­lo­gic­al or sexu­al in­teg­rity of an­oth­er per­son.

120 Amended by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

Art. 76

Place of ex­e­cu­tion

 

1 Cus­todi­al sen­tences are ex­ecuted in a se­cure or open pen­al in­sti­tu­tion.

2 The pris­on in­mate shall be ad­mit­ted to a se­cure pen­al in­sti­tu­tion or to the se­cure sec­tion of an open pen­al in­sti­tu­tion if there is a risk that that he will ab­scond or it is ex­pec­ted that he will com­mit fur­ther of­fences.

Art. 77

Nor­mal ex­e­cu­tion

 

The pris­on in­mate nor­mally spends his work­ing, rest and leis­ure time in the in­sti­tu­tion.

Art. 77a

Day re­lease em­ploy­ment and ex­tern­al ac­com­mod­a­tion

 

1 The cus­todi­al sen­tence is ex­ecuted in the form of day re­lease em­ploy­ment if the pris­on in­mate has served part of the cus­todi­al sen­tence, nor­mally a min­im­um one half, and it is not ex­pec­ted that he will ab­scond or com­mit fur­ther of­fences.

2 In day re­lease em­ploy­ment, the pris­on in­mate works out­side the in­sti­tu­tion and spends his rest and leis­ure time in the in­sti­tu­tion. The change to day re­lease em­ploy­ment nor­mally takes place fol­low­ing an ap­pro­pri­ate peri­od spent in an open in­sti­tu­tion or the open sec­tion of a se­cure in­sti­tu­tion. Work out­side the in­sti­tu­tion may also in­clude house­work and caring for chil­dren.

3 If the pris­on in­mate proves him­self to be of good be­ha­viour in day re­lease em­ploy­ment, the fur­ther ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence takes the form of ex­tern­al ac­com­mod­a­tion and day re­lease em­ploy­ment. Here the pris­on in­mate lives and works out­side the in­sti­tu­tion, but re­mains un­der the su­per­vi­sion of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity.


Art. 77b121

Semi-de­ten­tion

 

1 At the of­fend­er’s re­quest, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of no more than 12 months or the re­mainder of a sen­tence after tak­ing ac­count of time spent on re­mand of no more than six months may be served in the form of semi-de­ten­tion provided:

a.
it is not an­ti­cip­ated that the of­fend­er will ab­scond or com­mit fur­ther of­fences; and
b.
the of­fend­er does reg­u­lated work or train­ing or is sim­il­arly oc­cu­pied for at least 20 hours a week.

2 The pris­on in­mate works, is trained or sim­il­arly oc­cu­pied out­side the in­sti­tu­tion and spends his rest and leis­ure time in the in­sti­tu­tion.

3 Semi-de­ten­tion may be served in a spe­cial sec­tion of a re­mand centre provided the of­fend­er is guar­an­teed the re­quired su­per­vi­sion.

4 If the of­fend­er no longer meets the au­thor­isa­tion re­quire­ments or if he fails to com­ply with the con­di­tions of semi-de­ten­tion im­posed by the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity des­pite be­ing warned to do so, the cus­todi­al sen­tence shall be served in the nor­mal man­ner.

121 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 78

Sol­it­ary con­fine­ment

 

Sol­it­ary con­fine­ment in the form of un­in­ter­rup­ted sep­ar­a­tion from oth­er pris­on in­mates may only be ordered:

a.
for a max­im­um of one week at the start of the sen­tence in or­der to ini­ti­ate the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence;
b.
for the pro­tec­tion of the pris­on in­mate or of third parties;
c.
as a dis­cip­lin­ary sanc­tion;
d.122
to pre­vent oth­er pris­on in­mates from be­ing in­flu­enced by ideas that may en­cour­age them to carry out ter­ror­ist activ­it­ies, provided there is spe­cif­ic evid­ence of such an in­flu­ence.

122 In­ser­ted by No I 6 of the FA of 25 Sept. 2020 on Po­lice Coun­terter­ror­ism Meas­ures, in Force since 1 June 2022 (AS 2021 565; 2022 300; BBl 2019 4751).

Art. 79123

 

123 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 79a124

Com­munity ser­vice

 

1 If it is not an­ti­cip­ated that the of­fend­er will ab­scond or com­mit fur­ther of­fences, the fol­low­ing sen­tences may be served in the form of com­munity ser­vice:

a.
a cus­todi­al sen­tence of no more than six months;
b.
the re­mainder of a sen­tence of no more than six months after tak­ing ac­count of time spent on re­mand; or
c.
a mon­et­ary pen­alty or a fine.

2 Com­munity ser­vice is not per­mit­ted as a means of serving an al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence.

3 Com­munity ser­vice is work that be­ne­fits so­cial in­sti­tu­tions, pub­lic works or per­sons in need. The work is un­paid.

4 Four hours of com­munity ser­vice cor­res­pond to one day of a cus­todi­al sen­tence, one daily pen­alty unit of a mon­et­ary pen­alty or one day of an al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence in the case of con­tra­ven­tions.

5 The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity shall al­low the of­fend­er a spe­cif­ic peri­od not ex­ceed­ing two years with­in which to com­plete the com­munity ser­vice. In the case of com­munity ser­vice car­ried out in lieu of a fine, this peri­od may not ex­ceed one year.

6 If the of­fend­er fails to com­ply with the con­di­tions of com­munity ser­vice im­posed by the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity des­pite be­ing warned to do so, the cus­todi­al sen­tence shall be served in the nor­mal man­ner or in the form of semi-de­ten­tion, or the mon­et­ary pen­alty or fine shall be en­forced.

124 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 79b125

Elec­tron­ic mon­it­or­ing

 

1 At the re­quest of the of­fend­er, the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may or­der the use of elec­tron­ic devices and their se­cure at­tach­ment to the of­fend­er’s body (elec­tron­ic mon­it­or­ing):

a.
in ex­e­cu­tion of a cus­todi­al sen­tence or an al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence of from 20 days to 12 months; or
b.
in lieu of day re­lease em­ploy­ment or day re­lease em­ploy­ment and ex­tern­al ac­com­mod­a­tion for a term of from 3 to 12 months.

2 The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may or­der elec­tron­ic mon­it­or­ing only if:

a.
it is not an­ti­cip­ated that the of­fend­er will ab­scond or com­mit fur­ther of­fences;
b.
the of­fend­er lives in per­man­ent ac­com­mod­a­tion;
c.
the of­fend­er is do­ing reg­u­lated work or train­ing or is sim­il­arly oc­cu­pied for at least 20 hours a week or can be as­signed to do the same;
d.
the adults liv­ing with the of­fend­er in the same ac­com­mod­a­tion con­sent; and
e.
the of­fend­er agrees to the im­ple­ment­a­tion plan drawn up for him.

3 If the re­quire­ments of para­graph 2 let­ter a, b or c are no longer met or if the of­fend­er fails to ful­fil the ob­lig­a­tions set out in the im­ple­ment­a­tion plan, the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may dis­con­tin­ue the elec­tron­ic mon­it­or­ing and or­der the sen­tence to be served in the nor­mal man­ner or in the form of semi-de­ten­tion, or re­strict the free time avail­able to the of­fend­er.

125 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 80

Oth­er forms of sen­tence ex­e­cu­tion

 

1 A de­par­ture from the rules gov­ern­ing the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences in fa­vour of the pris­on in­mates may be per­mit­ted:

a.
if the state of health of the pris­on in­mates so re­quires;
b.
in the event of preg­nancy, child­birth and for the time im­me­di­ately after child­birth;
c.
to en­able the moth­er and in­fant to be ac­com­mod­ated to­geth­er, provided this is also in the in­terests of the child.

2 If the sen­tence is not served in a pen­al in­sti­tu­tion, but in an­oth­er ap­pro­pri­ate in­sti­tu­tion, the pris­on in­mate is sub­ject to the reg­u­la­tions of that in­sti­tu­tion un­less the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity or­ders oth­er­wise.

Art. 81

Work

 

1 The pris­on in­mate is ob­liged to work. Wherever pos­sible, the work should be ap­pro­pri­ate to his skills, edu­ca­tion and train­ing and his in­terests.

2 If he con­sents to do so, the pris­on in­mate may work for a private em­ploy­er.

Art. 82

Ba­sic and ad­vanced train­ing

 

Where he shows the re­quired aptitude and the pos­sib­il­ity ex­ists, the pris­on in­mate is giv­en the op­por­tun­ity to un­der­go ba­sic and ad­vanced train­ing ap­pro­pri­ate to his skills.

Art. 83

Wages

 

1 The pris­on in­mate re­ceives a wage for his work based on his per­form­ance and ac­cord­ing to the cir­cum­stances.

2 The pris­on in­mate may freely dis­pose of only part of his wage while serving his sen­tence. The re­main­ing part is with­held un­til the in­mate has been re­leased. The wage may neither be pledged, seized nor in­cluded in an in­solv­ent es­tate. Any as­sign­ment or pledge of the wage is null and void.

3 If the pris­on in­mate par­ti­cip­ates in ba­sic or ad­vanced train­ing in­stead of work in ac­cord­ance with his sen­tence man­age­ment plan, he re­ceives ap­pro­pri­ate re­mu­ner­a­tion.

Art. 84

Re­la­tions with the out­side world

 

1 The pris­on in­mate has the right to re­ceive vis­it­ors and to cul­tiv­ate con­tacts with per­sons out­side the in­sti­tu­tion. Con­tact with close re­l­at­ives and friends shall be fa­cil­it­ated.

2 Con­tact may be mon­itored and for the pre­ser­va­tion of or­der and se­cur­ity in the pen­al in­sti­tu­tion it may be re­stric­ted or pro­hib­ited. The mon­it­or­ing of vis­its is not per­mit­ted without the know­ledge of those con­cerned. The fore­go­ing does not ap­ply to pro­ced­ur­al meas­ures in or­der to se­cure evid­ence for the pur­poses of a pro­sec­u­tion.

3 Cler­ics, doc­tors, at­tor­neys, not­ar­ies and guard­i­ans as well as per­sons with com­par­able du­ties may be per­mit­ted to com­mu­nic­ate freely with the pris­on in­mates sub­ject to the gen­er­al in­sti­tu­tion rules.

4 Con­tact with de­fence at­tor­neys must be per­mit­ted. Vis­its from the de­fence at­tor­ney may be su­per­vised but con­ver­sa­tions may not be listened in on. In­spect­ing the con­tent of cor­res­pond­ence and at­tor­neys' doc­u­ments is not per­mit­ted. Con­tact with at­tor­neys may be pro­hib­ited by the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity in the event of ab­use.

5 Com­mu­nic­a­tions with the su­per­vis­ory au­thor­it­ies may not be mon­itored.

6 The pris­on in­mate shall be gran­ted re­lease on tem­por­ary li­cence to an ap­pro­pri­ate ex­tent in or­der to cul­tiv­ate re­la­tions with the out­side world, pre­pare for his re­lease or where there are spe­cial cir­cum­stances, provided his con­duct in cus­tody does not pre­clude this and there is no risk that he will ab­scond or com­mit fur­ther of­fences.

6bis Of­fend­ers sub­ject to in­def­in­ite in­car­cer­a­tion are not gran­ted re­lease on tem­por­ary li­cence or oth­er re­lax­a­tions of the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence dur­ing the sen­tence served pri­or to in­car­cer­a­tion.126

7 Art­icle 36 of the Vi­enna Con­ven­tion of 24 April 1963127 on Con­su­lar Re­la­tions and oth­er reg­u­la­tions un­der in­ter­na­tion­al law on vis­its and cor­res­pond­ence that are bind­ing on Switzer­land are re­served.

126 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

127 SR 0.191.02

Art. 85

Searches and in­spec­tions

 

1 The per­son­al ef­fects and the ac­com­mod­a­tion of the pris­on in­mate may be searched in the in­terests of main­tain­ing or­der and se­cur­ity in the pen­al in­sti­tu­tion.

2 A pris­on in­mate who is sus­pec­ted of con­ceal­ing un­per­mit­ted art­icles about his per­son or in his body, may be sub­jec­ted to a body search. The search must be con­duc­ted by a per­son of the same gender. If the re­mov­al of cloth­ing is re­quired, this must be car­ried out in the ab­sence of oth­er pris­on in­mates. Searches of body cav­it­ies must be car­ried out by a doc­tor or oth­er med­ic­ally qual­i­fied staff.

Art. 86

Pa­role

a. Grant­ing of pa­role

 

1 If the pris­on in­mate has served two thirds of his sen­tence, provided this amounts to at least three months, he shall be re­leased on pa­role by the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity if this is jus­ti­fied by his con­duct while in cus­tody and it is not ex­pec­ted that he will com­mit fur­ther felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours.

2 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall as­sess ex of­fi­cio wheth­er the in­mate may be re­leased on pa­role. It shall ob­tain a re­port from the in­sti­tu­tion board. The pris­on in­mate shall be gran­ted a hear­ing.

3 If pa­role is re­fused, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity must re­as­sess the ques­tion of wheth­er pa­role may be gran­ted at least once each year.

4 If the pris­on in­mate has served half of his sen­tence, provided this amounts to at least three months, he may be re­leased on pa­role by way of ex­cep­tion, if ex­cep­tion­al per­son­al cir­cum­stances jus­ti­fy this.

5 In the case of per­sons serving a life sen­tence, pa­role un­der para­graph 1 is pos­sible at the earli­est after 15 years, and un­der para­graph 4 at the earli­est after ten years.

Art. 87

b. Pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od

 

1 A per­son re­leased on pa­role is made sub­ject to a pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od of a dur­a­tion that cor­res­ponds to the re­mainder of his sen­tence. The peri­od however amounts to at least one year and no more than five years.

2 The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity shall nor­mally or­der pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance for the dur­a­tion of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od. It may im­pose con­duct or­ders on the per­son re­leased on pa­role.

3 If pa­role is gran­ted to an in­mate serving a cus­todi­al sen­tence for an of­fence men­tioned in Art­icle 64 para­graph 1, and if on ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od a con­tinu­ation of the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or the con­duct or­ders ap­pear to be re­quired in or­der to re­duce the risk of fur­ther of­fences of this type be­ing com­mit­ted, the court may at the re­quest of the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity ex­tend the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or the con­duct or­ders in each case by one to five years or im­pose a new con­duct or­der for this peri­od. A re­call to cus­tody in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 95 para­graph 5 is not pos­sible in such cases.

Art. 88

c. Suc­cess­ful com­ple­tion of pro­ba­tion

 

If the per­son re­leased on pa­role is of good be­ha­viour throughout the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, he is gran­ted fi­nal re­lease.

Art. 89

d. Breach of pro­ba­tion

 

1 If a per­son re­leased on pa­role com­mits a felony or mis­de­mean­our dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, the court judging the new of­fence shall or­der his re­call to cus­tody.

2 If, des­pite the com­mis­sion of a felony or mis­de­mean­our dur­ing the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, it is not ex­pec­ted that the of­fend­er will com­mit fur­ther of­fences, the court shall dis­pense with a re­call to cus­tody. It may ad­mon­ish the of­fend­er and ex­tend the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od by no more than half of the peri­od ori­gin­ally fixed by the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity. If the ex­ten­sion is ordered after the ex­piry of the ori­gin­al pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od, it be­gins on the day on which it is ordered. The pro­vi­sions on pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and con­duct or­ders ap­ply (Art. 93–95).

3 If a per­son re­leased on pa­role fails to com­ply with the con­di­tions of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or dis­reg­ards the con­duct or­ders, Art­icle 95 para­graphs 3–5 ap­plies.

4 A re­call to cus­tody may not be ordered if three years have elapsed since the ex­piry of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od.

5 Any peri­od of time spent on re­mand that the of­fend­er has served dur­ing the re­call to cus­tody pro­ceed­ings is taken in­to ac­count in the re­mainder of his sen­tence.

6 If the re­quire­ments for an un­sus­pen­ded cus­todi­al sen­tence are ful­filled due to the new of­fence and if this co­in­cides with the re­mainder of the sen­tence that must be ex­ecuted by the re­call to cus­tody, the court shall im­pose a cu­mu­lat­ive sen­tence in ap­plic­a­tion of Art­icle 49 a. The rules on pa­role again ap­ply to this sen­tence. If only the re­mainder of the sen­tence is ex­ecuted, Art­icle 86 para­graphs 1–4 ap­plies.

7 If the re­mainder of a sen­tence that must be ex­ecuted in ac­cord­ance with a de­cision on re­call to cus­tody co­in­cides with the ex­e­cu­tion of a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61, Art­icle 57 para­graphs 2 and 3 ap­plies.

Art. 90

3. Ex­e­cu­tion of meas­ures

 

1 A per­son sub­ject to the ex­e­cu­tion of a meas­ure un­der Art­icles 59–61, may only be ac­com­mod­ated without in­ter­rup­tion sep­ar­ately from the oth­er in­mates of an in­sti­tu­tion for the ex­e­cu­tion of meas­ures if this is es­sen­tial:

a.
as a tem­por­ary thera­peut­ic meas­ure;
b.
for the pro­tec­tion of oth­er in­mates of the in­sti­tu­tion or of third parties;
c.
as a dis­cip­lin­ary sanc­tion;
d.128
to pre­vent oth­er pris­on in­mates from be­ing in­flu­enced by ideas that may en­cour­age them to carry out ter­ror­ist activ­it­ies, provided there is spe­cif­ic evid­ence of such an in­flu­ence.

2 At the start of the ex­e­cu­tion of the meas­ure, a sen­tence man­age­ment plan is drawn up in con­sulta­tion with the in­mate or his leg­al rep­res­ent­at­ive. This in­cludes in par­tic­u­lar de­tails of the treat­ment of the in­mate's men­tal dis­order, de­pend­ence or de­vel­op­ment­al dis­order and on meas­ures to pre­vent the en­dan­ger­ment of oth­ers.

2bis Meas­ures un­der Art­icles 59–61 and 64 may be ex­ecuted in the form of ex­tern­al ac­com­mod­a­tion and day re­lease em­ploy­ment if there is a jus­ti­fied opin­ion that this will sig­ni­fic­antly con­trib­ute to the aim of the meas­ure be­ing achieved, and if there is no risk that the in­mate will ab­scond or will com­mit fur­ther of­fences. Art­icle 77a para­graphs 2 and 3 ap­plies by ana­logy.129

3 If the in­mate is able to work, he is re­quired to work to the ex­tent that his in-pa­tient treat­ment or care re­quires or per­mits. Art­icles 81–83 ap­ply in an ana­log­ous man­ner.

4 Art­icle 84 ap­plies by ana­logy to the re­la­tions of the in­mates of an in­sti­tu­tion for the ex­e­cu­tion of meas­ures with the out­side world, un­less ad­di­tion­al re­stric­tions are re­quired for reas­ons re­lat­ing to the in-pa­tient treat­ment.

4bis Art­icle 75a ap­plies by ana­logy to ad­mis­sion to an open in­sti­tu­tion and to the au­thor­isa­tion of a re­lax­a­tion in the meas­ures re­gime.130

4ter Dur­ing lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion, it is not per­mit­ted to au­thor­ise re­lease on tem­por­ary li­cence or a re­lax­a­tion of the sen­tence re­gime.131

5 Art­icle 85 ap­plies by ana­logy to searches and in­spec­tions.

128 In­ser­ted by No I 6 of the FA of 25 Sept. 2020 on Po­lice Coun­terter­ror­ism Meas­ures, in Force since 1 June 2022 (AS 2021 565; 2022 300; BBl 2019 4751).

129 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

130 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

131 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

Art. 91

4. Gen­er­al pro­vi­sions

Dis­cip­lin­ary reg­u­la­tions

 

1 Dis­cip­lin­ary sanc­tions may be im­posed on pris­on in­mates and in­mates of an in­sti­tu­tion for the ex­e­cu­tion of meas­ures who are guilty of in­fringing the in­sti­tu­tion reg­u­la­tions or the sen­tence man­age­ment plan.

2 Dis­cip­lin­ary sanc­tions are:

a.
a rep­rim­and;
b.
the tem­por­ary with­draw­al or re­stric­tion of the right to use money, par­ti­cip­ate in re­cre­ation­al activ­it­ies or have ex­tern­al con­tacts;
c.132
a fine; and
d.133
sol­it­ary con­fine­ment as an ad­di­tion­al re­stric­tion of liberty.

3 The can­tons shall en­act dis­cip­lin­ary reg­u­la­tions ap­plic­able to the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures. The reg­u­la­tions de­tail the dis­cip­lin­ary of­fences, the sanc­tions and how they are fixed, and reg­u­late the pro­ced­ure.

132 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 24 March 2006 (Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sanc­tions and the Re­gister of Con­vic­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 35393544; BBl 2005 4689).

133 Ori­gin­ally let. c.

Art. 92

In­ter­rup­tion of ex­e­cu­tion

 

The ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures may be in­ter­rup­ted for good cause.

Art. 92a134

Right to in­form­a­tion

 

1 Vic­tims and re­l­at­ives of vic­tims as defined in Art­icle 1 para­graphs 1 and 2 of the Vic­tim Sup­port Act of 23 March 2007135 (VSA) and third parties who have a le­git­im­ate in­terest may make a writ­ten re­quest to the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity for the fol­low­ing in­form­a­tion:

a.
the time of ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence or meas­ure im­posed on the of­fend­er, in­sti­tu­tion re­spons­ible for ex­e­cu­tion, the form of ex­e­cu­tion if it dif­fers from nor­mal, in­ter­rup­tions and re­lax­a­tions in the sen­tence or meas­ure, (Art. 75a para. 2), pa­role and fi­nal re­lease, and the re­act­iv­a­tion of the ex­e­cu­tion of a sen­tence or meas­ure;
b.
im­me­di­ate no­ti­fic­a­tion of the es­cape of an of­fend­er and of his or her re­cap­ture.

2 The ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity de­cides on the re­quest after con­sult­ing the of­fend­er.

3 It may re­fuse to provide the in­form­a­tion or re­voke a pre­vi­ous de­cision to provide in­form­a­tion only if the of­fend­er’s le­git­im­ate in­terests jus­ti­fy this.

4 If the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity ap­proves a re­quest, it shall ad­vise the per­son en­titled to in­form­a­tion of the con­fid­en­ti­al­ity of the in­form­a­tion dis­closed. Per­sons en­titled to vic­tim sup­port un­der the VSA are not re­quired to main­tain con­fid­en­ti­al­ity in their deal­ings with a coun­sel­lor at a coun­selling ser­vice un­der Art­icle 9 VSA.

134 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 26 Sept. 2014 on Vic­tims’ Right to In­form­a­tion, in force since 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 2015 1623; BBl 2014 889913). See also the trans­ition­al pro­vi­sion to this amend­ment at the end of the text.

135 SR 312.5

Title Five: Probation Assistance, Conduct Orders and Voluntary Social Supervision

Art. 93

Pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance

 

1 Pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance is in­ten­ded to pro­tect the pro­ba­tion­ers from re­offend­ing and en­able their so­cial in­teg­ra­tion. The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity for pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance provides and ar­ranges for the re­quired so­cial and spe­cial­ist ser­vices.

2 Per­sons work­ing in the field of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance must treat mat­ters that come to their know­ledge in the course of their work as con­fid­en­tial. They may dis­close in­form­a­tion on the per­son­al cir­cum­stances of a pro­ba­tion­er to third parties only if the pro­ba­tion­er or the per­son in charge of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance has con­sen­ted in writ­ing.

3 The au­thor­it­ies for the ad­min­is­tra­tion of crim­in­al justice may ob­tain a re­port on the pro­ba­tion­er from the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity for pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance.

Art. 94136

Con­duct or­ders

 

1 The con­duct or­ders that the court or the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may im­pose on the of­fend­er for dur­a­tion of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od re­late in par­tic­u­lar to the prac­tice of a pro­fes­sion, place of res­id­ence, driv­ing mo­tor vehicles, re­par­a­tion and med­ic­al and psy­cho­lo­gic­al ther­apy.

2 In the case of of­fences against sexu­al in­teg­rity, the of­fend­er may be re­quired to at­tend a course.

136 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 95

Gen­er­al pro­vi­sions

 

1 Pri­or to mak­ing their de­cision on pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and con­duct or­ders, the court and the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may ob­tain a re­port from the au­thor­ity re­spons­ible for su­per­vising the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and the con­duct or­ders or for en­for­cing activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­ders or con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­ders.137 The per­son con­cerned may state his opin­ion on the re­port. Dif­fer­ences of opin­ion must be re­cor­ded in the re­port.

2 The or­der­ing of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance and con­duct or­ders must be noted and jus­ti­fied in the judg­ment or the de­cision.

3 If the of­fend­er fails to com­ply with the con­di­tions of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or dis­reg­ards the con­duct or­ders or if the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or con­duct or­ders can­not be im­ple­men­ted or are no longer re­quired, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall sub­mit a re­port to the court or the au­thor­it­ies re­spons­ible for the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures.

4 The court or the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity may in the cases men­tioned in para­graph 3:

a.
ex­tend the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od by one half;
b.
re­voke or re­or­gan­ise the pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance;
c.
modi­fy or re­voke the con­duct or­ders or is­sue new con­duct or­ders.

5 The court may in the cases in para­graph 3 re­voke the sus­pen­ded sen­tence or or­der the re­call to cus­tody for the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence or meas­ure if it is ser­i­ously ex­pec­ted that the of­fend­er will com­mit fur­ther of­fences.

137 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

Art. 96

So­cial as­sist­ance

 

The can­tons shall guar­an­tee the pro­vi­sion of so­cial as­sist­ance for the dur­a­tion of the crim­in­al pro­ceed­ings and of the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence which may be claimed vol­un­tar­ily.

Title Six: Statute of Limitations

Art. 97

1. Lim­it­a­tion of pro­sec­u­tion rights

Peri­ods

 

1 The right to pro­sec­ute is sub­ject to a time lim­it of:

a.
30 years if the of­fence car­ries a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life;
b.
15 years if the of­fence car­ries a cus­todi­al sen­tence of more than three years;
c.
10 years if the of­fence car­ries a cus­todi­al sen­tence of three years;
d.
sev­en years if the of­fence car­ries a dif­fer­ent pen­alty.138

2 In the case of sexu­al acts with chil­dren (Art. 187) and in the case of­fences un­der Art­icles 111, 113, 122, 124, 182, 189–191, 193, 193a, 195 and 197 para­graph 3 in­volving a child un­der 16, the lim­it­a­tion peri­od in each case runs at least un­til the vic­tim has at­tained the age of 25.139

3 If a judg­ment is is­sued by a court of first in­stance be­fore ex­piry of the lim­it­a­tion peri­od, the time lim­it no longer ap­plies.

4 The lim­it­a­tion of the right to pro­sec­ute in the case of sexu­al acts with chil­dren (Art. 187) and de­pend­ent minors (Art. 188) and of­fences un­der Art­icles 111–113, 122, 182, 189–191 and 195 in­volving a child un­der 16 is gov­erned by para­graphs 1–3 if the of­fence was com­mit­ted be­fore the amend­ment of 5 Oc­to­ber 2001140 came in­to force and the lim­it­a­tion of the right to pro­sec­ute had not yet taken ef­fect.141

138 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 21 June 2013 (Ex­ten­sion of Pro­sec­u­tion Time Lim­its), in force since 1 Jan. 2014 (AS 20134417; BBl 2012 9253).

139 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

140 AS 2002 2993

141 Amended by Art. 2 No 1 of the FedD of 24 March 2006 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Op­tion­al Pro­tocol of 25 May 2000 to the Con­ven­tion on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Chil­dren, Child Pros­ti­tu­tion and Child Por­no­graphy, in force since 1 Dec. 2006 (AS 2006 54375440; BBl 2005 2807).

Art. 98

Com­mence­ment

 

The lim­it­a­tion peri­od be­gins:

a.
on the day on which the of­fend­er com­mit­ted the of­fence;
b.
on the day on which the fi­nal act was car­ried out if the of­fence con­sists of a series of acts car­ried out at dif­fer­ent times;
c.
on the day on which the crim­in­al con­duct ceases if the crim­in­al con­duct con­tin­ues over a peri­od of time.

Art. 99

2. Lim­it­a­tion peri­od for the ex­e­cu­tion of a sen­tence

Peri­ods

 

1 The right to ex­ecute a sen­tence is sub­ject to a lim­it­a­tion peri­od of:

a.
30 years if a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life has been im­posed;
b.
25 years if a cus­todi­al sen­tence of ten or more years has been im­posed;
c.
20 years if a cus­todi­al sen­tence at least five and less than ten years has been im­posed;
d.
15 years, if a cus­todi­al sen­tence of more than one and less than five years has been im­posed;
e.
five years if any oth­er sen­tence has been im­posed.

2 The lim­it­a­tion peri­od for a cus­todi­al sen­tence is ex­ten­ded:

a.
by the time that the of­fend­er spends serving without in­ter­rup­tion that or any oth­er cus­todi­al sen­tence or meas­ure that is ex­ecuted im­me­di­ately be­fore­hand;
b.
by the length of the pro­ba­tion­ary peri­od in the case of re­lease on pa­role.

Art. 100

Com­mence­ment

 

The lim­it­a­tion peri­od be­gins on the day on which the judg­ment be­comes leg­ally en­force­able, and in the case of sus­pen­ded sen­tences or the ex­e­cu­tion of a meas­ure, on the day on which the ex­e­cu­tion of the pen­alty is ordered.

Art. 101

3. Ex­clu­sion from lim­it­a­tion

 

1 There is no stat­ute of lim­it­a­tions for the of­fences of:

a.
gen­o­cide (Art. 264);
b.
crimes against hu­man­ity (Art. 264a para. 1 and 2);
c.
war crimes (Art. 264c para. 1–3, 264d para. 1 and 2, 264e para. 1 and 2, 264f, 264g para. 1 and 2 and 264h);
d.
felon­ies that have caused or threatened to cause danger to life and limb to a large num­ber of per­sons as a meth­od of ex­tor­tion or duress, in par­tic­u­lar through the use of means of mass de­struc­tion, the caus­ing of cata­strophes, or as part of a host­age tak­ing of­fence;
e.142
sexu­al acts with chil­dren (Art. 187 Nos 1 and 1bis), sexu­al ab­use and in­de­cent as­sault (Art. 189), rape (Art. 190), sexu­al acts with per­sons in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance (Art. 191), ex­ploit­a­tion of a per­son in a po­s­i­tion of need or de­pend­ency (Art. 193) and de­cep­tion as to the sexu­al char­ac­ter of an act (Art. 193a) if com­mit­ted against chil­dren un­der the age of 12.143

2 If the right to pro­sec­ute the of­fence would have be­come time barred had Art­icles 97 and 98 ap­plied, the court may in its dis­cre­tion im­pose a more le­ni­ent pen­alty.

3 Para­graphs 1 let­ters a, c and d and para­graph 2 ap­ply if the right to pro­sec­ute or ex­ecute the sen­tence had not be­come time barred by 1 Janu­ary 1983 in ac­cord­ance with the law ap­plic­able un­til that point in time. Para­graph 1let­ter b ap­plies if the right to pro­sec­ute or ex­ecute the pen­alty has not be­come time barred un­der the pre­vi­ous law when the Amend­ment of 18 June 2010 to this Code comes in­to force. Para­graph 1 let­ter e ap­plies if the pro­sec­u­tion or the sen­tence has not be­come time barred by 30 Novem­ber 2008 in ac­cord­ance with the law ap­plic­able un­til that point in time.144 145

142 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 15 June 2012 (Non-ap­plic­ab­il­ity of Lim­it­a­tion to Sexu­al or Por­no­graphy Of­fences against Pre­pu­bes­cent Chil­dren), (AS 2012 5951; BBl 2011 5977). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

143 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amend­ment of Fed­er­al Le­gis­la­tion in Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Rome Statue of the In­ter­na­tion­al Crim­in­al Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

144 Third sen­tence in­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 15 June 2012 (Non-ap­plic­ab­il­ity of Lim­it­a­tion to Sexu­al or Por­no­graphy Of­fences against Pre­pu­bes­cent Chil­dren), in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 5951; BBl 2011 5977).

145 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amend­ment of Fed­er­al Le­gis­la­tion in Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Rome Statue of the In­ter­na­tion­al Crim­in­al Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

Title Seven: Corporate Criminal Liability

Art. 102

Li­ab­il­ity un­der the crim­in­al law

 

1 If a felony or mis­de­mean­our is com­mit­ted in an un­der­tak­ing in the ex­er­cise of com­mer­cial activ­it­ies in ac­cord­ance with the ob­jects of the un­der­tak­ing and if it is not pos­sible to at­trib­ute this act to any spe­cif­ic nat­ur­al per­son due to the in­ad­equate or­gan­isa­tion of the un­der­tak­ing, then the felony or mis­de­mean­our is at­trib­uted to the un­der­tak­ing. In such cases, the un­der­tak­ing shall be li­able to a fine not ex­ceed­ing 5 mil­lion francs.

2 If the of­fence com­mit­ted falls un­der Art­icles 260ter, 260quin­quies, 305bis, 322ter, 322quin­quies, 322sep­ties para­graph 1 or 322octies, the un­der­tak­ing is pen­al­ised ir­re­spect­ive of the crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity of any nat­ur­al per­sons, provided the un­der­tak­ing has failed to take all the reas­on­able or­gan­isa­tion­al meas­ures that are re­quired in or­der to pre­vent such an of­fence.146

3 The court as­sesses the fine in par­tic­u­lar in ac­cord­ance with the ser­i­ous­ness of the of­fence, the ser­i­ous­ness of the or­gan­isa­tion­al in­ad­equa­cies and of the loss or dam­age caused, and based on the eco­nom­ic abil­ity of the un­der­tak­ing to pay the fine.

4 Un­der­tak­ings with­in the mean­ing of this title are:

a.
any leg­al en­tity un­der private law;
b.
any leg­al en­tity un­der pub­lic law with ex­cep­tion of loc­al au­thor­it­ies;
c.
com­pan­ies;
d.
sole pro­pri­et­or­ships147.

146 Amended by No I of the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2016 (AS 2016 1287; BBl 2014 3591).

147 Ter­min­o­lo­gic­al foot­note rel­ev­ant to Ger­man only.

Art. 102a148

 

148 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Part Two: Contraventions

Art. 103

Defin­i­tion

 

Con­tra­ven­tions are acts that are pun­ish­able by a fine.

Art. 104

Ap­plic­a­tion of the pro­vi­sions of the First Part

 

The pro­vi­sions of the First Part also ap­ply to con­tra­ven­tions, sub­ject to the fol­low­ing changes.

Art. 105

No or con­di­tion­al ap­plic­ab­il­ity

 

1 The pro­vi­sions on sus­pen­ded and par­tially sus­pen­ded sen­tences (Art. 42 and 43), on ex­pul­sion (Art. 66a–66d) and on cor­por­ate crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity (Art. 102) do not ap­ply to con­tra­ven­tions.149

2 At­tempt and com­pli­city are of­fences only in the cases ex­pressly men­tioned in this Code.

3 Cus­todi­al meas­ures (Art. 59–61 and 64), activ­ity pro­hib­i­tion or­ders (Art. 67), con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­ders (Art. 67b) and the pub­lic­a­tion of the judg­ment (Art. 68) are per­mit­ted only in the cases ex­pressly men­tioned in this Code.150

149 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

150 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

Art. 106

Fines

 

1 Un­less the law provides oth­er­wise, the max­im­um amount of a fine is 10,000 francs.

2 In its judg­ment, the court shall im­pose an al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence of at least one day and a max­im­um of three months for the event that the fine is wil­fully not paid.

3 The court de­term­ines the fine and the al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence based on the of­fend­er's cir­cum­stances so that the of­fend­er re­ceives the sen­tence that is com­men­sur­ate with his culp­able con­duct.

4 On ret­ro­spect­ive pay­ment of the fine, the of­fend­er is re­leased from the al­tern­at­ive cus­todi­al sen­tence.

5 Art­icles 35 and 36 para­graph 2 ap­ply by ana­logy to the col­lec­tion and con­ver­sion of the fine.151

151 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 107152

 

152 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 108153

 

153 This Art­icle con­tains no pro­vi­sions for tech­nic­al draft­ing reas­ons. Cor­rec­ted by the Draft­ing Com­mit­tee of the Fed­er­al As­sembly (Art. 58 para. 1 ParlA; SR 171.10).

Art. 109

Lim­it­a­tion

 

The right to pro­sec­ute and to ex­ecute a sen­tence is sub­ject to a lim­it­a­tion peri­od of three years.

Part Three: Terms and Definitions

Art. 110

 

1 Close re­l­at­ives of a per­son are his or her spouse, re­gistered part­ner, re­l­at­ives of dir­ect lin­eage, full sib­lings and half sib­lings, ad­opt­ive par­ents, ad­opt­ive sib­lings and ad­opt­ive chil­dren.154

2 Fam­ily mem­bers are per­sons who live in the same house­hold.

3 Pub­lic of­fi­cialsare the of­fi­cials and em­ploy­ees of a pub­lic ad­min­is­trat­ive au­thor­ity or of an au­thor­ity for the ad­min­is­tra­tion of justice as well as per­sons who hold of­fice tem­por­ar­ily or are em­ployed tem­por­ar­ily by a pub­lic ad­min­is­trat­ive au­thor­ity or by an au­thor­ity for the ad­min­is­tra­tion of justice or who carry out of­fi­cial func­tions tem­por­ar­ily.

3bis If a pro­vi­sion refers to the term "prop­erty", it also ap­plies to an­im­als.155

4 Of­fi­cial doc­u­mentsare writ­ten works in­ten­ded and de­signed to prove a fact of leg­al rel­ev­ance, or in­dic­a­tions that are in­ten­ded to prove such a fact. Re­cord­ings on im­age and data car­ri­ers are equi­val­ent to a writ­ten doc­u­ment, provided that they serve the same pur­pose.

5 Pub­lic deeds are of­fi­cial doc­u­ments is­sued by mem­bers of an au­thor­ity, pub­lic of­fi­cials and hold­ers of pub­lic of­fice in the ex­er­cise of­fi­cial powers. Of­fi­cial doc­u­ments that are is­sued in private law trans­ac­tions by the man­age­ment of com­mer­cial com­pan­ies, state mono­poly com­pan­ies or oth­er pub­lic cor­por­a­tions or in­sti­tu­tions are not pub­lic of­fi­cial doc­u­ments.

6 A day has 24 suc­cess­ive hours. The month and the year are cal­cu­lated ac­cord­ing to the cal­en­dar.

7 Time spent on re­mand is any form of de­ten­tion, re­mand, pre­vent­ive de­ten­tion or de­ten­tion pending ex­tra­di­tion im­posed in crim­in­al pro­ceed­ings.

154 Amended by Art. 37 No 1 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

155 AS 2006 3583

Book Two: Specific Provisions

Title One: Offences against Life and Limb

Art. 111

1. Hom­icide

In­ten­tion­al hom­icide

 

Any per­son who kills a per­son in­ten­tion­ally, but without ful­filling the spe­cial re­quire­ments of the fol­low­ing art­icles, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence156 of not less than five years.

156Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 112157

Murder

 

Where the of­fend­er acts in a par­tic­u­larly un­scru­pu­lous man­ner, in which the motive, the ob­ject­ive or the meth­od of com­mis­sion is par­tic­u­larly de­praved, a cus­todi­al sen­tence for life or a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than ten years shall be im­posed.158

157Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

158 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 113159

Man­slaughter

 

Where the of­fend­er acts in a state of ex­treme emo­tion that is ex­cus­able in the cir­cum­stances, or in a state of pro­found psy­cho­lo­gic­al stress, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one to ten years shall be im­posed.160

159Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

160 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 114161

Hom­icide at the re­quest of the vic­tim

 

Any per­son who for com­mend­able motives, and in par­tic­u­lar out of com­pas­sion for the vic­tim, causes the death of a per­son at that per­son’s own genu­ine and in­sist­ent re­quest shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty162 .

161Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

162Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 115

In­cit­ing and as­sist­ing sui­cide

 

Any per­son who for selfish motives in­cites or as­sists an­oth­er to com­mit or at­tempt to com­mit sui­cide shall, if that oth­er per­son there­after com­mits or at­tempts to com­mit sui­cide, be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty163 .

163Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 3 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 116164

In­fant­i­cide

 

If a moth­er kills her child either dur­ing de­liv­ery or while she is un­der the in­flu­ence of the ef­fects of giv­ing birth, sa cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

164Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 117

Hom­icide through neg­li­gence

 

Any per­son who causes the death of an­oth­er through neg­li­gence or reck­less­ness shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 118165

2. Abor­tion

Il­leg­al abor­tion

 

1 Any per­son who ter­min­ates a preg­nancy with the con­sent of the preg­nant wo­man or in­cites or as­sists a preg­nant wo­man to ter­min­ate her preg­nancy without the re­quire­ments of Art­icle 119 be­ing ful­filled shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who ter­min­ates a preg­nancy without the con­sent of the preg­nant wo­man shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one166 to ten years.

3 Any wo­man who has her preg­nancy ter­min­ated or oth­er­wise par­ti­cip­ates in the ter­min­a­tion of her preg­nancy fol­low­ing the end of the twelfth week since her last peri­od and without the re­quire­ments of Art­icle 119 be­ing ful­filled shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

4 Cases fall­ing un­der para­graphs 1 and 3 above are sub­ject to a lim­it­a­tion peri­od of three years.167

165Amended by No I of the FA of 23 March 2001 (Abor­tion), in force since 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 29892992; BBl 1998 30055376).

166Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 4 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

167Amended by No I of the FA of 22 March 2002 (Lim­it­a­tion of the Right to Pro­sec­ute), in force since 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 29862988; BBl 2002 26731649).

Art. 119168

Leg­al abor­tion

 

1 The ter­min­a­tion of a preg­nancy is ex­empt from pen­alty in the event that the ter­min­a­tion is, in the judg­ment of a phys­i­cian, ne­ces­sary in or­der to be able to pre­vent the preg­nant wo­man from sus­tain­ing ser­i­ous phys­ic­al in­jury or ser­i­ous psy­cho­lo­gic­al dis­tress. The risk must be great­er the more ad­vanced the preg­nancy is.

2 The ter­min­a­tion of a preg­nancy is like­wise ex­empt from pen­alty if, at the writ­ten re­quest of a preg­nant wo­man, who claims that she is in a state of dis­tress, it is per­formed with­in twelve weeks of the start of the preg­nant wo­man’s last peri­od by a phys­i­cian who is li­censed to prac­tise his pro­fes­sion. The phys­i­cian must have a de­tailed con­sulta­tion with the wo­man pri­or to the ter­min­a­tion and provide her with ap­pro­pri­ate coun­selling.

3 If the wo­man is in­cap­able of judge­ment, the con­sent of her leg­al rep­res­ent­at­ive is re­quired.

4 The can­tons des­ig­nate the med­ic­al prac­tices and hos­pit­als that ful­fil the re­quire­ments for the pro­fes­sion­al con­duct of pro­ced­ures to ter­min­ate preg­nancy and for the pro­vi­sion of coun­selling.

5 An abor­tion is re­por­ted for stat­ist­ic­al pur­poses to the com­pet­ent health au­thor­ity, whereby the an­onym­ity of the wo­man con­cerned is guar­an­teed and med­ic­al con­fid­en­ti­al­ity is pre­served.

168Amended by No I of the FA of 23 March 2001 (Abor­tion), in force since 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 29892992; BBl 1998 30055376).

Art. 120169

Con­tra­ven­tions by phys­i­cians

 

1 Any phys­i­cian who ter­min­ates a preg­nancy in terms of Art­icle 119 para­graph 2 and who fails, pri­or to the pro­ced­ure:

a.
to ob­tain a writ­ten re­quest from the preg­nant wo­man;
b.
to dis­cuss the ter­min­a­tion in de­tail with the preg­nant wo­man and to coun­sel her, to ad­vise her of the risks of the pro­ced­ure to her health, and to provide her with a writ­ten guide, the re­ceipt of which she must ac­know­ledge with her sig­na­ture, that con­tains:
1.
a list of agen­cies that provide coun­selling free of charge,
2.
a list of as­so­ci­ations and agen­cies that of­fer mor­al and ma­ter­i­al sup­port, and
3.
in­form­a­tion on the pos­sib­il­ity of hav­ing the child ad­op­ted;
c.
to sat­is­fy him­self that a preg­nant wo­man un­der 16 years of age has been in con­tact with a coun­selling agency spe­cial­ised in deal­ing with young people.
shall be li­able to a fine170.

2 Any phys­i­cian who fails to re­port the ter­min­a­tion of a preg­nancy to the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 119 para­graph 5 shall be li­able to the same pen­alty.

169Amended by No I of the FA of 23 March 2001 (Abor­tion), in force since 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 29892992; BBl 1998 30055376).

170Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 5 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 121171

 

171Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 23 March 2001 (Abor­tion), with ef­fect from 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 2989; BBl 1998 30055376).

Art. 122172

3. As­sault

Ser­i­ous as­sault

 

Any per­son who wil­fully:

a.
in­flicts a life-threat­en­ing in­jury on an­oth­er;
b.
in­flicts a ser­i­ous in­jury on the per­son, or on an im­port­ant or­gan or limb of an­oth­er, makes an im­port­ant or­gan or limb un­us­able, makes an­oth­er per­man­ently un­fit for work, in­firm or men­tally ill, or who dis­fig­ures the face of an­oth­er badly and per­man­ently;
c.
causes any oth­er ser­i­ous dam­age to the per­son or to the phys­ic­al or men­tal health of an­oth­er,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one year to ten years.

172 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 123173

Com­mon as­sault

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully causes in­jury to the per­son or the health of an­oth­er in any oth­er way shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

174 175

2. The of­fend­er shall be pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio,176

if he uses pois­on, a weapon or a dan­ger­ous ob­ject,

if he com­mits the act on a per­son, and in par­tic­u­lar on a child, who is un­able to de­fend him­self, or is un­der his pro­tec­tion or in his care.

if he is the spouse of the vic­tim and the act was com­mit­ted dur­ing the mar­riage or up to one year after di­vorce,177

if he is the re­gistered part­ner of the vic­tim and the of­fence was com­mit­ted dur­ing the peri­od of the re­gistered part­ner­ship or up to a year after its dis­sol­u­tion,178 or

if he is the het­ero­sexu­al or ho­mo­sexu­al part­ner of the vic­tim provided they have at any time co­hab­ited and the act was com­mit­ted at that time or up to one year after sep­ar­a­tion.179

173Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

174 Second para­graph re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

175 Amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 3459; BBl 1999 1979).

176 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

177 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2003 (Pro­sec­u­tion of Of­fences with­in Mar­riage or Re­gistered Part­ner­ships), in force since 1 April 2004 (AS 2004 14031407; BBl 2003 19091937).

178 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 18 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

179 Ori­gin­ally para. 4. In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2003 (Pro­sec­u­tion of Of­fences with­in Mar­riage or Re­gistered Part­ner­ships), in force since 1 April 2004 (AS 2004 14031407; BBl 2003 19091937).

Art. 124180

Fe­male gen­it­al mu­til­a­tion

 

1 Any per­son who mu­til­ates the gen­it­als of a fe­male per­son, im­pairs their nat­ur­al func­tion ser­i­ously and per­man­ently or dam­ages them in some oth­er way shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.181

2 Any per­son who has com­mit­ted the of­fence abroad but is now in Switzer­land and is not ex­tra­dited shall be li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­al­ties. Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­ply.

180Amended by No I of the FA of 30 Sept. 2011, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2012 (AS 20122575; BBl 2010 56515677).

181 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 125

As­sault through neg­li­gence

 

1 Any per­son who causes in­jury to the per­son or the health of an­oth­er through neg­li­gence shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.182

2 If the in­jury is ser­i­ous, the of­fend­er shall be pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio.

182Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 126

Acts of ag­gres­sion

 

1 Any per­son who com­mits acts of ag­gres­sion against an­oth­er that do not cause any in­jury to the per­son or health shall be li­able on com­plaint to a fine.

2 The of­fend­er is pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio if he com­mits the of­fence re­peatedly:

a.
on a per­son un­der his pro­tec­tion or in his care, and in par­tic­u­lar on a child;
b.
on his spouse dur­ing the mar­riage or up to a year after di­vorce; or
bbis.183
on his re­gistered part­ner dur­ing the peri­od of the re­gistered part­ner­ship or up to a year after its dis­sol­u­tion; or
c.
on his het­ero­sexu­al or ho­mo­sexu­al part­ner provided they have at any time co­hab­ited and the act was com­mit­ted at that time or up to one year after sep­ar­a­tion.184

183 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 18 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

184In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989 (AS 1989 2449; BBl 1985 II 1009). Amended by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2003 (Pro­sec­u­tion of Of­fences with­in Mar­riage or Re­gistered Part­ner­ships), in force since 1 April 2004 (AS 2004 14031407; BBl 2003 19091937).

Art. 127185

4. En­dan­ger­ing the life or health of an­oth­er

Aban­don­ment

 

Any per­son who ex­poses a help­less per­son un­der his pro­tec­tion or care to a life-threat­en­ing danger or to a ser­i­ous and im­me­di­ate danger to health, or aban­dons the per­son to such a danger shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

185Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 128186

Fail­ure to of­fer aid in an emer­gency

 

Any per­son who fails to of­fer aid to an­oth­er whom he has in­jured or to an­oth­er who is in im­me­di­ate life-threat­en­ing danger, in cir­cum­stances where the per­son either could reas­on­ably have been ex­pec­ted to of­fer aid,

any per­son who pre­vents or hinders oth­ers from of­fer­ing aid,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

186Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 128bis187

False alarm

 

Any per­son who wil­fully and without good reas­on alerts a pub­lic or char­it­able se­cur­ity, res­cue or emer­gency ser­vice, and in par­tic­u­lar the po­lice, fire or am­bu­lance ser­vices shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

187In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

Art. 129188

En­dan­ger­ing life

 

Any per­son who un­scru­pu­lously places an­oth­er in im­me­di­ate life-threat­en­ing danger shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

188Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 130–132189

 

189Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 2449; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 133190

Brawl­ing

 

1 Any per­son who par­ti­cip­ates in a brawl that res­ults in the death of or in an as­sault caus­ing in­jury shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 A par­ti­cipant in a brawl who acts ex­clus­ively in self-de­fence or in or­der to sep­ar­ate the oth­er par­ti­cipants is not li­able to a pen­alty.

190Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 134191

At­tack

 

Any per­son who par­ti­cip­ates in an at­tack on one or more oth­er per­sons which causes death or in­jury to a per­son at­tacked or an­oth­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty192.

191Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

192Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 6 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 135193

Rep­res­ent­a­tions of acts of vi­ol­ence

 

1 Any per­son who pro­duces, im­ports, stores, mar­kets, pro­motes, ex­hib­its, of­fers, shows, makes ac­cess­ible, ac­quires, pro­cures or pos­sesses by elec­tron­ic means or oth­er­wise or makes avail­able sound, film or video re­cord­ings or oth­er items or rep­res­ent­a­tions in which acts of ex­treme vi­ol­ence to­wards adults or an­im­als or sim­u­lated acts of cruelty to­wards minors are por­trayed, without reas­on­able cul­tur­al or sci­entif­ic grounds there­for, and in do­ing so ser­i­ously of­fends ba­sic hu­man dig­nity shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty. If the items or rep­res­ent­a­tions have genu­ine acts of cruelty to­wards minors as their con­tent, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

2 Any per­son who con­sumes or for their own con­sump­tion pro­duces, im­ports, stores, ac­quires, pro­cures by elec­tron­ic or oth­er means or pos­sesses the items or rep­res­ent­a­tions men­tioned in the first sen­tence of para­graph 1 above, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty. If the items or rep­res­ent­a­tions have genu­ine acts of cruelty to­wards minors as their con­tent, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed

3 The items con­cerned shall be for­feited.

193Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 136194

Ad­min­is­ter­ing sub­stances cap­able of caus­ing in­jury to chil­dren

 

Any per­son who ad­min­is­ters or makes avail­able for con­sump­tion to chil­dren un­der the age of 16 al­co­hol­ic bever­ages or oth­er sub­stances in such quant­it­ies as may en­danger their health shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

194Amended by No I of the FA of 20 March 2008, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2011 (AS 2009 2623, 2011 2559; BBl 2006 85738645).

Title Two: Offences against Property195

195Amended by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

Art. 137

1. Of­fences against prop­erty

Un­law­ful ap­pro­pri­ation

 

1. Any per­son who for his own or for an­oth­er's un­law­ful gain ap­pro­pri­ates move­able prop­erty which be­longs to an­oth­er shall be li­able, un­less the spe­cial re­quire­ments of Art­icles 138-140 ap­ply, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er has found the prop­erty or if the prop­erty has in­ad­vert­ently come in­to his pos­ses­sion,

if he does not act for fin­an­cial gain or

if he acts only to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber,

the of­fence shall only be pro­sec­uted on com­plaint.

Art. 138

Mis­ap­pro­pri­ation

 

1. Any per­son who for his own or an­oth­er's un­law­ful gain ap­pro­pri­ates move­able prop­erty be­long­ing to an­oth­er but en­trus­ted to him,

any per­son who makes un­law­ful use of fin­an­cial as­sets en­trus­ted to him for his own or an­oth­er's be­ne­fit,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Mis­ap­pro­pri­ation to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

2. Any per­son who com­mits the fore­go­ing of­fence in his ca­pa­city as a mem­ber of a pub­lic au­thor­ity, or as a pub­lic of­fi­cial, guard­i­an, ad­viser, pro­fes­sion­al as­set man­ager, or in the prac­tice of a pro­fes­sion or a trade or the ex­e­cu­tion of a com­mer­cial trans­ac­tion for which he has been au­thor­ised by a pub­lic au­thor­ity, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.196

196Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 8 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 139

Theft

 

1. Any per­son who for his own or for an­oth­er's un­law­ful gain, ap­pro­pri­ates move­able prop­erty be­long­ing to an­oth­er per­son with the ob­ject of per­man­ently de­priving the own­er of it shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. …197

3. The of­fend­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of at least six months and no more than ten years if he:

a.
steals for com­mer­cial gain;
b.
com­mits theft as a mem­ber of a group that has been formed for the pur­pose of car­ry­ing out re­peated acts of rob­bery or theft;
c.
car­ries a fire­arm or oth­er dan­ger­ous weapon for the pur­pose of com­mit­ting theft or causes an ex­plo­sion; or
d.
oth­er­wise re­veals a par­tic­u­lar danger due to the man­ner in which he com­mits the theft.198

4. Theft to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber shall be pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

197 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

198 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 140

Rob­bery

 

1. Any per­son who com­mits theft by us­ing force on an­oth­er, threat­en­ing an­oth­er with im­min­ent danger to life or limb, or mak­ing an­oth­er in­cap­able of res­ist­ance shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of at least six months and no more than ten years.199

Any per­son who, when caught in the act of com­mit­ting theft, com­mits any of the co­er­cive acts men­tioned in the fore­go­ing para­graph in or­der to re­tain the stolen prop­erty shall be li­able the same pen­al­ties.

2. The of­fend­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year200 if he car­ries with him a fire­arm or oth­er dan­ger­ous weapon for the pur­pose of com­mit­ting rob­bery.

3. The of­fend­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than two years,

if he com­mits rob­bery as a mem­ber of a group that has been formed for the pur­pose of car­ry­ing out re­peated acts of rob­bery or theft,

or if he rep­res­ents a par­tic­u­lar danger in any oth­er way due to the man­ner in which he com­mits rob­bery.

4. The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than five years, if the of­fend­er en­dangers the life of the vic­tim, com­mits a ser­i­ous as­sault on the vic­tim or oth­er­wise treats the vic­tim with cruelty.

199 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

200Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 12 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 141

Re­mov­al of prop­erty

 

Any per­son who takes move­able prop­erty from the per­son en­titled to it to the ser­i­ous det­ri­ment of that per­son but without in­tend­ing to per­man­ently de­prive the en­titled per­son of it shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 141bis

Un­law­ful use of fin­an­cial as­sets

 

Any per­son who for his own or an­oth­er's be­ne­fit un­law­fully uses fin­an­cial as­sets that have in­ad­vert­ently come in­to his pos­ses­sion shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 142

Un­law­ful ab­strac­tion of en­ergy

 

1 Any per­son who un­law­fully ob­tains en­ergy from an in­stall­a­tion that serves to ex­ploit nat­ur­al power, and in par­tic­u­lar an elec­tric­al in­stall­a­tion shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er acts for his own or for an­oth­er's un­law­ful gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

Art. 143

Data theft

 

1 Any per­son who for his own or for an­oth­er's un­law­ful gain ob­tains for him­self or an­oth­er data that is stored or trans­mit­ted elec­tron­ic­ally or in some sim­il­ar man­ner and which is not in­ten­ded for him and has been spe­cially se­cured to pre­vent his ac­cess shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The un­au­thor­ised ob­tain­ing of data to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

Art. 143bis201

Un­au­thor­ised ac­cess to a data pro­cessing sys­tem

 

1 Any per­son who ob­tains un­au­thor­ised ac­cess by means of data trans­mis­sion equip­ment to a data pro­cessing sys­tem that has been spe­cially se­cured to pre­vent his ac­cess shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who mar­kets or makes ac­cess­ible pass­words, pro­grams or oth­er data that he knows or must as­sume are in­ten­ded to be used to com­mit an of­fence un­der para­graph 1 shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

201 Amended by Art. 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 March 2011 (Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on Cy­ber­crime), in force since 1 Jan. 2012 (AS 2011 6293; BBl 2010 4697).

Art. 144

Crim­in­al dam­age

 

1 Any per­son who dam­ages, des­troys or renders un­us­able prop­erty be­long­ing to an­oth­er or in re­spect of which an­oth­er has a right of use shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er has com­mit­ted crim­in­al dam­age in the course of a pub­lic ri­ot, he shall be pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio.

3 If the of­fend­er has caused ma­jor dam­age, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed. The of­fence is pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio.202

202 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 144bis

Dam­age to data

 

1. Any per­son who without au­thor­ity al­ters, de­letes or renders un­us­able data that is stored or trans­mit­ted elec­tron­ic­ally or in some oth­er sim­il­ar way shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er has caused ma­jor dam­age, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed. The of­fence is pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio.203

2. Any per­son who man­u­fac­tures, im­ports, mar­kets, ad­vert­ises, of­fers or oth­er­wise makes ac­cess­ible pro­grams that he knows or must as­sume will be used for the pur­poses de­scribed in para­graph 1 above, or provides in­struc­tions on the man­u­fac­ture of such pro­grams shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.204

203 Second para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

204 Second para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 145

Mis­ap­pro­pri­ation and re­mov­al of prop­erty sub­ject to a pledge or li­en

 

Any debt­or who, with the in­ten­tion of caus­ing loss to his cred­it­ors, ap­pro­pri­ates, uses without au­thor­ity, dam­ages, des­troys, re­duces the value of or renders un­us­able prop­erty sub­ject to a pledge or li­en shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 146

Fraud

 

1 Any per­son who with a view to se­cur­ing an un­law­ful gain for him­self or an­oth­er wil­fully in­duces an er­ro­neous be­lief in an­oth­er per­son by false pre­tences or con­ceal­ment of the truth, or wil­fully re­in­forces an er­ro­neous be­lief, and thus causes that per­son to act to the pre­ju­dice of his or an­oth­er's fin­an­cial in­terests, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.205

3 Fraud to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

205 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 147

Com­puter fraud

 

1 Any per­son who with a view to his own or an­oth­er's un­law­ful gain, by the in­cor­rect, in­com­plete or un­au­thor­ised use of data, or in a sim­il­ar way, in­flu­ences the elec­tron­ic or sim­il­ar pro­cessing or trans­mis­sion of data and as a res­ult causes the trans­fer of fin­an­cial as­sets, thus oc­ca­sion­ing loss to an­oth­er, or im­me­di­ately there­after con­ceals such a trans­fer shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.206

3 Com­puter fraud to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

206 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 148

Mis­use of a cheque card or cred­it card

 

1 Any per­son who with a view to ob­tain­ing ser­vices of a fin­an­cial value and al­though in­cap­able of mak­ing or un­will­ing to make pay­ment uses a cheque card or cred­it card or sim­il­ar means of pay­ment that has been en­trus­ted to him by the is­suer there­of and thus causes loss to the is­suer, shall be li­able, provided the is­suer and the con­tract­ing en­ter­prise have taken reas­on­able meas­ures in or­der to pre­vent the ab­use of the card, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.207

207 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art.148a208

Un­law­ful claim for so­cial in­sur­ance or so­cial as­sist­ance be­ne­fits

 

1 Any per­son who mis­leads a an­oth­er by provid­ing false or in­com­plete in­form­a­tion, fail­ing to dis­close in­form­a­tion or in any oth­er way or who com­pounds an ex­ist­ing er­ror so that he or an as­so­ci­ate ob­tains so­cial in­sur­ance or so­cial as­sist­ance be­ne­fits to which he or his as­so­ci­ate is not en­titled shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 In minor cases, the pen­alty is a fine.

208 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 20 March 2015 (Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Art. 121 para. 3–6 Fed­er­al Con­sti­tu­tion on the ex­pul­sion of for­eign na­tion­als con­victed of cer­tain crim­in­al of­fences), in force since 1 Oct. 2016 (AS 2016 2329; BBl 2013 5975).

Art. 149

Mak­ing off from a hotel, res­taur­ant or bar without pay­ment

 

Any per­son who ac­cepts ac­com­mod­a­tion, food or drink or oth­er ser­vices in a hotel, res­taur­ant, bar or sim­il­ar premises and dis­hon­estly makes off without mak­ing pay­ment there­for shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 150

Ob­tain­ing a ser­vice without pay­ment

 

Any per­son who ob­tains a ser­vice without pay­ing, know­ing that the ser­vice is only rendered against pay­ment, and in par­tic­u­lar

makes use of pub­lic trans­port,

at­tends pub­lic per­form­ances, ex­hib­i­tions or sim­il­ar events,

or ob­tains ser­vices from a data pro­cessing device or a vend­ing ma­chine,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 150bis209

Pro­duc­tion and mar­ket­ing of equip­ment for the un­au­thor­ised de­cod­ing of en­coded ser­vices

 

1 Any per­son who man­u­fac­tures, im­ports, ex­ports, trans­ports, mar­kets or in­stalls equip­ment, the com­pon­ents or data pro­cessing pro­grams of which are de­signed and are suit­able for the un­au­thor­ised de­cod­ing of en­coded tele­vi­sion or ra­dio pro­grammes or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions ser­vices shall be li­able on com­plaint to a fine.210

2 An at­tempt to com­mit the fore­go­ing of­fence or com­pli­city in the same is also an of­fence.

209 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 2 of the Tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions Act of 30 April 1997, in force since 1 Jan. 1998 (AS 19972187; BBl 1996III 1405).

210 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 151

Ma­li­ciously caus­ing fin­an­cial loss to an­oth­er

 

Any per­son who without a view to gain, by mak­ing rep­res­ent­a­tions or sup­press­ing in­form­a­tion, wil­fully mis­leads an­oth­er or wil­fully re­in­forces an er­ro­neous be­lief with the res­ult that the per­son in er­ror acts in such a way that he or an­oth­er in­curs a fin­an­cial loss shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 152

False state­ments about com­mer­cial busi­ness

 

Any per­son who, wheth­er as founder, pro­pri­et­or, part­ner with un­lim­ited li­ab­il­ity, au­thor­ised rep­res­ent­at­ive or mem­ber of the man­age­ment board or the board of dir­ect­ors, or as an aud­it­or or li­quid­at­or of a trad­ing com­pany, a co-op­er­at­ive or any oth­er en­ter­prise which car­ries on com­mer­cial busi­ness,

makes or causes to be made to all the com­pany mem­bers, part­ners or co-op­er­at­ive mem­bers, or to the par­ti­cipants in any oth­er com­mer­cial en­ter­prise a false or in­com­plete state­ment of sub­stan­tial sig­ni­fic­ance by means of a pub­lic an­nounce­ment or no­tice, re­port or present­a­tion that could cause an­oth­er to dis­pose of his own as­sets in such a way that he sus­tains fin­an­cial loss,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 153

False state­ments to the com­mer­cial re­gister au­thor­it­ies

 

Any per­son who causes an au­thor­ity re­spons­ible for the Com­mer­cial Re­gister to make a false entry in the Re­gister or with­holds from such an au­thor­ity in­form­a­tion which is re­quired to be entered in the Re­gister shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 154211

Crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity of mem­bers of the board of dir­ect­ors and the ex­ec­ut­ive board of com­pan­ies whose shares are lis­ted on a stock ex­change

 

1 Any per­son who, as a mem­ber of the board of dir­ect­ors or the ex­ec­ut­ive board of a com­pany whose shares are lis­ted on a stock ex­change, pays or ac­cepts re­mu­ner­a­tion that is not per­mit­ted in terms of Art­icle 735c let­ters 1, 5 and 6 of the Code of Ob­lig­a­tions (CO)212, if ap­plic­able in con­junc­tion with Art­icle 735d num­ber 1 CO, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years and to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who, as a mem­ber of the board of dir­ect­ors of a com­pany whose shares are lis­ted on a stock ex­change, car­ries out any of the fol­low­ing acts shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty:

a.213
del­eg­at­ing the man­age­ment of busi­ness wholly or partly to a leg­al en­tity in vi­ol­a­tion of Art­icle 716b para­graph 2 first sen­tence CO;
b.
delegating the voting rights of corporate bodies or delegating voting rights to custodian banks(Art. 689bpara. 2 CO);
c.
pre­vent­ing:
1.
the art­icles of as­so­ci­ation from con­tain­ing the pro­vi­sions spe­cified in Art­icle 626 para­graph 2 let­ters 1 and 2 CO,
2.
the gen­er­al meet­ing from be­ing able, an­nu­ally and in­di­vidu­ally, to elect the mem­bers and the chair of the board of dir­ect­ors, the mem­bers of the re­mu­ner­a­tion com­mit­tee and the in­de­pend­ent vot­ing rep­res­ent­at­ive (Art. 698 para. 2 no 2 and para. 3 no 1–3 CO),
3.
the gen­er­al meet­ing from be­ing able to vote on the re­mu­ner­a­tion that the board of dir­ect­ors has de­term­ined for it­self, the ex­ec­ut­ive board and the board of ad­visors (Art. 698 para. 3 no 4 CO),
4.
the share­hold­ers or their rep­res­ent­at­ives from be­ing able to ex­er­cise their rights by elec­tron­ic means (Art. 689c para. 6 CO).

3 If the per­pet­rat­or merely ac­cepts the pos­sib­il­ity that an of­fence un­der para­graph 1 or 2 may be com­mit­ted, he or she shall not be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion un­der these pro­vi­sions.

4 In cal­cu­lat­ing the mon­et­ary pen­alty, the court shall not be bound by the max­im­um value of a daily pen­alty unit (Art. 34 para. 2 first sen­tence); however, the mon­et­ary pen­alty may not ex­ceed six times the an­nu­al re­mu­ner­a­tion agreed with the com­pany con­cerned at the time of the of­fence.

211 Amended by An­nex No 5 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (Com­pany Law), in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2020 4005; 2022 109, 110; BBl 2017 399).

212 SR 220

213 Cor­rec­tion by the Fed­er­al As­sembly Draft­ing Com­mit­tee of 22 Nov. 2023, pub­lished on 6 Dec. 2023 (AS 2023 739).

Art. 155

Coun­ter­feit­ing of goods

 

1. Any per­son who with a view to de­ceiv­ing an­oth­er in trade or busi­ness

man­u­fac­tures a product which ap­pears to have a high­er com­mer­cial value than its true com­mer­cial value, in par­tic­u­lar by be­ing an im­it­a­tion or coun­ter­feit ver­sion of an­oth­er product,

or im­ports, stores or mar­kets such a product,

shall be li­able, provided the act is not sub­ject to a more severe pen­alty un­der an­oth­er pro­vi­sion here­of, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, un­less the act is sub­ject to a more severe pen­alty un­der an­oth­er pro­vi­sion here­of, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.214

214 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 3 Oct. 2008 on the Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Re­vised Re­com­mend­a­tions of the Fin­an­cial Ac­tion Task Force, in force since 1 Feb. 2009 (AS 2009 361367; BBl 2007 6269).

Art. 156

Ex­tor­tion

 

1. Any per­son who, with a view to se­cur­ing an un­law­ful gain for him­self or for an­oth­er, in­duces an­oth­er per­son by us­ing vi­ol­ence or the threat of ser­i­ously det­ri­ment­al con­sequences to be­have in such a way that he or an­oth­er sus­tains fin­an­cial loss shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, or if he re­peatedly com­mits the of­fence against the same per­son, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.215

3. If the of­fend­er uses vi­ol­ence against an­oth­er or if he threatens an­oth­er with an im­me­di­ate danger to life and limb, a pen­alty in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 140 here­of shall be im­posed.

4. If the of­fend­er threatens to en­danger the life and limb of a large num­ber of per­sons or to cause ser­i­ous dam­age to prop­erty in which there is a sub­stan­tial pub­lic in­terest, he shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year216.

215 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

216Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 12 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 157

Prof­it­eer­ing

 

1. Any per­son who for his own or an­oth­er's fin­an­cial gain or the prom­ise of such gain, ex­ploits the po­s­i­tion of need, the de­pend­ence, the weak­ness of mind or char­ac­ter, the in­ex­per­i­ence, or the fool­ish­ness of an­oth­er per­son to ob­tain a pay­ment or ser­vice which is clearly dis­pro­por­tion­ate to the con­sid­er­a­tion giv­en in re­turn,

any per­son who ac­quires a debt ori­gin­at­ing from an act of prof­it­eer­ing and sells or en­forces the same,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.217

217 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 158

Crim­in­al mis­man­age­ment

 

1. Any per­son who by law, an of­fi­cial or­der, a leg­al trans­ac­tion or au­thor­isa­tion gran­ted to him, has been en­trus­ted with the man­age­ment of the prop­erty of an­oth­er or the su­per­vi­sion of such man­age­ment, and in the course of and in breach of his du­ties causes or per­mits that oth­er per­son to sus­tain fin­an­cial loss shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Any per­son who acts in the same man­ner in his ca­pa­city as the man­ager of a busi­ness but without spe­cif­ic in­struc­tions shall be li­able to the same pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er acts with a view to se­cur­ing an un­law­ful fin­an­cial gain for him­self or an­oth­er, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.218

2. Any per­son who, with a view to se­cur­ing an un­law­ful gain for him­self or an­oth­er, ab­uses the au­thor­ity gran­ted to him by stat­ute, an of­fi­cial or­der or a leg­al trans­ac­tion to act on be­half of an­oth­er and as a res­ult causes that oth­er per­son to sus­tain fin­an­cial loss shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

3. Crim­in­al mis­man­age­ment to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

218 Third para. amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 159

Mis­use of salary de­duc­tions

 

Any em­ploy­er who breaches his ob­lig­a­tion to make use of a de­duc­tion from an em­ploy­ee's salary for the pay­ment of taxes, du­ties, in­sur­ance premi­ums or con­tri­bu­tions or in any oth­er way for the be­ne­fit of the em­ploy­ee and thus causes loss to the em­ploy­ee shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 160

Hand­ling stolen goods

 

1. Any per­son who takes pos­ses­sion of, ac­cepts as a gift or as the sub­ject of a pledge, con­ceals, or as­sists in the dis­pos­al of goods which he knows or must as­sume have been ac­quired by way of an of­fence against prop­erty shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

The of­fend­er shall be li­able to the pen­alty ap­plic­able to the ori­gin­al of­fence if that pen­alty is re­duced.

If the ori­gin­al of­fence is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint, the hand­ling of stolen goods is pro­sec­uted only if a com­plaint has been made in re­spect of the ori­gin­al of­fence.

2. If the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from six months to ten years shall be im­posed.219

219 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 161220

 

220 Re­pealed by No II 3 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2012, with ef­fect from 1 May 2013 (AS 2013 1103; BBl 2011 6873).

Art. 161bis221

 

221In­ser­ted by Art. 46 of the Stock Ex­change Act of 24 March 1995 (AS 1997 68; BBl 1993 I 1369). Re­pealed by No II 3 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2012, with ef­fect from 1 May 2013 (AS 2013 1103; BBl 2011 6873).

Art. 162

2. Breach of man­u­fac­tur­ing or trade secrecy

 

Any per­son who be­trays a man­u­fac­tur­ing or trade secret that he is un­der a stat­utory or con­trac­tu­al duty con­tract not to re­veal,

any per­son who ex­ploits for him­self or an­oth­er such a be­tray­al,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 163

3. Bank­ruptcy and debt col­lec­tion felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours

Fraud­u­lent bank­ruptcy and fraud against seizure

 

1. Any debt­or who fic­ti­tiously re­duces his as­sets to the pre­ju­dice of his cred­it­ors, and in par­tic­u­lar

dis­poses of or con­ceals as­sets,

cre­ates fic­ti­tious debts,

ac­cepts fic­ti­tious claims as val­id or ar­ranges for the en­force­ment of such claims,

shall be li­able, if bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings are com­menced against him or a cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims has been is­sued in his re­spect, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Sub­ject to the same re­quire­ments, any third party who car­ries out any of the fore­go­ing acts to the pre­ju­dice of cred­it­ors shall be li­able a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 164

Re­duc­tion of as­sets to the pre­ju­dice of cred­it­ors

 

1. Any debt­or who re­duces his as­sets to the det­ri­ment of his cred­it­ors by

dam­aging, des­troy­ing or re­du­cing the value of any as­sets or ren­der­ing them un­us­able,

dis­pos­ing of any as­sets for no con­sid­er­a­tion or for a con­sid­er­a­tion that is clearly neg­li­gible in value,

or by waiv­ing, without ma­ter­i­al grounds, any rights which may ac­crue there­on or by re­noun­cing rights for no con­sid­er­a­tion,

shall be li­able, if bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings are com­menced against him or a cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims has been is­sued in his re­spect, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Sub­ject to the same re­quire­ments, any third party who car­ries out any of the fore­go­ing acts to the pre­ju­dice of cred­it­ors shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 165

Mis­man­age­ment

 

1. Any debt­or who in a man­ner oth­er than that in Art­icle 164 through mis­man­age­ment, in par­tic­u­lar through in­ad­equate cap­it­al pro­vi­sion, ex­cess­ive ex­pendit­ure, haz­ard­ous spec­u­la­tion, the neg­li­gent grant­ing or use of cred­it, the squan­der­ing of as­sets or gross neg­li­gence in the ex­er­cise of his pro­fes­sion or the man­age­ment of his as­sets,

causes or ag­grav­ates his ex­cess­ive in­debted­ness, causes his in­solv­ency or, in the know­ledge that he is un­able to pay, pre­ju­dices his fin­an­cial situ­ation,

shall be li­able, if bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings are com­menced against him or a cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims is is­sued in his re­spect, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

1bis. If the debt­or re­ceives of­fi­cial sup­port to avert im­min­ent over-in­debted­ness or in­solv­ency, he shall be li­able to the same pen­alty.222

2. Any debt­or whose as­sets have been seized is pro­sec­uted solely on the com­plaint of a cred­it­or who has ob­tained a cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims against him.

The com­plaint must be filed with­in three months of re­ceipt of the cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims.

Any cred­it­or who has in­duced a debt­or to in­cur ir­re­spons­ible debts, un­reas­on­able ex­pendit­ure or to enter in­to haz­ard­ously spec­u­lat­ive trans­ac­tions, or who has ex­ploited the debt­or us­uri­ously, is barred from fil­ing a com­plaint.

222 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 166

Fail­ure to keep prop­er ac­counts

 

Any debt­or who fails to com­ply with a stat­utory ob­lig­a­tion to which he is sub­ject to keep and pre­serve busi­ness ac­counts or draw up a bal­ance sheet, with the res­ult that his fin­an­cial po­s­i­tion is not or not fully as­cer­tain­able, shall be li­able, if bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings are com­menced against him or a cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims has been is­sued in his re­spect fol­low­ing a seizure of as­sets in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 43 of the Fed­er­al Act of 11 April 1889223 on Debt En­force­ment and Bank­ruptcy (DEBA), to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 167

Un­due pref­er­ence to cred­it­ors

 

Any debt­or who, in the know­ledge of his in­ab­il­ity to pay and with a view to show­ing pref­er­ence to some of his cred­it­ors to the pre­ju­dice of oth­ers, acts in or­der to achieve such an aim, and in par­tic­u­lar pays debts that are not due for pay­ment, pays due debts in a way that dif­fers from the nor­mal meth­ods, or provides se­cur­ity for a debt from his own means when he is not ob­liged to do so, shall be li­able, if bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings are com­menced against him or a cer­ti­fic­ate of un­sat­is­fied claims has been is­sued in his re­spect, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 168224

Sub­orna­tion in en­force­ment pro­ceed­ings

 

1 Any per­son who:

a.
gives or prom­ises a cred­it­or or his rep­res­ent­at­ive spe­cial ad­vant­ages in or­der to ob­tain his vote at the cred­it­ors' meet­ing or on the cred­it­ors' com­mit­tee, or to ob­tain his con­sent to or re­jec­tion of a ju­di­cial com­pos­i­tion agree­ment;
b.
gives or prom­ises the ad­min­is­trat­or in bank­ruptcy, a mem­ber of the bank­ruptcy ad­min­is­tra­tion, the Com­mis­sion­er, or the li­quid­at­or spe­cial ad­vant­ages in or­der to in­flu­ence his de­cisions;
c.
causes an­oth­er to give or prom­ise ad­vant­ages spe­cified in let­ter a or b,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

224 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 169

Dis­pos­al of seized as­sets

 

Any per­son who without prop­er au­thor­ity and to the pre­ju­dice of his cred­it­ors dis­poses of an as­set

that has been of­fi­cially seized or at­tached,

that has been of­fi­cially re­cor­ded in debt re­cov­ery, bank­ruptcy or re­ten­tion pro­ceed­ings, or

that forms part of prop­erty that has been ceded in a li­quid­a­tion set­tle­ment

or dam­ages, des­troys, re­duces the value of, or renders un­us­able such an as­set,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 170

Ob­tain­ing a ju­di­cial com­pos­i­tion agree­ment by fraud

 

Any debt­or who mis­leads his cred­it­ors, the Com­mis­sion­er, or the debt col­lec­tion au­thor­it­ies, in par­tic­u­lar by false ac­count­ing or draw­ing up a false bal­ance sheet, in or­der to ob­tain a morator­i­um of debt en­force­ment or the ap­prov­al of a ju­di­cial com­pos­i­tion agree­ment,

any third party who acts in the fore­go­ing man­ner for the be­ne­fit of the debt­or,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 171

Ju­di­cial com­pos­i­tion agree­ment

 

1 Art­icles 163 para­graph 1, 164 para­graph 1, 165 para­graph 1, 166 and 167 also ap­ply in the event that a ju­di­cial com­pos­i­tion agree­ment has been ap­proved and ad­op­ted.

2225

225 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 171bis226

 

226 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 172227

4. Gen­er­al pro­vi­sions

 

227Re­pealed by No II 3 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 172bis228

 

228 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 172ter

Minor of­fences against prop­erty

 

1 Where the of­fence relates only to a minor as­set value or where only a minor loss is in­curred, the of­fend­er shall be li­able on com­plaint to a fine.

2 This pro­vi­sion does not ap­ply to ag­grav­ated theft (Art. 139 nos 2229 and 3), rob­bery or ex­tor­tion.

229 This num­ber is now re­pealed.

Title Three: Offences against Personal Honour and in Breach of Secrecy or Privacy 230

230Amended by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968, in force since 1 May 1969 (AS 1969 319322; BBl 1968 I 585).

Art. 173231

1. Of­fence against per­son­al hon­our

De­fam­a­tion

 

1. Any per­son who in ad­dress­ing a third party, makes an ac­cus­a­tion against or casts sus­pi­cion on an­oth­er of dis­hon­our­able con­duct or of oth­er con­duct that shall be li­able to dam­age an­oth­er's repu­ta­tion,

any per­son who dis­sem­in­ates such ac­cus­a­tions or sus­pi­cions,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.232

2. If the ac­cused proves that the state­ment made or dis­sem­in­ated by him cor­res­ponds to the truth or that he had sub­stan­tial grounds to hold an hon­est be­lief that it was true, he is not li­able to a pen­alty.

3. The ac­cused is not per­mit­ted to lead evid­ence in sup­port of and is crim­in­ally li­able for state­ments that are made or dis­sem­in­ated with the primary in­ten­tion of ac­cus­ing someone of dis­rep­ut­able con­duct without there be­ing any pub­lic in­terest or any oth­er jus­ti­fied cause, and par­tic­u­larly where such state­ments refer to a per­son’s private or fam­ily life.

4. If the of­fend­er re­cants his state­ment, the court may im­pose a more le­ni­ent pen­alty or no pen­alty at all.

5. If the ac­cused is un­able to prove the truth of his state­ment, or if it is shown to be un­true, or if the ac­cused re­cants his state­ment, the court must state this in its judg­ment or in an­oth­er doc­u­ment.

231Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 I 1249).

232 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 174

Wil­ful de­fam­a­tion

 

1. A per­son in ad­dress­ing a third party, and know­ing his al­leg­a­tions to be un­true, makes an ac­cus­a­tion against or casts sus­pi­cion on an­oth­er of dis­hon­our­able con­duct, or of oth­er con­duct that shall be li­able to dam­age an­oth­er's repu­ta­tion,

any per­son who dis­sem­in­ates such ac­cus­a­tions or sus­pi­cions, know­ing them to be un­true,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er has ac­ted sys­tem­at­ic­ally to un­der­mine the good repu­ta­tion of an­oth­er, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units shall be im­posed.233

3. If the of­fend­er re­cants his state­ment be­fore the court on the grounds that it is un­true, the court may im­pose a more le­ni­ent pen­alty. The court must provide the per­son harmed with a doc­u­ment con­firm­ing the re­cant­a­tion.

233 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 175

De­fam­a­tion of a de­ceased per­son or of a per­son miss­ing pre­sumed dead

 

1 If the de­fam­a­tion, wheth­er wil­ful or not, is dir­ec­ted at a per­son who is de­ceased or who has been de­clared miss­ing pre­sumed dead, the re­l­at­ives of the de­ceased per­son or the per­son miss­ing pre­sumed dead are en­titled to ap­ply for pro­sec­u­tion.

2 No of­fence is com­mit­ted if, at the time of the state­ment be­ing made, the de­ceased per­son has been dead or the miss­ing per­son miss­ing for more than 30 years.

Art. 176

Gen­er­al pro­vi­sion

 

Verbal de­fam­a­tion, wheth­er wil­ful or not, is re­garded as the equi­val­ent of de­fam­at­ory state­ments made in writ­ing, in pic­tures, by ges­tures or in any oth­er man­ner.

Art. 177

In­sult

 

1 Any per­son who at­tacks the hon­our of an­oth­er verbally, in writ­ing, in pic­tures, through ges­tures or through acts of ag­gres­sion shall be li­able on com­plaint to a mon­et­ary pen­alty not ex­ceed­ing 90 daily pen­alty units.234

2 If the in­sul­ted party has dir­ectly pro­voked the in­sult by im­prop­er be­ha­viour, the court may dis­pense with im­pos­ing a pen­alty on the of­fend­er.

3 If there is an im­me­di­ate re­sponse to the in­sult by way of a re­tali­at­ory in­sult or act of ag­gres­sion, the court may dis­pense with im­pos­ing a pen­alty on either or both of­fend­ers.

234 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 178

Lim­it­a­tion

 

1 The right to pro­sec­ute mis­de­mean­ours against per­son­al hon­our is sub­ject to a lim­it­a­tion peri­od of four years.235

2 Art­icle 31 ap­plies to the ex­piry of the right to file a com­plaint.236

235Amended by No I of the FA of 22 March 2002 (Lim­it­a­tion of the Right to Pro­sec­ute), in force since 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 29862988; BBl 2002 26731649).

236 Amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 179

2.

Breach of the pri­vacy of a sealed doc­u­ment

 

Any per­son who without au­thor­ity opens a sealed doc­u­ment or sealed mail in or­der to ob­tain know­ledge of its con­tent,

any per­son who dis­sem­in­ates or makes use of in­form­a­tion he has ob­tained by open­ing a sealed doc­u­ment or sealed mail that was not in­ten­ded for him,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a fine.

Art. 179bis238

Listen­ing in on and re­cord­ing the con­ver­sa­tions of oth­ers

 

Any per­son who by us­ing a listen­ing device and without the per­mis­sion of all those par­ti­cip­at­ing, listens in on a private con­ver­sa­tion between oth­er per­sons, or re­cords such a con­ver­sa­tion on a re­cord­ing device,

any per­son who makes use of in­form­a­tion that he knows or must as­sume has come to his know­ledge as the res­ult of an of­fence un­der the above para­graph or makes such in­form­a­tion known to a third party,

any per­son who stores or al­lows a third party ac­cess to a re­cord­ing that he knows or must as­sume has been made as the res­ult of an of­fence un­der para­graph 1 above,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

238In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968, in force since 1 May 1969 (AS 1969 319322; BBl 1968 I 585).

Art. 179ter239

Un­au­thor­ised re­cord­ing of con­ver­sa­tions

 

Any per­son who, as a par­ti­cipant in a private con­ver­sa­tion, re­cords the con­ver­sa­tion on a re­cord­ing device without the per­mis­sion of the oth­er par­ti­cipants,

any per­son who stores or makes use of a re­cord­ing or makes the re­cord­ing avail­able to a third party when he knows or must as­sume that the re­cord­ing has been made as the res­ult of an of­fence un­der para­graph 1 above

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

239In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968 (AS 1969 319; BBl 1968 I 585). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 179quater240

Breach of secrecy or pri­vacy through the use of an im­age-car­ry­ing device

 

Any per­son who ob­serves with a re­cord­ing device or re­cords with an im­age-car­ry­ing device in­form­a­tion from the secret do­main of an­oth­er or in­form­a­tion which is not auto­mat­ic­ally ac­cess­ible from the private do­main of an­oth­er,

any per­son who makes use of in­form­a­tion or makes in­form­a­tion known to a third party, which he knows or must as­sume has been pro­duced as a res­ult of an of­fence un­der para­graph 1 above,

any per­son who stores or al­lows a third party ac­cess to a re­cord­ing that he knows or must as­sume has been made as the res­ult of an of­fence un­der para­graph 1 above,

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

240In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968, in force since 1 May 1969 (AS 1969 319322; BBl 1968 I 585).

Art. 179quinquies241

Leg­al re­cord­ings

 

1 Per­sons who as par­ti­cipants in the con­ver­sa­tion or sub­scribers to a par­ti­cip­at­ing line re­cord calls:

a.
to the emer­gency, res­cue or se­cur­ity ser­vices; or
b.
in the course of busi­ness that have or­ders, as­sign­ments, re­ser­va­tions and sim­il­ar trans­ac­tions as their sub­ject mat­ter.

are not li­able to a pen­alty un­der Art­icle 179bis para­graph 1 or Art­icle 179ter para­graph 1.

2 Art­icle 179bis para­graphs 2 and 3 and 179ter para­graph 2 ap­ply by ana­logy to the use of.

2 Re­cord­ings in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1 above may only be used for the pur­pose of provid­ing evid­ence.242

241In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968 (AS 1969 319; BBl 1968 I 585). Amended by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2003, in force since 1 March 2004 (AS 2004 823824; BBl 2001 26325816).

242 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 179sexies243

Mar­ket­ing and pro­mo­tion of devices for un­law­ful listen­ing or sound or im­age re­cord­ing

 

1. Any per­son who man­u­fac­tures, im­ports, ex­ports, ac­quires, stores, pos­sesses, trans­ports, passes on to an­oth­er, sells, leases, lends or in any oth­er man­ner mar­kets, pro­motes or provides in­struc­tion on the man­u­fac­ture of tech­nic­al devices which are in par­tic­u­lar in­ten­ded for un­law­ful listen­ing or the un­law­ful mak­ing of sound or im­age re­cord­ings,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er acts on be­half of a third party, that third party shall be li­able to the same pen­alty as the of­fend­er provided he was aware that the of­fence was be­ing com­mit­ted and failed to use his best ef­forts to pre­vent the com­mis­sion of the of­fence.

If the third party is a leg­al en­tity, a gen­er­al or lim­ited part­ner­ship or a sole pro­pri­et­or­ship244, para­graph 1 above ap­plies to those per­sons who ac­ted or should have ac­ted on be­half of that en­tity.

243In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968, in force since 1 May 1969 (AS 1969 319322; BBl 1968 I 585).

244 Ter­min­o­lo­gic­al amend­ment rel­ev­ant only to the Ger­man text.

Art. 179septies245

Mis­use of a tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions in­stall­a­tion

 

Any per­son who uses a tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions in­stall­a­tion in or­der to cause dis­tress to or har­ass an­oth­er, shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

245 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 20 Dec. 1968 (AS 1969 319; BBl 1968 I 585). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 179octies246

Of­fi­cial sur­veil­lance, ex­emp­ted acts

 

1 Any per­son who, in the ex­er­cise of ex­press stat­utory powers, or­ders or car­ries out the sur­veil­lance of the post or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions of an­oth­er or makes use of tech­nic­al sur­veil­lance devices (Art. 179bis ff.) does not com­mit an of­fence provided that the ap­prov­al of the ap­pro­pri­ate court is ob­tained without delay.

2247

246In­ser­ted by No VII of the FA of 23 March 1979 on the Pro­tec­tion of Per­son­al Pri­vacy (AS 1979 1170; BBl 1976 I 529II 1569). Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FA of 6 Oct. 2000 on the Sur­veil­lance of Post and Tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions, in force since 1 Jan. 2002 (AS 20013096; BBl 1998 4241).

247 Re­pealed by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FA of 17 June 2022, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697).

Art. 179novies248

Ob­tain­ing per­son­al data without au­thor­isa­tion

 

Any per­son who without au­thor­isa­tion ob­tains per­son­al data that are par­tic­u­larly sens­it­ive and that are not pub­licly ac­cess­ible shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

248In­ser­ted by An­nex No 4 of the FA of 19 June 1992 on Data Pro­tec­tion, (AS 1993 1945; BBl 1988 II 413). Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 179decies249

Iden­tity theft

 

Any per­son who uses the iden­tity of an­oth­er per­son without his or her con­sent in or­der to harm that per­son or in or­der to ob­tain an un­law­ful ad­vant­age for him­self or her­self or an­oth­er shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

249In­ser­ted by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

Title Four: Felonies and Misdemeanours against Liberty

Art. 180

Threat­en­ing be­ha­viour

 

1 Any per­son who places an­oth­er in a state of fear and alarm by mak­ing a ser­i­ous threat shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The of­fend­er is pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio if he:

a.
is the spouse of the vic­tim and the threat was made dur­ing the mar­riage or with­in one year of di­vorce; or
abis.250 is the re­gistered part­ner of the vic­tim and the threat was made dur­ing the re­gistered part­ner­ship or with­in one year of its dis­sol­u­tion; or
b.
is the het­ero­sexu­al or ho­mo­sexu­al part­ner of the vic­tim, provided they are co­hab­it­ing for an un­lim­ited peri­od and the threat was made dur­ing this time or with­in one year of sep­ar­a­tion.251

250 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 18 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

251 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2003 (Pro­sec­u­tion of Of­fences with­in Mar­riage or Re­gistered Part­ner­ships), in force since 1 April 2004 (AS 2004 14031407; BBl 2003 19091937).

Art. 181

Co­er­cion

 

Any per­son who, by the use of force or the threat of ser­i­ous det­ri­ment or oth­er re­stric­tion of an­oth­er's free­dom to act com­pels an­oth­er to carry out an act, to fail to carry out an act or to tol­er­ate an act, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 181a252

Forced mar­riage, forced re­gistered part­ner­ship

 

1 Any per­son who, by the use of force or the threat of ser­i­ous det­ri­ment or oth­er re­stric­tion of an­oth­er's free­dom to act com­pels an­oth­er to enter in­to a mar­riage or to have a same-sex part­ner­ship re­gistered shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who com­mits the fore­go­ing of­fence abroad but is now in Switzer­land and is not be­ing ex­tra­dited shall be li­able to the same pen­alty. Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­ply.

252 In­ser­ted by No I 6 of the FA of 15 June 2012 on Meas­ures against Forced Mar­riages, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2013 (AS 2013 1035; BBl 2011 2185).

Art. 182253

Traf­fick­ing in hu­man be­ings

 

1 Any per­son who as a sup­pli­er, in­ter­me­di­ary or cus­tom­er en­gages in the traf­fick­ing of a hu­man be­ing for the pur­pose of sexu­al ex­ploit­a­tion, ex­ploit­a­tion of his or her la­bour or for the pur­pose of re­mov­ing an or­gan shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty. The so­li­cit­ing of a per­son for these pur­poses is equi­val­ent to traf­fick­ing.

2 If the vic­tim is a minor254 or if the of­fend­er acts for com­mer­cial gain, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

3255

4 Any per­son who com­mits the act abroad is also guilty of an of­fence. Art­icles 5 and 6 ap­ply.

253Amended by Art. 2 No 1 of the FedD of 24 March 2006 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Op­tion­al Pro­tocol of 25 May 2000 to the Con­ven­tion on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Chil­dren, Child Pros­ti­tu­tion and Child Por­no­graphy, in force since 1 Dec. 2006 (AS 2006 54375440; BBl 2005 2807).

254 AS 2012 7501

255 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 183256

False im­pris­on­ment and ab­duc­tion

 

1. Any per­son who un­law­fully ar­rests or holds an­oth­er pris­on­er or oth­er­wise un­law­fully de­prives an­oth­er of his liberty,

any per­son who, by the use of force, false pre­tences or threats, ab­ducts an­oth­er,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Any per­son who ab­ducts a per­son who is in­cap­able of judge­ment or res­ist­ance or who is un­der the age of six­teen, shall be li­able the same pen­alty.

256Amended by No I of the FA of 9 Oct. 1981, in force since 1 Oct. 1982 (AS 1982 15301534; BBl 1980 I 1241).

Art. 184257

Ag­grav­at­ing cir­cum­stances

 

The pen­alty for false im­pris­on­ment and ab­duc­tion is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year,

if the of­fend­er at­tempts to ob­tain a ransom,

if he treats the vic­tim with cruelty,

if the depriva­tion of liberty lasts for a peri­od in ex­cess of ten days or

if the health of the vic­tim is ser­i­ously en­dangered.

257Amended by No I of the FA of 9 Oct. 1981, in force since 1 Oct. 1982 (AS 1982 15301534; BBl 1980 I 1241).

Art. 185258

Host­age tak­ing

 

1. Any per­son who de­prives an­oth­er of his liberty, or ab­ducts or oth­er­wise seizes an­oth­er in or­der to co­erce a third party to carry out an act, ab­stain from car­ry­ing out an act or tol­er­ate an act,

any per­son who ex­ploits a situ­ation cre­ated in the fore­go­ing man­ner by an­oth­er in or­der so to co­erce a third party,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2. The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years if the of­fend­er threatens to kill or ser­i­ously in­jure the vic­tim or to treat the vic­tim with cruelty.

3. In par­tic­u­larly ser­i­ous cases, and in par­tic­u­lar if the act in­volves sev­er­al vic­tims, the of­fend­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life.

4. If the of­fend­er aban­dons the co­er­cion and re­leases the vic­tim, a re­duced pen­alty may be im­posed (Art. 48a).259

5. Any per­son who com­mits the of­fence abroad is also li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­al­ties provided he is ar­res­ted in Switzer­land and not ex­tra­dited. Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­ply.260

258Amended by No I of the FA of 9 Oct. 1981, in force since 1 Oct. 1982 (AS 1982 15301534; BBl 1980 I 1241).

259 Amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

260 Second sen­tence amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 185bis261

En­forced dis­ap­pear­ance

 

1 Any per­son who with the in­ten­tion of re­mov­ing a per­son from the pro­tec­tion of the law for a pro­longed peri­od of time:

a.
on be­half of or with the ac­qui­es­cence of a State or polit­ic­al or­gan­isa­tion, de­prives that per­son of their liberty, and there­after re­fuses to give in­form­a­tion as to their fate or where­abouts; or
b.
on be­half of or with the ac­qui­es­cence of a State or polit­ic­al or­gan­isa­tion or in vi­ol­a­tion of a leg­al duty re­fuses to give in­form­a­tion as to the fate or where­abouts of the per­son con­cerned.

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2 Any per­son who com­mits the of­fence abroad is also li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­alty provided they are now in Switzer­land and are not ex­tra­dited. Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­ply.

261 In­ser­ted by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2015 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the In­ter­na­tion­al Con­ven­tion for the Pro­tec­tion of All Per­sons from En­forced Dis­ap­pear­ance, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4687; BBl 2014 453).

Art. 186

Un­law­ful entry

 

Any per­son who, against the will of the law­ful oc­cu­pants enters a build­ing, an apart­ment, a self-con­tained room with­in a build­ing, an en­closed area, court­yard or garden form­ing a dir­ect part of a build­ing, or a clearly de­marc­ated work­place or, des­pite re­quests from the law­ful oc­cu­pants to leave, re­mains in such a loc­a­tion, shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Title Five: Offences against Sexual Integrity262

262Amended by No 1 of the FA of 21 June 1991, in force since 1 Oct. 1992 (AS 1992 16701678; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 187

 

1. Sexu­al acts with chil­dren263

1.264 Any per­son who en­gages in a sexu­al act with a child un­der 16 years of age, or,

in­cites a child to com­mit such an act, or

in­volves a child in a such an act,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

1bis.265 If the child is un­der the age of 12 and if the of­fend­er en­gages in a sexu­al act with the child or causes the child to en­gage in a sexu­al act with an­oth­er per­son or with an an­im­al, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of between one and five years shall be im­posed.

2. No pen­alty may be im­posed if the dif­fer­ence in age between the per­sons in­volved does not ex­ceed three years.

3.266 If the of­fend­er has not reached the age of 20 at the time of the act or the first of the acts, and if there are spe­cial cir­cum­stances, the re­spons­ible au­thor­ity may dis­pense with pro­sec­u­tion, re­fer­ral to court or the im­pos­i­tion of a pen­alty

4. If the of­fend­er acts un­der the mis­con­cep­tion that the child is 16 years of age or older, but they would not have made this er­ror had they ex­er­cised due care, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

5. ...267

6. ...268

263 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

264 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

265 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

266 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

267Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 21 March 1997, with ef­fect from 1 Sept. 1997 (AS 1997 1626; BBl 1996 IV 13181322).

268In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 March 1997 (AS 1997 1626; BBl 1996 IV 13181322). Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 2001 (Lim­it­a­tion of Right to Pro­sec­ute in gen­er­al and in cases of Sexu­al Of­fences against Chil­dren), with ef­fect from 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 2993; BBl 2000 2943).

Art. 188269

2. Of­fences against sexu­al liberty and in­teg­rity.

Sexu­al acts with de­pend­ent per­sons

 

Any per­son who com­mits a sexu­al act by ex­ploit­ing his or her re­la­tion­ship with a minor of at least 16 years of age who is de­pend­ent on them due to a re­la­tion­ship arising from the minor's edu­ca­tion, care or em­ploy­ment or an­oth­er form of de­pend­ent re­la­tion­ship,

any per­son who en­cour­ages such a minor to com­mit a sexu­al act by ex­ploit­ing such a re­la­tion­ship,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

269 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 189270

Sexu­al ab­use and in­de­cent as­sault

 

1 Any per­son who, against the will of an­oth­er per­son, per­forms a sexu­al act on that per­son or has that per­son per­form such an act on them or who ex­ploits that per­son’s state of shock to that end shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who uses threats, force or psy­cho­lo­gic­al pres­sure on an­oth­er per­son or makes that oth­er per­son in­cap­able of res­ist­ance in or­der to com­pel that per­son to carry out or tol­er­ate a sexu­al act shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

3 If the of­fend­er acts with cruelty, and if in par­tic­u­lar they make use of an of­fens­ive weapon or any oth­er dan­ger­ous ob­ject, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

270 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 190271

Rape

 

1 Any per­son who, against the will of an­oth­er per­son, has sexu­al in­ter­course with that per­son, com­mits an act with that per­son sim­il­ar to sexu­al in­ter­course in­volving pen­et­ra­tion of the body, or who has that per­son per­form such an act or who ex­ploits that per­son’s state of shock to that end shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years.

2 Any per­son who forces an­oth­er per­son to en­gage in or tol­er­ate sexu­al in­ter­course or an act sim­il­ar to sexu­al in­ter­course in­volving pen­et­ra­tion of the body by us­ing threats or vi­ol­ence, psy­cho­lo­gic­al pres­sure or by be­ing made in­cap­able of res­ist­ance shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one to ten years.

3 If the of­fend­er in para­graph 2 acts with cruelty, and if they make use of an of­fens­ive weapon or any oth­er dan­ger­ous ob­ject, the pen­alty shall be a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years.

271 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 191272

Ab­use of per­sons in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance

 

Any per­son who has sexu­al in­ter­course with, or com­mits an act sim­il­ar to sexu­al in­ter­course or any oth­er sexu­al act with a per­son who is in­cap­able of prop­er judge­ment or res­ist­ance shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

272 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 192273

 

273 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 193274

Ex­ploit­a­tion of a per­son in a po­s­i­tion of need or de­pend­ency

 

Any per­son who in­duces an­oth­er to com­mit or sub­mit to a sexu­al act by ex­ploit­ing a po­s­i­tion of need or a de­pend­ent re­la­tion­ship based on em­ploy­ment or an­oth­er de­pend­ent re­la­tion­ship shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

274 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 193a275

De­cep­tion as to the sexu­al char­ac­ter of an act

 

Any per­son who, in ex­er­cising a pro­fes­sion­al or or­gan­ised ex­tra-pro­fes­sion­al activ­ity in the health sec­tor, per­forms a sexu­al act on a per­son or has a per­son per­form a sexu­al act on them and de­ceives them as to the nature of the act or ex­ploits their mis­con­cep­tion about the nature of the act shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

275 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 194276

In­de­cent con­duct

 

1 Any per­son who en­gages in an act of in­de­cent con­duct shall be li­able on com­plaint to a fine.

2 In ser­i­ous cases, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed. The of­fence shall be pro­sec­uted on com­plaint.

3 If the ac­cused un­der­goes med­ic­al treat­ment as ordered by the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity, the crim­in­al pro­ceed­ings shall be dis­con­tin­ued.

276 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 195277

3. Ex­ploit­a­tion of sexu­al acts

En­cour­aging pros­ti­tu­tion

 

Any per­son who

a.
in­duces a minor in­to pros­ti­tu­tion or en­cour­ages a minor to en­gage in pros­ti­tu­tion with the in­ten­tion of se­cur­ing a fin­an­cial ad­vant­age
b.
in­duces a per­son in­to pros­ti­tu­tion by ex­ploit­ing that per­son’s de­pend­ency or with the in­ten­tion of se­cur­ing a fin­an­cial ad­vant­age,
c.
re­stricts the free­dom to act of a pros­ti­tute by su­per­vising them in the course of their activ­it­ies or by ex­er­cising con­trol over the loc­a­tion, time, volume or oth­er as­pects of their work as a pros­ti­tute or,
d.
makes a per­son re­main a pros­ti­tute against their will,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

277 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FedD of 27 Sept. 2013 (Lan­zarote Con­ven­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 1159; BBl 2012 7571).

Art. 196278

Sexu­al acts with minors against pay­ment

 

Any per­son who car­ries out sexu­al acts with a minor or in­duces a minor to carry out such acts and who makes or prom­ises pay­ment in re­turn shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

278 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FedD of 27 Sept. 2013 (Lan­zarote Con­ven­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 1159; BBl 2012 7571).

Art. 197279

4. Por­no­graphy

 

1 Any per­son who of­fers, shows, passes on or makes ac­cess­ible to a per­son un­der the age of 16 por­no­graph­ic doc­u­ments, sound or visu­al re­cord­ings, de­pic­tions or oth­er items of a sim­il­ar nature or por­no­graph­ic per­form­ances, or broad­casts any of the same on ra­dio or tele­vi­sion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Any per­son who ex­hib­its in pub­lic items or re­cord­ings as de­scribed in para­graph 1 above or shows or oth­er­wise of­fers the same un­so­li­cited to oth­ers shall be li­able to a fine. Any per­son who, in ad­vance, draws the at­ten­tion of vis­it­ors to private ex­hib­i­tions or per­form­ances to their por­no­graph­ic char­ac­ter does not com­mit an of­fence.

3 Any per­son who re­cruits or causes a minor to par­ti­cip­ate in a por­no­graph­ic per­form­ance shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

4 Any per­son who pro­duces, im­ports, stores, mar­kets, ad­vert­ises, ex­hib­its, of­fers, shows, passes on or makes ac­cess­ible to oth­ers, ac­quires, or pro­cures or pos­sesses via elec­tron­ic me­dia or oth­er­wise items or re­cord­ings as de­scribed in para­graph 1 above that con­tain sexu­al acts in­volving an­im­als or non-genu­ine sexu­al acts with minors shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the items or re­cord­ings con­tain genu­ine sexu­al acts with minors, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty.280

5 Any per­son who con­sumes or who for their own con­sump­tion pro­duces, im­ports, stores, ac­quires or pro­cures or pos­sesses via elec­tron­ic me­dia or oth­er­wise items or re­cord­ings as de­scribed in para­graph 1 above that con­tain sexu­al acts in­volving an­im­als or non-genu­ine sexu­al acts with minors shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the items or re­cord­ings con­tain genu­ine sexu­al acts with minors, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.281

6 In the case of of­fences un­der para­graphs 4 and 5, the items shall be for­feited.

7282

8 Any per­son who pro­duces, pos­sesses or con­sumes items or re­cord­ings as de­scribed in para­graph 1 above in­volving a minor or makes such items or re­cord­ings ac­cess­ible to the per­son shown shall not com­mit an of­fence provided:

a.
the minor has con­sen­ted;
b.
the per­son pro­du­cing the im­age or per­form­ance does not make or prom­ise to make any pay­ment there­for; and
c.
the dif­fer­ence in age between the par­ti­cipants does not ex­ceed three years.283

8bis It shall not be an of­fence for a minor to pro­duce, pos­sess or con­sume items or re­cord­ings as de­scribed in para­graph 1 or to make the same ac­cess­ible to an­oth­er per­son with that per­son’s con­sent.

The per­son who makes these items or re­cord­ings ac­cess­ible shall not com­mit an of­fence by pos­sess­ing and con­sum­ing them provided:

a.
they do not make or prom­ise to make pay­ment there­for;
b.
the par­ti­cipants know each oth­er; and
c.
the par­ti­cipants are adults or, if at least one of them is a minor, the dif­fer­ence in age between them does not ex­ceed three years.284

9 Items or re­cord­ings as de­scribed in para­graphs 1–5 above are not re­garded as por­no­graph­ic if they have a cul­tur­al or sci­entif­ic value that jus­ti­fies their pro­tec­tion by law.

279 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FedD of 27 Sept. 2013 (Lan­zarote Con­ven­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 1159; BBl 2012 7571).

280 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

281 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

282 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

283 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

284 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art.197a285

5. Un­au­thor­ised passing on of private sexu­al con­tent

 

1 Any per­son who passes on private sexu­al con­tent, in par­tic­u­lar doc­u­ments, sound or visu­al re­cord­ings, de­pic­tions or oth­er items or per­form­ances, without the con­sent of the per­son re­cog­nis­able therein, shall on com­plaint be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fend­er has pub­lished the con­tent, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

285 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 198286

6. Con­tra­ven­tions against sexu­al in­teg­rity

Sexu­al har­ass­ment

 

Any per­son who causes of­fence by per­form­ing a sexu­al act in the pres­ence of an­oth­er who does not ex­pect it,

any per­son who sexu­ally har­asses an­oth­er phys­ic­ally or through the use of in­de­cent lan­guage, writ­ings or im­ages

shall be li­able on com­plaint to a fine.

2 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity may re­quire the per­son con­cerned to at­tend a course. If they com­plete the re­quired course suc­cess­fully, the pro­ceed­ings shall be dis­con­tin­ued.

3 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall de­cide on the pro­ced­ur­al costs and on any claims made by the civil party.

286 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 199

Un­au­thor­ised prac­tice of pros­ti­tu­tion

 

Any per­son who vi­ol­ates the can­ton­al reg­u­la­tions on the per­mit­ted loc­a­tions or times at which pros­ti­tu­tion may be prac­tised or the man­ner in which it may be prac­tised, or on the pre­ven­tion of re­lated pub­lic nuis­ance shall be li­able to a fine.

Art. 200287

7. Joint com­mis­sion

 

Where any per­son com­mits an of­fence un­der this Title jointly with one or more oth­ers, the court shall in­crease the pen­alty im­posed, but may not ex­ceed the stand­ard max­im­um pen­alty for the of­fence by more than an ad­di­tion­al half. The court, in im­pos­ing the pen­alty, is bound by the stat­utory max­im­um pen­alty for the type of­fence in ques­tion.

287 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 201212288

 

288These re­pealed art­icles have (with the ex­cep­tion of Art. 211) been re­placed by Art­icles 195, 196, 197, 198, 199(see Com­ment­ary on Dis­patch No 23; BBl 1985 II 1009). Art. 211 has been de­leted without re­place­ment.

Title Six: Felonies and Misdemeanours against the Family

Art. 213289

In­cest

 

1 Any per­son who has sexu­al in­ter­course with a blood re­l­at­ive in dir­ect line or with a broth­er or sis­ter, or a half-broth­er or half-sis­ter shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Minors are not li­able to any pen­alty provided they have been in­duced to com­mit the act.

3 ...290

289Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

290Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 2001 (Lim­it­a­tion of Right to Pro­sec­ute in gen­er­al and in cases of Sexu­al Of­fences against Chil­dren; AS 2002 2993; BBl 2000 2943).

Art. 214291

 

291Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, with ef­fect from 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 1989 2449; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 215292

Bi­gamy

 

Any per­son who mar­ries or enters in­to a re­gistered same-sex part­ner­ship when he is already mar­ried or liv­ing in a re­gistered same-sex part­ner­ship,

any per­son who mar­ries or enters in­to a re­gistered same-sex part­ner­ship with a per­son who is already mar­ried or liv­ing in a re­gistered same-sex part­ner­ship,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

292 Amended by An­nex No 18 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

Art. 216293

 

293 Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 2449; BBl 1985 II 1009).Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989 (AS 1989 2449; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 217294

Neg­lect of duty to sup­port the fam­ily

 

1 Any per­son who fails to ful­fil his or her fam­ily law du­ties to provide main­ten­ance or sup­port al­though he or she has or could have the means to do so, shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The au­thor­it­ies and agen­cies ap­poin­ted by the can­tons also have the right to file a com­plaint. In ex­er­cising this right, they shall take ac­count of the in­terests of the fam­ily.

294Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 218295

 

295Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 2449; BBl 1985 II 1009).

Art. 219296

Neg­lect of du­ties of care, su­per­vi­sion or edu­ca­tion

 

1 Any per­son who vi­ol­ates or neg­lects his or her du­ties of su­per­vi­sion and edu­ca­tion to­wards a minor and thus en­dangers the minor's phys­ic­al or men­tal de­vel­op­ment, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed. 297

296Amended by No I of the FA of 23 June 1989, in force since 1 Jan. 1990 (AS 1989 24492456; BBl 1985 II 1009).

297 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 220298

Ab­duc­tion of minors

 

Any per­son who re­moves a minor from or re­fuses to re­turn a minor to the per­son hold­ing the right to de­cide on the minor's place of res­id­ence shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

298 Amended by An­nex No 4 of the FA of 21 June 2013 (Par­ent­al Re­spons­ib­il­ity), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 357; BBl 2011 9077).

Title Seven: Felonies and Misdemeanours constituting a Public Danger

Art. 221

Ar­son

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully causes a fire and thus does dam­age to an­oth­er or causes a danger to the pub­lic shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2 If the of­fend­er wil­fully en­dangers the life and limb of oth­ers, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years.

3 If the dam­age caused is minor, the pen­alty may be re­duced to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of up to three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.


Art. 222

Neg­li­gent ar­son

 

1 Any per­son who causes a fire through neg­li­gence and thus does dam­age to an­oth­er or causes a danger to the pub­lic shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.299

2 If the of­fend­er through neg­li­gence en­dangers the life and limb of oth­ers, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

299 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 223

Caus­ing an ex­plo­sion

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully causes an ex­plo­sion in­volving gas, pet­rol, par­affin or a sim­il­ar sub­stance and thus know­ingly en­dangers the life and limb or prop­erty of oth­ers shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

If only minor loss, dam­age or in­jury is caused, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty may be im­posed.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

Art. 224

Mis­use of ex­plos­ives and tox­ic gases with crim­in­al in­tent

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully and with crim­in­al in­tent en­dangers the life and limb or the prop­erty of oth­ers through the use of ex­plos­ives or tox­ic gases shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2 If only an in­sig­ni­fic­ant danger to prop­erty is caused, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty may be im­posed.

Art. 225301

Mis­use of ex­plos­ives or tox­ic gases without crim­in­al in­tent or through neg­li­gence

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully but without crim­in­al in­tent en­dangers the life and limb or the prop­erty of oth­ers through the use of ex­plos­ives or tox­ic gases shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

301 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 226

Man­u­fac­ture, con­ceal­ment and trans­port of ex­plos­ives and tox­ic gases

 

1 Any per­son who man­u­fac­tures ex­plos­ives or tox­ic gases that he knows or must as­sume are in­ten­ded to be used to com­mit a felony shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of at least six months and no more than ten years.302

2 Any per­son who pro­cures, passes on to an­oth­er, ac­cepts from an­oth­er, safe­guards, con­ceals or trans­ports ex­plos­ives, tox­ic gases or sub­stances suit­able for their man­u­fac­ture shall be li­able, if he knows or must as­sume that they are in­ten­ded to be used to com­mit a felony, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units.303

3 Any per­son who in­structs an­oth­er per­son on how to man­u­fac­ture ex­plos­ives or tox­ic gases when he knows or must as­sume that that per­son is plan­ning to use the ex­plos­ives or tox­ic gases to com­mit a felony shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units.304

302 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

303 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

304 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 226bis305

Caus­ing danger by means of nuc­le­ar en­ergy, ra­dio­activ­ity or ion­ising ra­di­ation

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully causes ser­i­ous danger to the life or the health of people or to the prop­erty of oth­ers by means of nuc­le­ar en­ergy, ra­dio-act­ive sub­stances or ion­ising ra­di­ation shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence or a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

305In­ser­ted by An­nex No II 2 of the Nuc­le­ar En­ergy Act of 21 March 2003 (AS 20044719; BBl 20012665). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 226ter306

Pre­par­at­ory of­fences

 

1 Any per­son who sys­tem­at­ic­ally car­ries out spe­cif­ic tech­nic­al or or­gan­isa­tion­al pre­par­a­tions for acts in­ten­ded to cause danger to the life or the health of people or to the prop­erty of oth­ers by means of nuc­le­ar en­ergy, ra­dio­act­ive sub­stances or ion­ising ra­di­ation of sub­stan­tial value shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who man­u­fac­tures, pro­cures, passes on to an­oth­er, ac­cepts from an­oth­er, stores, con­ceals or trans­ports ra­dio­act­ive sub­stances, equip­ment, ap­par­at­us or art­icles that con­tain ra­dio­act­ive sub­stances or may emit ion­ising ra­di­ation shall be li­able, if he knows or must as­sume that they are in­ten­ded for un­law­ful use, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

3 Any per­son who in­structs an­oth­er per­son on how to man­u­fac­ture such sub­stances, equip­ment, ap­par­at­us or art­icles shall be li­able, if he knows or must as­sume that they are in­ten­ded for un­law­ful use, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

306In­ser­ted by An­nex No II 2 of the Nuc­le­ar En­ergy Act of 21 March 2003 (AS 20044719; BBl 20012665). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 227

Caus­ing a flood, col­lapse or land­slide

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully causes a flood, the col­lapse of a struc­ture or a land­slide or rock fall and thus know­ingly en­dangers the life and limb of people or the prop­erty of oth­ers shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

If only minor loss, dam­age or in­jury is caused, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty may be im­posed.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

Art. 228

Crim­in­al dam­age to elec­tric­al in­stall­a­tions, and hy­draul­ic or pro­tect­ive struc­tures

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully dam­ages or des­troys elec­tric­al in­stall­a­tions, hy­draul­ic struc­tures such as dams, weirs, dikes, and floodgates, or struc­tures erec­ted to provide pro­tec­tion against nat­ur­al forces such as land­slides or ava­lanches, and thus know­ingly en­dangers the life and limb of people or the prop­erty of oth­ers, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.307

If only minor loss, dam­age or in­jury is caused, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty may be im­posed.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

307 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 229

Breach of con­struc­tion reg­u­la­tions

 

1 Any per­son en­gaged in the man­age­ment or ex­e­cu­tion of con­struc­tion or de­moli­tion work who wil­fully dis­reg­ards the ac­cep­ted rules of con­struc­tion and as a res­ult know­ingly en­dangers the life and limb of oth­ers shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.308

2 If the of­fend­er dis­reg­ards the ac­cep­ted rules of con­struc­tion through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

308 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 230

Re­mov­al or non-in­stall­a­tion of safety devices

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully dam­ages, des­troys, re­moves, oth­er­wise renders un­us­able or de­ac­tiv­ates a safety device which serves to pre­vent ac­ci­dents in a fact­ory or oth­er com­mer­cial premises or on a ma­chine,

any per­son who wil­fully fails to in­stall such a device in vi­ol­a­tion of the reg­u­la­tions,

and thus know­ingly en­dangers the life and limb of oth­ers,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.309

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

309 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Title Eight: Felonies and Misdemeanours against Public Health

Art. 230bis310

Caus­ing danger by means of ge­net­ic­ally mod­i­fied or patho­gen­ic or­gan­isms

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully re­leases ge­net­ic­ally mod­i­fied or patho­gen­ic or­gan­isms or the dis­rupts the op­er­a­tion of a fa­cil­ity for the re­search in­to, or the safe­guard­ing, pro­duc­tion or trans­port of such or­gan­isms shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years, provided he knows or must as­sume that through his acts:

a.
he will en­danger the life and limb of people; or
b.
the nat­ur­al com­pos­i­tion of com­munit­ies of an­im­als and plants or their hab­it­ats will be ser­i­ously en­dangered.

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

310 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 1 of the Gene Tech­no­logy Act of 21 March 2003, in force since 1 Jan. 2004 (AS 20034803; BBl 20002391).

Art. 231311

Trans­mis­sion of hu­man dis­eases

 

Any per­son who ma­li­ciously trans­mits a dan­ger­ous com­mu­nic­able hu­man dis­ease shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one to five years.

311 Amended by Art. 86 No 1 of the Epi­dem­ics Act of 28 Sept. 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 2015 1435; BBl 2011 311).

Art. 232

Trans­mis­sion of an epi­zo­ot­ic dis­ease

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully causes the trans­mis­sion of an epi­zo­ot­ic dis­ease among do­mest­ic an­im­als shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er ma­li­ciously causes ser­i­ous loss, dam­age or in­jury, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one to five years.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

Art. 233

Propaga­tion of harm­ful para­sites

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully propag­ates a para­site or mi­cro-or­gan­ism that con­sti­tutes a danger to ag­ri­cul­ture or forestry, shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er ma­li­ciously causes ser­i­ous loss, dam­age or in­jury, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one to five years.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

Art. 234

Con­tam­in­a­tion of drink­ing wa­ter

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully con­tam­in­ates drink­ing wa­ter in­ten­ded for people or do­mest­ic an­im­als with sub­stances that are dam­aging to health shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units.312

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

312 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 235

Pro­duc­tion of harm­ful an­im­al feed

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully pro­duces or treats an­im­al feed or feed­stuffs for do­mest­ic an­im­als in such a way that they con­sti­tute a danger to the health of an­im­als shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er car­ries on a com­mer­cial op­er­a­tion to pro­duce or treat an­im­al feed that is harm­ful to an­im­als, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units. In such cases, pub­lic no­tice shall be giv­en of the con­vic­tion.313

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.314

3. The products shall be for­feited. They may be rendered harm­less or des­troyed.

313 Second para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

314 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 236

Mar­ket­ing of harm­ful an­im­al feed

 

1 Any per­son who wil­fully im­ports, stores, of­fers for sale or mar­kets an­im­al feed or an­im­al feed­stuffs that con­sti­tute a danger to an­im­als shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty. Pub­lic no­tice is giv­en of the con­vic­tion.

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.315

3 The products are for­feited. They may be rendered harm­less or des­troyed.

315 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 237

Dis­rup­tion of pub­lic traffic

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully ob­structs, dis­rupts or en­dangers pub­lic traffic, in par­tic­u­lar traffic on the roads, on wa­ter, in the air or on rail and as a res­ult know­ingly causes danger to the life and limb or prop­erty of oth­er people shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er thus know­ingly en­dangers the life and limb of a large num­ber of people, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.316

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

316 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 238317

 

317 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 239

Dis­rup­tion of pub­lic ser­vices

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully ob­structs, dis­rupts or en­dangers the op­er­a­tion of a pub­lic ser­vice and in par­tic­u­lar the rail­way, postal, tele­graph­ic or tele­phone ser­vices,

any per­son who wil­fully ob­structs, dis­rupts or en­dangers the op­er­a­tion of a pub­lic util­ity or in­stall­a­tion which provides wa­ter, light, power or heat,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.319

319 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Title Ten: Counterfeiting of Money, Official Stamps, Official Marks, Weights and Measures

Art. 240

Coun­ter­feit­ing money

 

1 Any per­son who coun­ter­feits coins, pa­per money or bank­notes in or­der to pass these off as genu­ine shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2 In par­tic­u­larly minor cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

3 The of­fend­er is also li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­al­ties if he com­mit­ted the act abroad, has entered Switzer­land and is not be­ing ex­tra­dited, provided the act is also an of­fence at the place of com­mis­sion.

Art. 241

Falsi­fic­a­tion of money

 

1 Any per­son who al­ters coins, pa­per money or bank notes in or­der to pass these off at a value high­er than their true value shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of at least six months and no more than five years.320

2 In par­tic­u­larly minor cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

320 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 242

Passing or ten­der­ing coun­ter­feit money

 

1 Any per­son who passes or tenders coun­ter­feit or fals­i­fied coins, pa­per money or bank notes as genu­ine money shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty321.

2 If the of­fend­er, the per­son in­struct­ing him or his agent ac­cep­ted the coins or bank­notes on the un­der­stand­ing that they were genu­ine or not fals­i­fied, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

321Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 243322

Im­it­a­tion of bank notes, coins or of­fi­cial stamps without in­tent to com­mit for­gery

 

1 Any per­son who, without the in­ten­tion of com­mit­ting the of­fence of for­gery, re­pro­duces or im­it­ates bank notes and thus cre­ates the risk that per­sons or ma­chines will con­fuse such notes with genu­ine notes, in par­tic­u­lar if the over­all ap­pear­ance, one side or the great­er part of one side of a bank note re­pro­duces or im­it­ates a ma­ter­i­al and a size that is identic­al or sim­il­ar to the ma­ter­i­al and size of the ori­gin­al,

any per­son who, without the in­ten­tion of com­mit­ting the of­fence of for­gery, pro­duces ob­jects which in their ap­pear­ance, weight and size are sim­il­ar to coins in cir­cu­la­tion, or which show the nom­in­al value or oth­er char­ac­ter­ist­ics of coins which have been of­fi­cially struck, and thus cre­ates the risk that per­sons or ma­chines will con­fuse such coins with coins which are in cir­cu­la­tion,

any per­son who, without the in­ten­tion of com­mit­ting the of­fence of for­gery re­pro­duces or im­it­ates of­fi­cial stamps and thus cre­ates the risk that such stamps will be con­fused with genu­ine stamps,

any per­son who im­ports, of­fers or puts in­to cir­cu­la­tion such ob­jects art­icles,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.323

2 If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.324

322 Amended by An­nex No 3 of the FA of 22 Dec. 1999 on Cur­rency and Pay­ment In­stru­ments, in force since 1 May 2000 (AS 2000 1144; BBl 1999 7258).

323 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

324 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 244

Im­port, ac­quis­i­tion and stor­age of coun­ter­feit money

 

1 Any per­son who im­ports, ac­quires or stores coun­ter­feit or fals­i­fied coins, pa­per money or bank notes in or­der to pass these off as genu­ine or non-fals­i­fied shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.325

2 Any per­son who im­ports, ac­quires or stores such money on a large scale shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one to five years.

325 Amended by An­nex No 3 of the FA of 22 Dec. 1999 on Cur­rency and Pay­ment In­stru­ments, in force since 1 May 2000 (AS 2000 1144; BBl 1999 7258).

Art. 245326

For­gery of of­fi­cial stamps

 

1. Any per­son who forges or fals­i­fies of­fi­cial stamps, and in par­tic­u­lar post­age stamps, rev­en­ue stamps or fee stamps, in or­der to pass these off as genu­ine or non-fals­i­fied,

any per­son who gives can­celled of­fi­cial value stamps the ap­pear­ance of be­ing val­id in or­der to pass them off as such,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

The of­fend­er is also li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­al­ties if he com­mit­ted the act abroad, has been ar­res­ted in Switzer­land and is not be­ing ex­tra­dited, provided the act is also an of­fence at the place of com­mis­sion.

2. Any per­son who passes off forged, fals­i­fied or can­celled of­fi­cial stamps as genu­ine, non-fals­i­fied or val­id shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

326 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 246327

For­gery of of­fi­cial marks

 

Any per­son who forges or fals­i­fies an of­fi­cial mark which the au­thor­it­ies af­fix to an ob­ject to con­firm the res­ult of an in­spec­tion or the grant­ing of ap­prov­al such as hall­marks, or marks stamped on goods by meat in­spect­ors, marks stamped by the Fed­er­al Of­fice for Cus­toms and Bor­der Se­cur­ity, with the in­ten­tion of passing the mark off as genu­ine,

any per­son who passes off such forged or fals­i­fied marks as genu­ine or non-fals­i­fied,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

327 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 247

Coun­ter­feit­ing equip­ment and un­law­ful use of equip­ment

 

Any per­son who con­structs or ac­quires equip­ment for the for­gery or falsi­fic­a­tion of coins, pa­per money, bank notes or of­fi­cial stamps in or­der to make un­law­ful use of such equip­ment,

any per­son who makes un­law­ful use of equip­ment which is used for the pro­duc­tion of coins, pa­per money, bank notes or of­fi­cial stamps,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 248

Falsi­fic­a­tion of weights and meas­ures

 

Any per­son who, in or­der to de­ceive oth­ers in trade or com­merce,

at­taches a false cal­ib­ra­tion mark to weights and meas­ures, scales or oth­er meas­ur­ing in­stru­ments or fals­i­fies an ex­ist­ing cal­ib­ra­tion mark,

makes al­ter­a­tions to weights and meas­ures, scales or oth­er meas­ur­ing in­stru­ments, or

makes use of forged or fals­i­fied weights and meas­ures, scales or oth­er meas­ur­ing in­stru­ments,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 249328

For­feit­ure

 

1 Forged or fals­i­fied coins, pa­per money, bank­notes, of­fi­cial stamps, of­fi­cial marks, weights and meas­ures, scales or oth­er meas­ur­ing in­stru­ments as well as the coun­ter­feit­ing equip­ment is for­feited and rendered un­us­able or des­troyed.

2 Bank­notes, coins or of­fi­cial stamps that have been re­pro­duced, im­it­ated or pro­duced without the in­tent to com­mit for­gery, but which cre­ate a risk of con­fu­sion, are also for­feited and rendered un­us­able or des­troyed.

328 Amended by An­nex No 3 of the FA of 22 Dec. 1999 on Cur­rency and Pay­ment In­stru­ments, in force since 1 May 2000 (AS 2000 1144; BBl 1999 7258).

Art. 250

For­eign cur­rency and stamps

 

The pro­vi­sions this Title also ap­ply in the case of for­eign coins, pa­per money, bank­notes and stamps.

Title Eleven: Forgery

Art. 251329

For­gery of a doc­u­ment

 

1. Any per­son who with a view to caus­ing fin­an­cial loss or dam­age to the rights of an­oth­er or in or­der to ob­tain an un­law­ful ad­vant­age for him­self or an­oth­er,

pro­duces a false doc­u­ment, fals­i­fies a genu­ine doc­u­ment, uses the genu­ine sig­na­ture or mark of an­oth­er to pro­duce a false doc­u­ment, falsely cer­ti­fies or causes to be falsely cer­ti­fied a fact of leg­al sig­ni­fic­ance or,

makes use of a false or fals­i­fied doc­u­ment in or­der to de­ceive,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. …330

329Amended by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

330 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 252331

For­gery of cer­ti­fic­ates

 

Any per­son who with the in­ten­tion of fur­ther­ing his own po­s­i­tion or that of an­oth­er,

forges or fals­i­fies iden­tity doc­u­ments, ref­er­ences, or cer­ti­fic­ates,

uses such a doc­u­ment in or­der to de­ceive an­oth­er,

or uses a genu­ine doc­u­ment of this nature but which does not ap­ply to him in or­der to de­ceive an­oth­er,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

331Amended by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

Art. 253

Ob­tain­ing a false cer­ti­fic­ate by fraud

 

Any per­son who by fraud­u­lent means causes a pub­lic of­fi­cial or a per­son act­ing in an of­fi­cial ca­pa­city to cer­ti­fy an un­true fact of sub­stan­tial leg­al sig­ni­fic­ance, and in par­tic­u­lar to cer­ti­fy a false sig­na­ture or an in­cor­rect copy as genu­ine, or

any per­son who makes use of a doc­u­ment ob­tained by fraud in this way in or­der to de­ceive an­oth­er as to the fact cer­ti­fied therein,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 254

Sup­pres­sion of doc­u­ments

 

1 Any per­son who dam­ages, des­troys, con­ceals or mis­ap­pro­pri­ates a doc­u­ment over which he has no ex­clus­ive right of dis­pos­al, with a view to caus­ing fin­an­cial loss or dam­age to the rights of an­oth­er or in or­der to ob­tain an un­law­ful ad­vant­age for him­self or an­oth­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The sup­pres­sion of doc­u­ments to the det­ri­ment of a re­l­at­ive or fam­ily mem­ber is pro­sec­uted only on com­plaint.

Art. 255

Of­fi­cial for­eign doc­u­ments

 

Art­icles 251–254 also ap­ply to of­fi­cial for­eign doc­u­ments.

Art. 256

Mov­ing of bound­ary mark­ers

 

Any per­son who, with the in­ten­tion of caus­ing fin­an­cial loss or dam­aging the rights of an­oth­er or of ob­tain­ing an un­law­ful ad­vant­age for him­self or an­oth­er, re­moves, moves, renders un­re­cog­nis­able, falsely po­s­i­tions or fals­i­fies a bound­ary stone or oth­er bound­ary mark­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 257

Re­mov­al of sur­vey points and wa­ter level in­dic­at­ors

 

Any per­son who re­moves, moves, renders un­re­cog­nis­able or falsely po­s­i­tions a pub­lic sur­vey point or wa­ter level in­dic­at­or shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Title Twelve: Felonies and Misdemeanours against Public Order

Art. 258332

Caus­ing fear and alarm among the gen­er­al pub­lic

 

Any per­son who causes fear and alarm among the gen­er­al pub­lic by threat­en­ing or feign­ing a danger to life, limb or prop­erty shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

332Amended by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

Art. 259333

Pub­lic in­cite­ment to com­mit a felony or act of vi­ol­ence

 

1 Any per­son who pub­licly in­cites oth­ers to com­mit a mis­de­mean­our that in­volves vi­ol­ence against oth­er per­sons or prop­erty or a felony shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.334

1bis Pub­lic in­cite­ment to com­mit gen­o­cide (Art. 264), where the in­ten­tion is for the act to be car­ried out ex­clus­ively or partly in Switzer­land, is also an of­fence if the in­cite­ment oc­curs out­side Switzer­land.335

2336

333Amended by No I of the FA of 9 Oct. 1981, in force since 1 Oct. 1982 (AS 1982 15301534; BBl 1980 I 1241).

334 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

335 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amend­ment of Fed­er­al Le­gis­la­tion in Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Rome Statue of the In­ter­na­tion­al Crim­in­al Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

336 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 260

Ri­ot­ing

 

1 Any per­son who takes part in a ri­ot­ous as­sembly in pub­lic in the course of which acts of vi­ol­ence are com­mit­ted against per­sons and prop­erty by the use of united force shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Par­ti­cipants who re­move them­selves when of­fi­cially ordered to do so are not held to have com­mit­ted an of­fence if they have not used vi­ol­ence or en­cour­aged oth­ers to do so.

Art. 260bis337

Acts pre­par­at­ory to the com­mis­sion of an of­fence

 

1 Any per­son who, in ac­cord­ance with a plan, car­ries out spe­cif­ic tech­nic­al or or­gan­isa­tion­al meas­ures, the nature and ex­tent of which in­dic­ate that the of­fend­er in­tends to com­mit any of the of­fences lis­ted be­low shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty:

a.
in­ten­tion­al hom­icide (Art. 111);
b.
murder (Art. 112);
c.
ser­i­ous as­sault (Art. 122);
cbis.338 fe­male gen­it­al mu­til­a­tion (Art. 124);
d.
rob­bery (Art. 140);
e.
false im­pris­on­ment and ab­duc­tion (Art. 183);
f.
host­age tak­ing (Art. 185);
fbis.339 en­forced dis­ap­pear­ance (Art. 185bis);
g.
ar­son (Art. 221);
h.
gen­o­cide (Art. 264);
i.
crimes against hu­man­ity (Art. 264a);
j.
war crimes (Art. 264c–264h).340

2 If the of­fend­er, of his own vo­li­tion, does not com­plete the pre­par­at­ory act, he is not li­able to any pen­alty.

3 It is also an of­fence for any per­son to carry out a pre­par­at­ory act abroad, provided it was in­ten­ded to com­mit the of­fences in Switzer­land. Art­icle 3 para­graph 2 ap­plies.341

337In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 9 Oct. 1981, in force since 1 Oct. 1982 (AS 1982 15301534; BBl 1980 I 1241).

338 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 30 Sept. 2011 in force since 1 Ju­ly 2012 (AS 20122575; BBl 2010 56515677).

339 In­ser­ted by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2015 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the In­ter­na­tion­al Con­ven­tion for the Pro­tec­tion of All Per­sons from En­forced Dis­ap­pear­ance, in force since 1 Jan. 2017 (AS 2016 4687; BBl 2014 453).

340 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amend­ment of Fed­er­al Le­gis­la­tion in Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Rome Statue of the In­ter­na­tion­al Crim­in­al Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

341 Word­ing of the sen­tence in ac­cord­ance with No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 260ter342

Crim­in­al or ter­ror­ist or­gan­isa­tion

 

1 Any per­son who:

a.
par­ti­cip­ates in an or­gan­isa­tion which pur­sues the ob­ject­ive of:
1.
com­mit­ting vi­ol­ent felon­ies or se­cur­ing a fin­an­cial gain by crim­in­al means, or
2.
com­mit­ting vi­ol­ent felon­ies aimed at in­tim­id­at­ing the pop­u­la­tion or co­er­cing a State or an in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion to act or re­frain from act­ing; or who
b.
sup­ports such an or­gan­isa­tion in its activ­it­ies.

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing ten years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Para­graph 1 let­ter b does not ap­ply to hu­man­it­ari­an ser­vices provided by an im­par­tial hu­man­it­ari­an or­gan­isa­tion, such as the In­ter­na­tion­al Com­mit­tee of the Red Cross, in ac­cord­ance with the com­mon Art­icle 3 of the Geneva Con­ven­tions of 12 Au­gust 1949343.

3 If the of­fend­er ex­er­cises a de­cis­ive in­flu­ence with­in the or­gan­isa­tion, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years shall be im­posed.

4 The court has the dis­cre­tion to mit­ig­ate the pen­alty im­posed
(Art. 48a) if the of­fend­er makes an ef­fort to foil the activ­it­ies of the or­gan­isa­tion.

5 The fore­go­ing pen­al­ties also ap­ply to any per­son who com­mits the of­fence out­side Switzer­land provided the or­gan­isa­tion car­ries out or in­tends to carry out its crim­in­al activ­it­ies wholly or partly in Switzer­land. Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­plies.

342In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 18 March 1994 (AS 1994 16141618; BBl 1993 III 277). Amended by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

343 SR 0.518.12, 0.518.23, 0.518.42, 0.518.51

Art. 260quater344

En­dan­ger­ing pub­lic safety with weapons

 

Any per­son who sells, hires, gifts, hands over or pro­cures fire­arms, weapons pro­hib­ited by law, es­sen­tial com­pon­ents of weapons, weapons ac­cessor­ies, am­muni­tion or com­pon­ents of am­muni­tion, al­though he knows or must as­sume that the weapons are in­ten­ded to be used to com­mit a felony or mis­de­mean­our shall be li­able, provided his activ­it­ies do not con­sti­tute a more ser­i­ous of­fence, to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.345

344 In­ser­ted by Art. 41 of the Weapons Act of 20 June 1997, in force since 1 Jan. 1999 (AS 1998 2535; BBl 1996 I 1053).

345 New des­ig­na­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 260quinquies346

Fin­an­cing ter­ror­ism

 

1 Any per­son who col­lects or provides funds with a view to fin­an­cing a vi­ol­ent crime that is in­ten­ded to in­tim­id­ate the pub­lic or to co­erce a state or in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion in­to car­ry­ing out or not car­ry­ing out an act shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 If the per­son merely ac­know­ledges the pos­sib­il­ity that the funds may be used to fin­ance ter­ror­ism, he is not li­able to a pen­alty un­der this Art­icle.

3 The act does not con­sti­tute the fin­an­cing of a ter­ror­ist of­fence if it is car­ried out with a view to es­tab­lish­ing or re-es­tab­lish­ing a demo­crat­ic re­gime or a state gov­erned by the rule of law or with a view to ex­er­cising or safe­guard­ing hu­man rights.

4 Para­graph 1 does not ap­ply if the fin­an­cing is in­ten­ded to sup­port acts that do not vi­ol­ate the rules of in­ter­na­tion­al law on the con­duct of armed con­flicts.

346 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 21 March 2003 (Fin­an­cing of Ter­ror­ism), in force since 1 Oct. 2003 (AS 2003 30433047; BBl 2002 5390).

Art. 260sexies347

Re­cruit­ing, train­ing and trav­el­ling with a view to com­mit­ting a ter­ror­ist of­fence

 

1 Any per­son who, with a view to com­mit­ting a vi­ol­ent felony aimed at in­tim­id­at­ing the pop­u­la­tion or co­er­cing a State or an in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion to act or re­frain from act­ing,

a.
re­cruits an­oth­er per­son to com­mit or par­ti­cip­ate in such an of­fence;
b.
ac­cepts train­ing or trains oth­ers in the man­u­fac­ture or use of weapons, ex­plos­ives, ra­dio­act­ive ma­ter­i­als, pois­on­ous gases or oth­er devices or dan­ger­ous sub­stances for the pur­pose of com­mit­ting or par­ti­cip­at­ing in the com­mis­sion of such an of­fence; or
c.
travels abroad with the in­ten­tion of com­mit­ting, par­ti­cip­at­ing in or train­ing for such an of­fence
shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The same pen­alty shall ap­ply to any per­son who col­lects or provides as­sets with the in­ten­tion of fin­an­cing a jour­ney in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1 let­ter c, or any per­son who or­gan­ises or re­cruits oth­ers to make such a jour­ney.

3 Any per­son who car­ries out any of the fore­go­ing acts out­side Switzer­land shall also be li­able to pro­sec­u­tion if he or she is in Switzer­land and is not ex­tra­dited or if the ter­ror­ist of­fence is to be com­mit­ted in or against Switzer­land. Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­ply.

347 In­ser­ted by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

Art. 261

At­tack on the free­dom of faith and the free­dom to wor­ship

 

Any per­son who pub­licly and ma­li­ciously in­sults or mocks the re­li­gious con­vic­tions of oth­ers, and in par­tic­u­larly their be­lief in God, or ma­li­ciously de­sec­rates ob­jects of re­li­gious ven­er­a­tion,

any per­son who ma­li­ciously pre­vents, dis­rupts or pub­licly mocks an act of wor­ship, the con­duct of which is guar­an­teed by the Con­sti­tu­tion, or

any per­son who ma­li­ciously de­sec­rates a place or ob­ject that is in­ten­ded for a re­li­gious ce­re­mony or an act of wor­ship the con­duct of which is guar­an­teed by the Con­sti­tu­tion,

shall be li­able to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.348

348 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Art. 261bis349

Dis­crim­in­a­tion and in­cite­ment to hatred

 

Any per­son who pub­licly in­cites hatred or dis­crim­in­a­tion against a per­son or a group of per­sons on the grounds of their race, eth­nic ori­gin, re­li­gion or sexu­al ori­ent­a­tion,

any per­son who pub­licly dis­sem­in­ates ideo­lo­gies that have as their ob­ject the sys­tem­at­ic den­ig­ra­tion or de­fam­a­tion of that per­son or group of per­sons,

any per­son who with the same ob­ject­ive or­gan­ises, en­cour­ages or par­ti­cip­ates in pro­pa­ganda cam­paigns,

any per­son who pub­licly den­ig­rates or dis­crim­in­ates against an­oth­er or a group of per­sons on the grounds of their race, eth­nic ori­gin, re­li­gion or sexu­al ori­ent­a­tion in a man­ner that vi­ol­ates hu­man dig­nity, wheth­er verbally, in writ­ing or pictori­ally, by us­ing ges­tures, through acts of ag­gres­sion or by oth­er means, or any per­son who on any of these grounds denies, trivi­al­ises or seeks jus­ti­fic­a­tion for gen­o­cide or oth­er crimes against hu­man­ity,

any per­son who re­fuses to provide a ser­vice to an­oth­er on the grounds of that per­son’s race, eth­nic ori­gin, re­li­gion or sexu­al ori­ent­a­tion when that ser­vice is in­ten­ded to be provided to the gen­er­al pub­lic,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

349In­ser­ted by Art. 1 of the FA of 18 June 1993 (AS 1994 2887; BBl 1992 III 269). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 14 Dec. 2018 (Dis­crim­in­a­tion and In­cite­ment to Hatred on the Grounds of Sexu­al Ori­ent­a­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2020 (AS 2020 1609; BBl 2018 37735231).

Art. 262

Dis­turb­ing the peace of the dead

 

1. Any per­son who de­sec­rates the rest­ing place of a dead per­son,

any per­son who ma­li­ciously dis­rupts or de­sec­rates a fu­ner­al pro­ces­sion or fu­ner­al ce­re­mony,

any per­son who de­sec­rates or pub­licly in­sults a dead body

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Any per­son who re­moves a dead body or part of a dead body or the ashes of a dead per­son against the will of those en­titled thereto shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 263

Com­mit­ting an of­fence while in a state of vol­un­tar­ily in­duced men­tal in­ca­pa­city

 

1 Any per­son who is in­cap­able of form­ing crim­in­al in­tent as a res­ult of vol­un­tar­ily in­duced in­tox­ic­a­tion through al­co­hol or drugs, and while in this state com­mits an act pun­ish­able as a felony or mis­de­mean­our shall be li­able to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.350

2 If the of­fend­er has, in this self-in­duced state, com­mit­ted an act for which the only pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.351

350 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

351 Amended by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Title Twelve : Genocide and Crimes against Humanitybis352

352 Inserted by No I of the FA of 24 March 2000 (AS 2000 2725; BBl 19995327). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amendment of Federal Legislation in Implementation of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

Art. 264

Gen­o­cide

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life or a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than ten years for any per­son who with the in­tent to des­troy, in whole or in part, a group of per­sons char­ac­ter­ised by their na­tion­al­ity, race, re­li­gion or eth­nic, so­cial or polit­ic­al af­fil­i­ation:

a.
kills mem­bers of such a group, or ser­i­ously harms them phys­ic­ally or men­tally;
b.
in­flicts liv­ing con­di­tions on mem­bers of such a group that are cal­cu­lated to bring about its total or par­tial de­struc­tion;
c.
or­ders or takes meas­ures that are dir­ec­ted to­wards pre­vent­ing births with­in such a group; or
d.
for­cibly trans­fers chil­dren in such a group to an­oth­er group or ar­ranges for such chil­dren to be for­cibly trans­ferred to an­oth­er group.

Art. 264a

Crimes against hu­man­ity

a. In­ten­tion­al hom­icide

b. Ex­term­in­a­tion

c. En­slave­ment

d. False im­pris­on­ment

e. En­forced dis­ap­pear­ance of per­sons

f. Tor­ture

g. Vi­ol­a­tion of sexu­al rights

h. De­port­a­tion or for­cible trans­fer

i. Per­se­cu­tion and apartheid

j. Oth­er in­hu­mane acts

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than five years for any per­son who, as part of a wide­spread or sys­tem­at­ic at­tack dir­ec­ted against any ci­vil­ian pop­u­la­tion:

a.
in­ten­tion­ally kills an­oth­er per­son;
b.
in­ten­tion­ally kills a num­ber of per­sons or in­ten­tion­ally in­flicts con­di­tions of life cal­cu­lated to bring about the de­struc­tion of all or part of the pop­u­la­tion;
c.
as­sumes and ex­er­cises a right of own­er­ship over a per­son, in par­tic­u­lar in the form of traf­fick­ing in per­sons, sexu­al ex­ploit­a­tion or forced la­bour;
d.
severely de­prives a per­son of his or her liberty in vi­ol­a­tion of the fun­da­ment­al rules of in­ter­na­tion­al law;
e.
and with the in­ten­tion of re­mov­ing a per­son from the pro­tec­tion of the law for a pro­longed peri­od of time:
1.
on be­half of or with the ac­qui­es­cence of a State or polit­ic­al or­gan­isa­tion, de­prives that per­son of his or her liberty, and there­after re­fuses to give in­form­a­tion on his or her fate or where­abouts, or
2.
on be­half of or with the ac­qui­es­cence of a State or polit­ic­al or­gan­isa­tion or in vi­ol­a­tion of a leg­al duty re­fuses to give in­form­a­tion on the fate or where­abouts of the per­son con­cerned;
f.
in­flicts severe pain or suf­fer­ing or ser­i­ous in­jury, wheth­er phys­ic­al or men­tal, on a per­son in his or her cus­tody or un­der his or her con­trol;
g.353
com­mits rape in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 190 para­graph 2 or 3 or an in­de­cent as­sault in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 189 para­graph 2 or 3 of com­par­able sever­ity on a per­son, ab­uses that per­son by com­mit­ting a sexu­al act of com­par­able sever­ity, or forces a per­son in­to pros­ti­tu­tion or to be ster­il­ised or, after she has been for­cibly made preg­nant, con­fines her un­law­fully with the in­tent of af­fect­ing the eth­nic com­pos­i­tion of a pop­u­la­tion;
h.
ex­pels or by oth­er co­er­cive acts dis­places per­sons from an area in which they are law­fully present;
i.
in vi­ol­a­tion of in­ter­na­tion­al law and for polit­ic­al, ra­cist, eth­nic, re­li­gious, so­cial or oth­er reas­ons, severely denies or de­prives a group of people of fun­da­ment­al rights in con­nec­tion with an of­fence un­der Title Twelvebis or Title Twelveter or for the pur­pose of the sys­tem­at­ic op­pres­sion or dom­in­a­tion of an eth­nic group;
j.
com­mits any oth­er act of a com­par­able ser­i­ous­ness to the felon­ies men­tioned in this para­graph and thereby causes severe pain or suf­fer­ing or ser­i­ous in­jury, wheth­er phys­ic­al or men­tal, to a per­son.

2In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases, and in par­tic­u­lar where the of­fence af­fects a num­ber of per­sons or the of­fend­er acts in a cruel man­ner, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed.

3In less ser­i­ous cases un­der para­graph 1 let­ters c–j, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year may be im­posed.

353 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Title Twelve : War Crimester354

354 Inserted by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amendment of Federal Legislation in Implementation of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

Art. 264b

1. Scope of ap­plic­a­tion

 

Art­icles 264d–264j ap­ply in con­nec­tion with in­ter­na­tion­al armed con­flicts in­clud­ing oc­cu­pa­tions as well as, un­less the nature the of­fences re­quires oth­er­wise, in con­nec­tion with non-in­ter­na­tion­al armed con­flicts.

Art. 264c

2. Ser­i­ous vi­ol­a­tions of the Geneva Con­ven­tions

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than five years for any per­son who com­mits a ser­i­ous vi­ol­a­tion of the Geneva Con­ven­tions of 12 Au­gust 1949355 in con­nec­tion with an in­ter­na­tion­al armed con­flict by car­ry­ing out any of the fol­low­ing acts against per­sons or prop­erty pro­tec­ted un­der the Con­ven­tions:

a.
in­ten­tion­al hom­icide;
b.
host­age tak­ing;
c.
caus­ing severe pain or suf­fer­ing or ser­i­ous in­jury, wheth­er phys­ic­al or men­tal, in par­tic­u­lar by tor­ture, in­hu­man treat­ment or bio­lo­gic­al ex­per­i­ments;
d.
ex­tens­ive de­struc­tion and ap­pro­pri­ation of prop­erty not jus­ti­fied by mil­it­ary ne­ces­sity and car­ried out un­law­fully and wan­tonly;
e.
com­pel­ling a per­son to serve in the forces of a hos­tile power;
f.
un­law­ful de­port­a­tion or trans­fer or un­law­ful con­fine­ment;
g.
deny­ing the right to a fair and reg­u­lar tri­al be­fore the im­pos­i­tion or ex­e­cu­tion of a severe pen­alty.

2 Acts in terms of para­graph 1 com­mit­ted in con­nec­tion with a non-in­ter­na­tion­al armed con­flict are equi­val­ent to ser­i­ous vi­ol­a­tions of in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law if they are dir­ec­ted against a per­son or prop­erty pro­tec­ted by in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law.

3 In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases, and in par­tic­u­lar where the of­fence af­fects a num­ber of per­sons or the of­fend­er acts in a cruel man­ner, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed.

4 In less ser­i­ous cases un­der para­graph 1 let­ters c–g, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year may be im­posed.

355 Geneva Con­ven­tion of 12 Aug. 1949 for the Ameli­or­a­tion of the Con­di­tion of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (GA I), SR 0.518.12; Geneva Con­ven­tion of 12 Aug. 1949 for the Ameli­or­a­tion of the Con­di­tion of the Wounded and Sick and Ship­wrecked Mem­bers of Armed Forces at Sea (GA II), SR 0.518.23; Geneva Con­ven­tion of 12 Aug. 1949 re­l­at­ive to the Treat­ment of Pris­on­ers of War (GA III), SR 0.518.42; Geneva Con­ven­tion of 12 Aug. 1949 re­l­at­ive to the Pro­tec­tion of Ci­vil­ian Per­sons in Time of War (GA IV), SR 0.518.51.

Art. 264d

3. Oth­er war crimes

a. At­tacks on ci­vil­ians and ci­vil­ian ob­jects

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years for any per­son who in con­nec­tion with an armed con­flict dir­ects an at­tack:

a.
against the ci­vil­ian pop­u­la­tion as such or against in­di­vidu­al ci­vil­ians not tak­ing dir­ect part in hos­til­it­ies;
b.
against per­son­nel, in­stall­a­tions, ma­ter­i­al or vehicles in­volved in a hu­man­it­ari­an as­sist­ance or peace­keep­ing mis­sion in ac­cord­ance with the Charter of the United Na­tions of 26 June 1945356, as long as they are en­titled to the pro­tec­tion of in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law;
c.
against ci­vil­ian ob­jects, un­defen­ded set­tle­ments or build­ings or de­mil­it­ar­ised zones that are not mil­it­ary ob­ject­ives;
d.
against med­ic­al units, ma­ter­i­al or vehicles us­ing a dis­tinct­ive em­blem un­der in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law or whose pro­tec­ted char­ac­ter is re­cog­nis­able even without a dis­tinct­ive em­blem, hos­pit­als and places where the sick and wounded are col­lec­ted;
e.
against cul­tur­al prop­erty or per­sons en­trus­ted with its pro­tec­tion or vehicles for its trans­port, against build­ings ded­ic­ated to re­li­gion, edu­ca­tion, art, sci­ence or char­it­able pur­poses, provided they are pro­tec­ted by in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law.

2 In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases of at­tacks on per­sons, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed.

3 In less ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year may be im­posed.

Art. 264e

b. Un­jus­ti­fied med­ic­al treat­ment, vi­ol­a­tion of sexu­al rights and hu­man dig­nity

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years for any per­son who, in con­nec­tion with an armed con­flict:

a.
causes severe pain or suf­fer­ing or ser­i­ous in­jury or danger, wheth­er phys­ic­al or men­tal, to a per­son pro­tec­ted by in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law by sub­ject­ing that per­son to a med­ic­al pro­ced­ure that is not jus­ti­fied by the state of his or her health and which does com­ply with gen­er­ally re­cog­nised med­ic­al prin­ciples;
b.357
com­mits rape in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 190 para­graph 2 or 3 or an in­de­cent as­sault in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 189 para­graph 2 or 3 of com­par­able sever­ity on a per­son pro­tec­ted by in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law, ab­uses that per­son by com­mit­ting a sexu­al act of com­par­able sever­ity, or forces that per­son in­to pros­ti­tu­tion or to be ster­il­ised or, after she has been for­cibly made preg­nant, con­fines her un­law­fully with the in­tent of af­fect­ing the eth­nic com­pos­i­tion of a pop­u­la­tion;
c.
sub­jects a per­son pro­tec­ted by in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law to es­pe­cially hu­mi­li­at­ing and de­grad­ing treat­ment.

2 In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases, and in par­tic­u­lar where the of­fence af­fects a num­ber of per­sons or the of­fend­er acts in a cruel man­ner, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed.

3 In less ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year may be im­posed.

357 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 16 June 2023 on a Re­vi­sion of the Law on Sex Of­fences, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2024 (AS 2024 27; BBl 2018 2827; 2022 687, 1011).

Art. 264f

c. Re­cruit­ment and use of child sol­diers

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years for any per­son who en­lists a child un­der the age of fif­teen in­to armed forces or groups or re­cruit­ing them for this pur­pose or us­ing them to par­ti­cip­ate in armed con­flicts.

2 In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases, and in par­tic­u­lar where the of­fence af­fects a num­ber of chil­dren or the of­fend­er acts in a cruel man­ner, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed

3 In less ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year may be im­posed.

Art. 264g

d. Pro­hib­ited meth­ods of war­fare

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years for any per­son who, in con­nec­tion with an armed con­flict:

a.
launches an at­tack al­though he knows or must as­sume that such an at­tack will cause loss of life or in­jury to ci­vil­ians or dam­age to ci­vil­ian ob­jects or wide­spread, long-term and severe dam­age to the nat­ur­al en­vir­on­ment which would be clearly ex­cess­ive in re­la­tion to the con­crete and dir­ect over­all mil­it­ary ad­vant­age an­ti­cip­ated;
b.
uses a per­son pro­tec­ted by in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law as a hu­man shield in or­der to in­flu­ence mil­it­ary op­er­a­tions;
c.
as a meth­od of war­fare, pil­lages or oth­er­wise un­law­fully ap­pro­pri­ates prop­erty or des­troys or seizes en­emy prop­erty in a way not im­per­at­ively de­man­ded by the ne­ces­sit­ies of war, de­prives ci­vil­ians of ob­jects in­dis­pens­able to their sur­viv­al or im­pedes re­lief sup­plies;
d.
kills or wounds an en­emy com­batant treach­er­ously or after he or she has laid down his or her arms or no longer has a means of de­fence;
e.
mu­til­ates a dead en­emy com­batant;
f.
as the com­mand­er or­ders that no quarter be giv­en or threatens the en­emy that no quarter will be giv­en;
g.
makes im­prop­er use of a flag of truce, of the flag or of the mil­it­ary in­signia and uni­form of the en­emy or of the United Na­tions, or the dis­tinct­ive em­blems un­der in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law;
h.
as a mem­ber of an oc­cupy­ing power, trans­fers parts of its own ci­vil­ian pop­u­la­tion in­to the ter­rit­ory it is oc­cupy­ing or de­ports all or parts of the pop­u­la­tion of the oc­cu­pied ter­rit­ory with­in or out­side that ter­rit­ory.

2 In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases, and in par­tic­u­lar where the of­fence af­fects a num­ber of per­sons or the of­fend­er acts in a cruel man­ner, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed.

3 In less ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year may be im­posed.

Art. 264h

e. Use of pro­hib­ited weapons

 

1 The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years for any per­son who, in con­nec­tion with an armed con­flict:

a.
em­ploys pois­on or poisoned weapons;
b.
em­ploys bio­lo­gic­al or chem­ic­al weapons, in­clud­ing pois­on­ous or as­phyxi­at­ing gases, sub­stances and li­quids;
c.
em­ploys bul­lets which ex­pand or flat­ten eas­ily or ex­plode in the hu­man body;
d.
em­ploys weapons primar­ily de­signed to cause in­jury through splin­ters that can­not be de­tec­ted by x-ray equip­ment;
e.
em­ploys laser weapons primar­ily de­signed to cause per­man­ent blind­ness.

2 In es­pe­cially ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of life may be im­posed

Art. 264i

4. Vi­ol­a­tion of a cease­fire or peace agree­ment. Of­fences against a peace ne­go­ti­at­or. Delayed re­pat­ri­ation of pris­on­ers of war

 

The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty for any per­son who:

a.
con­tin­ues mil­it­ary op­er­a­tions after re­ceiv­ing of­fi­cial no­ti­fic­a­tion of an agree­ment on a cease­fire or a peace agree­ment, or vi­ol­ates the con­di­tions of the cease­fire in some oth­er way;
b.
ab­uses, in­sults or without reas­on ob­structs an op­pos­ing peace ne­go­ti­at­or or any of his party;
c.
without jus­ti­fic­a­tion delays the re­pat­ri­ation of pris­on­ers of war after con­clu­sion of mil­it­ary op­er­a­tions.

Art. 264j

5. Oth­er vi­ol­a­tions of in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law

 

The pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty for any per­son who in con­nec­tion with an armed con­flict vi­ol­ates a pro­vi­sion of in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­it­ari­an law oth­er than those men­tioned in Art­icles 264c–264i, where such a vi­ol­a­tion is de­clared to be an of­fence un­der cus­tom­ary in­ter­na­tion­al law or an in­ter­na­tion­al treaty re­cog­nised as bind­ing by Switzer­land.

Title Twelve : Common Provisions for Title Twelve and Title Twelve quater358bister

358 Inserted by No I 1 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Amendment of Federal Legislation in Implementation of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 4963; BBl 2008 3863).

Art. 264k

Crim­in­al li­ab­il­ity of su­per­i­ors

 

1 A su­per­i­or who is aware that a sub­or­din­ate is car­ry­ing out or will carry out an act un­der the Title Twelvebis or Title Twelveter and who fails to take ap­pro­pri­ate meas­ures to pre­vent the act shall be li­able to the same pen­alty as the per­pet­rat­or of the act. If the su­per­i­or fails to pre­vent the act through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

2 A su­per­i­or who is aware that a sub­or­din­ate has car­ried out an act un­der Title Twelvebis or Title Twelveter and who fails to take ap­pro­pri­ate meas­ures to en­sure the pro­sec­u­tion of the per­pet­rat­or of the act shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 264l

Act­ing on or­ders

 

A sub­or­din­ate who, on or­ders from a su­per­i­or or on or­ders of equi­val­ent bind­ing ef­fect, car­ries out an act un­der Title Twelvebis or Title Twelveter is guilty of an of­fence if he was aware at the time that the act is an of­fence.

Art. 264m

Acts car­ried out abroad

 

1 A per­son who car­ries out an act un­der Title Twelvebis, Title Twelveter or Art­icle 264k while abroad is guilty of an of­fence if he is in Switzer­land and is not ex­tra­dited to an­oth­er State or de­livered to an in­ter­na­tion­al crim­in­al court whose jur­is­dic­tion is re­cog­nised by Switzer­land.

2 Where the vic­tim of the act car­ried out abroad is not Swiss and the per­pet­rat­or is not Swiss, the pro­sec­u­tion, with the ex­cep­tion of meas­ures to se­cure evid­ence, may be aban­doned or may be dis­pensed with provided:

a.
a for­eign au­thor­ity or an in­ter­na­tion­al crim­in­al court whose jur­is­dic­tion is re­cog­nised by Switzer­land is pro­sec­ut­ing the of­fence and the sus­pec­ted per­pet­rat­or is ex­tra­dited or de­livered to the court; or
b.
the sus­pec­ted per­pet­rat­or is no longer in Switzer­land and is not ex­pec­ted to re­turn there.

3 Art­icle 7 para­graphs 4 and 5 ap­plies un­less the ac­quit­tal, or the re­mis­sion or ap­plic­a­tion of time lim­its for the ex­e­cu­tion of the sen­tence abroad has the aim of pro­tect­ing the of­fend­er from pun­ish­ment without jus­ti­fic­a­tion.

Art. 264n

Ex­clu­sion of re­l­at­ive im­munity

 

The pro­sec­u­tion of­fences un­der Title Twelvebis, Title Twelveter and un­der Art­icle 264k does not re­quire au­thor­isa­tion in ac­cord­ance with any of the fol­low­ing pro­vi­sions:

a.
Art­icle 7 para­graph 2 let­ter b of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code359;
b.
Art­icle 14 and 15 of the Gov­ern­ment Li­ab­il­ity Act of 14 March 1958360;
c.
Art­icle 17 of the Par­lia­ment Act of 13 Decem­ber 2002361;
d.
Art­icle 61a of the Gov­ern­ment and Ad­min­is­tra­tion Or­gan­isa­tion Act of 21 March 1997362;
e.
Art­icle 11 of the Fed­er­al Su­preme Court Act of 17 June 2005363;
f.
Art­icle 12 of the Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­trat­ive Court Act of 17 June 2005364;
g.
Art­icle 16 of the Pat­ent Court Act of 20. March 2009365;
h.
Art­icle 50 of the Crim­in­al Justice Au­thor­it­ies Act of 19 March 2010366.

Title Thirteen: Felonies and Misdemeanours against the State and National Security

Art. 265

1. Felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours against the state

High treas­on

 

Any per­son who car­ries out an act with the aim, through the use of vi­ol­ence,

of chan­ging the con­sti­tu­tion of the Con­fed­er­a­tion367 or of a can­ton368,

of de­pos­ing the con­sti­tu­tion­ally ap­poin­ted state au­thor­it­ies or ren­der­ing them un­able to ex­er­cise their powers, or

of sever­ing an area of Swiss ter­rit­ory from the Con­fed­er­a­tion or a part of can­ton­al ter­rit­ory from a can­ton,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year369.

367SR 101

368SR 131.211/.235

369Term in ac­cord­ance with No II 1 para. 11 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979). This amend­ment has been taken in­to ac­count throughout the Second Book.

Art. 266

At­tacks on the in­de­pend­ence of the Con­fed­er­a­tion

 

1. Any per­son who a car­ries out an act with the aim of

vi­ol­at­ing or en­dan­ger­ing the in­de­pend­ence of the Con­fed­er­a­tion or

en­dan­ger­ing the in­de­pend­ence of the Con­fed­er­a­tion by bring­ing about the in­ter­fer­ence of a for­eign power in fed­er­al af­fairs,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2.370 Any per­son who enters in­to a re­la­tion­ship with the gov­ern­ment of a for­eign state or its agents with the aim of bring­ing about a war against the Con­fed­er­a­tion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than three years.

In ser­i­ous cases a life sen­tence may be im­posed.

370 Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

Art. 266bis371

For­eign op­er­a­tions and activ­it­ies dir­ec­ted against the se­cur­ity of Switzer­land

 

1 Any per­son who with a view to bring­ing about or sup­port­ing for­eign op­er­a­tions or activ­it­ies dir­ec­ted against the se­cur­ity of Switzer­land, con­tacts a for­eign state, for­eign parties, or oth­er for­eign or­gan­isa­tions or their agents, or is­sues or dis­sem­in­ates false or dis­tor­ted in­form­a­tion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 In ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year shall be im­posed.372


371 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 I 1249).

372 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 267

Dip­lo­mat­ic treas­on

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully makes known or makes ac­cess­ible to a for­eign state or its agents or to the gen­er­al pub­lic a secret, the pre­ser­va­tion of which is ne­ces­sary in the in­terests of the Con­fed­er­a­tion,373

any per­son who fals­i­fies, des­troys, dis­poses of or steals doc­u­ments or evid­ence re­lat­ing to leg­al re­la­tions between the Con­fed­er­a­tion or a can­ton and a for­eign state and thus en­dangers the in­terests of the Con­fed­er­a­tion or the can­ton, or

any per­son who, as the au­thor­ised rep­res­ent­at­ive of the Con­fed­er­a­tion, con­ducts ne­go­ti­ations with a for­eign gov­ern­ment which are in­ten­ded to be det­ri­ment­al to the Con­fed­er­a­tion,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

2. Any per­son who wil­fully makes known or makes ac­cess­ible to the gen­er­al pub­lic a secret, the pre­ser­va­tion of which is ne­ces­sary in the in­terests of the Con­fed­er­a­tion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.374

3. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.375

373 Amended by No I of the FA of 10 Oct. 1997, in force since 1 April 1998 (AS 1998 852856; BBl 1996 IV 525).

374 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 10 Oct. 1997, in force since 1 April 1998 (AS 1998 852856; BBl 1996 IV 525).

375 Ori­gin­ally No 2.

Art. 268

Mov­ing of na­tion­al bound­ary mark­ers

 

Any per­son who re­moves, moves, renders un­re­cog­nis­able, falsely po­s­i­tions or fals­i­fies a bound­ary stone or oth­er bound­ary mark­er which serves to in­dic­ate a na­tion­al, can­ton­al or com­mun­al bound­ary shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 269

Vi­ol­a­tion of Swiss ter­rit­ori­al sov­er­eignty

 

Any per­son for­cibly enters Swiss ter­rit­ory in vi­ol­a­tion of in­ter­na­tion­al law shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 270

At­tacks on Swiss na­tion­al em­blems

 

Any per­son who ma­li­ciously re­moves, dam­ages or acts in an in­sult­ing man­ner to­wards a Swiss na­tion­al em­blem which is dis­played by a pub­lic au­thor­ity, and in par­tic­u­lar the coat of arms or the flag of the Con­fed­er­a­tion or a can­ton shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 271376

Un­law­ful activ­it­ies on be­half of a for­eign state

 

1. Any per­son who car­ries out activ­it­ies on be­half of a for­eign state on Swiss ter­rit­ory without law­ful au­thor­ity, where such activ­it­ies are the re­spons­ib­il­ity of a pub­lic au­thor­ity or pub­lic of­fi­cial,

any per­son who car­ries out such activ­it­ies for a for­eign party or or­gan­isa­tion,

any per­son who fa­cil­it­ates such activ­it­ies,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty, or in ser­i­ous cases to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.377

2. Any per­son who ab­ducts an­oth­er by us­ing vi­ol­ence, false pre­tences or threats and takes him abroad in or­der to hand him over to a for­eign au­thor­ity, party or oth­er or­gan­isa­tion or to ex­pose him to a danger to life or limb shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.

3. Any per­son who makes pre­par­a­tions for such an ab­duc­tion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

376Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

377 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 272378

2. Es­pi­on­age

Polit­ic­al es­pi­on­age

 

1. Any per­son who provides polit­ic­al in­tel­li­gence-gath­er­ing ser­vices or or­gan­ises such ser­vices in the in­terest of a for­eign state, a for­eign party or any oth­er for­eign or­gan­isa­tion, to the det­ri­ment of Switzer­land or its cit­izens, in­hab­it­ants or or­gan­isa­tions,

any per­son who re­cruits oth­ers for or fa­cil­it­ates such ser­vices,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. In ser­i­ous cases, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year. A ser­i­ous case is con­sti­tuted, in par­tic­u­lar, where the of­fend­er in­cites activ­it­ies or makes false re­ports such that the in­tern­al or ex­tern­al se­cur­ity of the Con­fed­er­a­tion is threatened.

378Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

Art. 273

In­dus­tri­al es­pi­on­age

 

Any per­son who seeks to ob­tain a man­u­fac­tur­ing or trade secret in or­der to make it avail­able to an ex­tern­al of­fi­cial agency, a for­eign or­gan­isa­tion, a private en­ter­prise, or the agents of any of these, or,

any per­son who makes a man­u­fac­tur­ing or trade secret avail­able to an for­eign of­fi­cial agency, a for­eign or­gan­isa­tion, a private en­ter­prise, or the agents of any of these,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty, or in ser­i­ous cases to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year.379

379 Third para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 274380

Mil­it­ary es­pi­on­age

 

1. Any per­son who con­ducts or or­gan­ises mil­it­ary in­tel­li­gence-gath­er­ing ser­vices on be­half of a for­eign state and to the det­ri­ment of Switzer­land,

any per­son who re­cruits oth­ers to con­duct or fa­cil­it­ates such ser­vices,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

In ser­i­ous cases, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of not less than one year shall be im­posed.381

2. Any cor­res­pond­ence and ma­ter­i­als shall be con­fis­cated.

380Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

381 Fourth para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 275382

3. En­dan­ger­ing the con­sti­tu­tion­al or­der

At­tacks on the con­sti­tu­tion­al or­der

 

Any per­son who car­ries out an act which is in­ten­ded to dis­rupt or al­ter the con­sti­tu­tion­al or­der of the Con­fed­er­a­tion383 or the can­tons384 in an un­law­ful man­ner shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

382Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

383SR 101

384SR 131.211/.235

Art. 275bis and 275ter385

 

385In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 5 Oct 1950 (AS 1951 1; BBl 1949 I 1249). Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 276

4. Dis­rup­tion of mil­it­ary se­cur­ity

In­cite­ment and in­duce­ment to vi­ol­ate mil­it­ary du­ties

 

1. Any per­son who pub­licly in­cites oth­ers to dis­obey mil­it­ary or­ders, to vi­ol­ate mil­it­ary du­ties, to re­fuse to per­form mil­it­ary ser­vice or to desert, and

any per­son who in­duces a per­son ob­liged to per­form mil­it­ary ser­vice to carry out such an act,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Where the in­cite­ment or in­duce­ment relates to mutiny or the pre­par­a­tion for mutiny, a cus­todi­al sen­tence or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

Art. 277386

For­gery of mil­it­ary or­ders or in­struc­tions

 

1. Any per­son who wil­fully forges, fals­i­fies, sup­presses or re­moves a call-up or­der, mo­bil­isa­tion or­der or march­ing or­der, or in­struc­tions in­ten­ded for those ob­liged to per­form mil­it­ary ser­vice, and

any per­son who makes use of such a forged or fals­i­fied or­der or in­struc­tion,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.

386 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 278

Dis­rup­tion of mil­it­ary ser­vice

 

Any per­son who pre­vents a mem­ber of the armed forces from car­ry­ing out his mil­it­ary ser­vice or ob­structs him in the course of his ser­vice shall be li­able to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.387

387 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ment to the Law on Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Title Fourteen: Misdemeanours against the Will of the People

Art. 279

Dis­rup­tion and ob­struc­tion of elec­tions and votes

 

Any per­son who by the use of vi­ol­ence or the threat of ser­i­ously det­ri­ment­al con­sequences ob­structs or dis­rupts a meet­ing, elec­tion or vote or­gan­ised un­der the terms of the con­sti­tu­tion or the law, and any per­son who by the use of vi­ol­ence or the threat of ser­i­ously det­ri­ment­al con­sequences ob­structs or dis­rupts the col­lec­tion of sig­na­tures for or the hand­ing-over of a pe­ti­tion re­quest­ing a ref­er­en­dum or ini­ti­at­ive,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 280

At­tacks on the right to vote

 

Any per­son who by the use of vi­ol­ence or the threat of ser­i­ously det­ri­ment­al con­sequences pre­vents a voter from ex­er­cising his right to vote or to sign a pe­ti­tion re­quest­ing a ref­er­en­dum or ini­ti­at­ive, and

any per­son who by the use of vi­ol­ence or the threat of ser­i­ously det­ri­ment­al con­sequences co­erces a voter in­to ex­er­cising his vot­ing rights or in­to vot­ing in a par­tic­u­lar way,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 281

Cor­rupt elect­or­al prac­tices

 

Any per­son who of­fers, prom­ises, or gives a voter or ar­ranges for a voter to be giv­en a gift or oth­er ad­vant­age in re­turn for vot­ing in a par­tic­u­lar way, or in re­turn for sign­ing or re­fus­ing to sign a re­quest for a ref­er­en­dum or an ini­ti­at­ive,

any per­son who of­fers, prom­ises, or gives a voter or ar­ranges for a voter to be giv­en a gift or oth­er ad­vant­age in re­turn for not par­ti­cip­at­ing in an elec­tion or vote, and

any per­son who as a voter se­cures the prom­ise of or ar­ranges for him­self to be giv­en such an ad­vant­age,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 282

Elect­or­al fraud

 

1. Any per­son who forges, fals­i­fies, re­moves or des­troys an elect­or­al re­gister,

any per­son who par­ti­cip­ates in an elec­tion or a vote, or signs a re­quest for a ref­er­en­dum or an ini­ti­at­ive without au­thor­ity, and

any per­son who fals­i­fies the res­ults of an elec­tion or vote or a pe­ti­tion re­quest­ing a ref­er­en­dum or ini­ti­at­ive, in par­tic­u­lar by adding, al­ter­ing, omit­ting, de­let­ing bal­lot pa­pers or sig­na­tures, count­ing them in­cor­rectly or in­cor­rectly cer­ti­fy­ing the res­ult,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fend­er acts in of­fi­cial ca­pa­city, a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to three years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units shall be im­posed.388

388 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 282bis389

Vote catch­ing

 

Any per­son who sys­tem­at­ic­ally col­lects, com­pletes or al­ters bal­lot pa­pers, or dis­trib­utes bal­lot pa­pers which have been com­pleted or altered in this way shall be li­able to a fine.

389In­ser­ted by Art. 88 No I of the FA of 17 Dec. 1976 on Polit­ic­al Rights, in force since 1 Ju­ly 1978 (AS 1978 688; BBl 1975 I 1317).

Art. 283

Breach of vot­ing secrecy

 

Any per­son who ob­tains know­ledge by un­law­ful means of how in­di­vidu­als have voted shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 284390

 

390Re­pealed by No I of the FA of 18 March 1971, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 1971 (AS 1971 777; BBl 1965 I 561).

Title Fifteen: Offences against Official Powers

Art. 285

Vi­ol­ence and threats against pub­lic au­thor­it­ies and pub­lic of­fi­cials

 

1. Any per­son who by the use of vi­ol­ence or threats pre­vents an au­thor­ity, one of its mem­bers or a pub­lic of­fi­cial from car­ry­ing out an of­fi­cial act, or co­erces them to carry out such an act, or at­tacks them while they are car­ry­ing out such an act shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years. In minor cases, a mon­et­ary pen­alty may be im­posed.391

Pub­lic of­fi­cials also in­clude em­ploy­ees of un­der­tak­ings in terms of the Rail­ways Act of 20 Decem­ber 1957392, the Pas­sen­ger Trans­port Act of 20 March 2009393 and the Goods Trans­port Act of 19 Decem­ber 2008394, as well as em­ploy­ees of or­gan­isa­tions op­er­at­ing with a li­cence from the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Trans­port un­der the Fed­er­al Act of 18 June 2010395 on the Se­cur­ity Units of Pub­lic Trans­port Com­pan­ies.396

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted by a mob, any per­son who par­ti­cip­ates in the mob shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years. In minor cases, a mon­et­ary pen­alty may be im­posed.

Any par­ti­cipant who uses vi­ol­ence against per­sons or prop­erty shall be li­able to cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to three years

Any par­ti­cipant who uses vi­ol­ence against prop­erty shall be li­able to cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 90 daily pen­alty units.397

391 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

392 SR 742.101

393 SR 745.1

394 [AS 2009 5597, 6019; 2012 5619No I 5; 2013 1603. AS 2016 1845An­nex No I 1]. See now: the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (SR 742.41).

395 SR 745.2

396 Second para­graph amended by Art. 11 para. 2 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Se­cur­ity Units of Pub­lic Trans­port Com­pan­ies, in force since 1 Oct. 2011 (AS 2011 3961; BBl 2010 891915).

397 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 286398

Pre­ven­tion of an of­fi­cial act

 

Any per­son who pre­vents a pub­lic au­thor­ity, one of its mem­bers or a pub­lic of­fi­cial from car­ry­ing out an act which is one of their of­fi­cial du­ties shall be li­able to a mon­et­ary pen­alty not ex­ceed­ing 30 daily pen­alty units.

Pub­lic of­fi­cials also in­clude em­ploy­ees of un­der­tak­ings in terms of the Rail­ways Act of 20 Decem­ber 1957399, the Pas­sen­ger Trans­port Act of 20 March 2009400 and the Goods Trans­port Act of 19 Decem­ber 2008401, as well as em­ploy­ees of or­gan­isa­tions op­er­at­ing with a li­cence from the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Trans­port un­der the Fed­er­al Act of 18 June 2010402 on the Se­cur­ity Units of Pub­lic Trans­port Com­pan­ies.403

398Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

399 SR 742.101

400 SR 745.1

401 [AS 2009 5597, 6019; 2012 5619No I 5; 2013 1603. AS 2016 1845An­nex No I 1]. See now: the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (SR 742.41).

402 SR 745.2

403 Amended by Art. 11 para. 2 of the FA of 18 June 2010 on the Se­cur­ity Units of Pub­lic Trans­port Com­pan­ies, in force since 1 Oct. 2011 (AS 2011 3961; BBl 2010 891915).

Art. 287

Usurp­a­tion of­fice

 

Any per­son who with un­law­ful in­ten­tion usurps the ex­er­cise of an of­fi­cial func­tion or mil­it­ary com­mand shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 288404

 

404 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 22 Dec. 1999, with ef­fect from 1 May 2000 (Re­vi­sion of the Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion; AS 2000 1121; BBl 1999 5497).

Art. 289

Re­mov­al of seized prop­erty

 

Any per­son who re­moves from of­fi­cial con­trol an item of prop­erty which has been of­fi­cially seized shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 290

Break­ing the seals

 

Any per­son who breaks open, re­moves or renders in­ef­fect­ive an of­fi­cial mark and in par­tic­u­lar an of­fi­cial seal which is used to close or identi­fy an ob­ject shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 291

Breach of an ex­pul­sion or­der or­der or a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der

 

1 Any per­son who breaches an or­der is­sued by a com­pet­ent au­thor­ity to ex­pel him from the ter­rit­ory of the Swiss Con­fed­er­a­tion or a can­ton shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The dur­a­tion the sen­tence is not taken in­to ac­count in de­term­in­ing the length of the peri­od of ex­pul­sion.

Art. 292

Con­tempt of­fi­cial or­ders

 

Any per­son who fails to com­ply with an of­fi­cial or­der that has been is­sued to him by a com­pet­ent au­thor­ity or pub­lic of­fi­cial un­der the threat of the crim­in­al pen­alty for non-com­pli­ance in terms of this Art­icle shall be li­able to a fine.

Art. 293

Pub­lic­a­tion of secret of­fi­cial pro­ceed­ings

 

1 Any per­son who pub­lishes in­form­a­tion from the files, pro­ceed­ings or of­fi­cial in­vest­ig­a­tions of a pub­lic au­thor­ity which have been de­clared secret by that au­thor­ity by law or by a law­ful or­der is­sued by the au­thor­ity shall be li­able to a fine.405

2 Com­pli­city is also a crim­in­al of­fence.

3 The act does not carry a pen­alty un­less pub­lic­a­tion is con­trary to an over­rid­ing pub­lic or private in­terest.406

405 Amended by No I of the FA of 16 June 2017 (Pub­lic­a­tion of Of­fi­cial Secret Pro­ceed­ings), in force since 1 March 2018 (AS 2018 567; BBl 2016 73297575).

406 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 10 Oct. 1997 (AS 1998 852; BBl 1996 IV 525). Amended by No I of the FA of 16 June 2017 (Pub­lic­a­tion of Of­fi­cial Secret Pro­ceed­ings), in force since 1 March 2018 (AS 2018 567; BBl 2016 73297575).

Art. 294407

 

Any per­son who car­ries on an activ­ity that he is pro­hib­ited from car­ry­ing on by a pro­hib­i­tion or­der un­der Art­icle 67 here­of, Art­icle 50 of the Mil­it­ary Crim­in­al Code of 13 June 1927408 (MCC) or Art­icle 16a JCLA409 shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 Any per­son who con­tacts or ap­proaches one or more spe­cif­ic per­sons or per­sons in a spe­cif­ic group or is present in a spe­cif­ic loc­a­tion when he is pro­hib­ited from do­ing so by a con­tact pro­hib­i­tion and ex­clu­sion or­der un­der Art­icle 67b here­of, Art­icle 50b MCC or Art­icle 16a JCLA shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or mon­et­ary pen­alty.

407 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

408 SR 321.0

409 SR 311.1

Art. 295410

Fail­ure to com­ply with pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance or in­struc­tions

 

Any per­son who fails to com­ply with pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance ordered by the court or the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity or with in­struc­tions is­sued by the court or the ex­ec­ut­ive au­thor­ity shall be li­able to a fine.

410 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders, in force since 1 Jan. 2015 (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819).

Title Sixteen: Offences detrimental to Foreign Relations

Art. 296411

In­sult­ing a for­eign state

 

Any per­son who pub­licly in­sults a for­eign state in the per­son of its head of state, the mem­bers of its gov­ern­ment, its dip­lo­mat­ic rep­res­ent­at­ives, its of­fi­cial del­eg­ates to a dip­lo­mat­ic con­fer­ence tak­ing place in Switzer­land, or one of its of­fi­cial rep­res­ent­at­ives to an in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion or de­part­ment there­of based or sit­ting in Switzer­land shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

411Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

Art. 297412

In­sult­ing an in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion

 

Any per­son who pub­licly in­sults an in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion or de­part­ment there­of based or sit­ting in Switzer­land in the per­son of one of its of­fi­cial rep­res­ent­at­ives shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

412Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 1949 11249).

Art. 298

At­tacks on the na­tion­al em­blems of a for­eign state

 

Any per­son who wil­fully re­moves, dam­ages or con­ducts him­self in an in­sult­ing man­ner to­wards a na­tion­al em­blem of a for­eign state, and in par­tic­u­lar its coat of arms or flag which is pub­licly dis­played by one of its of­fi­cial rep­res­ent­at­ives shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 299

Vi­ol­a­tion of for­eign ter­rit­ori­al sov­er­eignty

 

1. Any per­son who vi­ol­ates the ter­rit­ori­al sov­er­eignty of a for­eign state, in par­tic­u­lar by con­duct­ing of­fi­cial activ­it­ies without au­thor­isa­tion on for­eign ter­rit­ory,

any per­son who enters for­eign ter­rit­ory in breach of in­ter­na­tion­al law,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Any per­son who at­tempts from with­in Swiss ter­rit­ory to dis­rupt the polit­ic­al or­der of a for­eign state through the use of force shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 300

Hos­til­ity to­wards a coun­try at war or for­eign troops

 

Any per­son who from neut­ral Swiss ter­rit­ory acts in a hos­tile man­ner to­wards or sup­ports hos­tile acts against a coun­try at war,

any per­son who acts in a hos­tile man­ner to­wards for­eign troops who have been ad­mit­ted to Switzer­land,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 301

Mil­it­ary es­pi­on­age against a for­eign state

 

1. Any per­son who con­ducts or or­gan­ises the con­duct of mil­it­ary in­tel­li­gence gath­er­ing ser­vices on Swiss ter­rit­ory for a for­eign state against an­oth­er for­eign state, and

any per­son who re­cruits per­sons for or fa­cil­it­ates such ser­vices,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. Any cor­res­pond­ence and oth­er ma­ter­i­als shall be for­feited.

Art. 302413

Pro­sec­u­tion

 

1 Felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours un­der this Title are only pro­sec­uted on the au­thor­ity of the Fed­er­al Coun­cil.

2 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil shall or­der a pro­sec­u­tion only if a re­quest to do so is re­ceived from the gov­ern­ment of the for­eign state in the case of Art­icle 296 or from a gov­ern­ing of­ficer of the in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion in the case of Art­icle 297. In times of act­ive ser­vice, the Fed­er­al Coun­cil may also or­der a pro­sec­u­tion in the ab­sence of a re­quest.

3 In the case of Art­icles 296 and 297, the right to pro­sec­ute is sub­ject to a lim­it­a­tion peri­od of two years.414

413Amended by No I of the FA of 5 Oct. 1950, in force since 5 Jan. 1951 (AS 1951 116; BBl 19491 1249).

414Amended by No I of the FA of 22 March 2002 (Lim­it­a­tion of the Right to Pro­sec­ute), in force since 1 Oct. 2002 (AS 2002 29862988; BBl 2002 26731649).

Title Seventeen: Felonies and Misdemeanours against the Administration of Justice

Art. 303415

False ac­cus­a­tion

 

1. Any per­son who makes an ac­cus­a­tion to the au­thor­it­ies that a per­son whom he knows to be in­no­cent has com­mit­ted a felony or a mis­de­mean­our, with the in­ten­tion of caus­ing a crim­in­al pro­sec­u­tion to be brought against that per­son,

any per­son who oth­er­wise car­ries out ma­li­cious acts with the in­ten­tion of caus­ing a crim­in­al pro­sec­u­tion to be brought against a per­son whom he knows to be in­no­cent,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the false ac­cus­a­tion relates to a con­tra­ven­tion, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.


415 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 304

Mis­lead­ing the ju­di­cial au­thor­it­ies

 

1. Any per­son who re­ports the com­mis­sion of a crim­in­al of­fence to the ju­di­cial au­thor­it­ies which he knows has not been com­mit­ted,

any per­son who falsely re­ports to the ju­di­cial au­thor­it­ies that he has him­self com­mit­ted an of­fence,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. …416

416 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 305

As­sist­ing of­fend­ers

 

1 Any per­son who as­sists an­oth­er to evade pro­sec­u­tion, the ex­e­cu­tion of a sen­tence, or the ex­e­cu­tion of any of the meas­ures provided for in Art­icles 59–61, 63 and 64417 shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

1bis Any per­son who as­sists a per­son who is be­ing pro­sec­uted or has been con­victed out­side Switzer­land in re­spect of a felony in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 101 to evade pro­sec­u­tion or the ex­e­cu­tion of a cus­todi­al sen­tence or a meas­ure with­in the mean­ing of Art­icles 59–61, 63 or 64 in that place shall be li­able to the same pen­al­ties as in para­graph 1.418

2 If the per­son as­sists a re­l­at­ive or an­oth­er per­son to whom he is so closely re­lated that his con­duct is ex­cus­able, he shall not be li­able to any pen­alty.419

417 Part of sen­tence amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

418In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 9 Oct. 1981, in force since 1 Oct. 1982 (AS 1982 15301534; BBl 1980 I 1241).

419 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 305bis420

Money laun­der­ing

 

1. Any per­son who car­ries out an act that is aimed at frus­trat­ing the iden­ti­fic­a­tion of the ori­gin, the tra­cing or the for­feit­ure of as­sets which he knows or must as­sume ori­gin­ate from a felony or ag­grav­ated tax mis­de­mean­our shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.421

1bis. An ag­grav­ated tax mis­de­mean­our is any of the of­fences set out in Art­icle 186 of the Fed­er­al Act of 14 Decem­ber 1990422 on Dir­ect Fed­er­al Tax­a­tion and Art­icle 59 para­graph 1 clause one of the Fed­er­al Act of 14 Decem­ber 1990423 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Dir­ect Fed­er­al Tax­a­tion at Can­ton­al and Com­mun­al Levels, if the tax evaded in any tax peri­od ex­ceeds 300 000 francs.424

2. In ser­i­ous cases, the pen­alty is a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or a mon­et­ary pen­alty.425

A ser­i­ous case is con­sti­tuted, in par­tic­u­lar, where the of­fend­er:

a.426
acts as a mem­ber of a crim­in­al or ter­ror­ist or­gan­isa­tion;
b.
acts as a mem­ber of a group that has been formed for the pur­pose of the con­tin­ued con­duct of money laun­der­ing activ­it­ies; or
c.
achieves a large turnover or sub­stan­tial profit through com­mer­cial money laun­der­ing.

3. The of­fend­er is also li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­al­ties where the main of­fence was com­mit­ted abroad, provided such an of­fence is also li­able to pro­sec­u­tion at the place of com­mis­sion.427

420In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 23 March 1990, in force since 1 Aug. 1990 (AS 1990 10771078; BBl 1989 II 1061).

421 Amended by No I 4 of the FA of 12 Dec. 2014 on the Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the 2012 Re­vi­sion of the Re­com­mend­a­tions of the Fin­an­cial Ac­tion Task Force, in force since 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 20151389; BBl 2014605).

422 SR 642.11

423 SR 642.14

424 In­ser­ted by No I 4 of the FA of 12 Dec. 2014 on the Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the 2012 Re­vi­sion of the Re­com­mend­a­tions of the Fin­an­cial Ac­tion Task Force, in force since 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 20151389; BBl 2014605). See also the trans­ition­al pro­vi­sion to this amend­ment at the end of the text.

425 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

426 Amended by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

427Cor­rec­ted by the Draft­ing Com­mit­tee of the Fed­er­al As­sembly (Art. 33 Par­lPA; AS19741051).

Art. 305ter429

In­suf­fi­cient di­li­gence in fin­an­cial trans­ac­tions and right to re­port

 

1 Any per­son who as part of his pro­fes­sion ac­cepts, holds on de­pos­it, or as­sists in in­vest­ing or trans­fer­ring out­side as­sets and fails to as­cer­tain the iden­tity of the be­ne­fi­cial own­er of the as­sets with the care that is re­quired in the cir­cum­stances shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing one year or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.430

2 The per­sons in­cluded in para­graph 1 above are en­titled to re­port to the Money Laun­der­ing Re­port­ing Of­fice in the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice any ob­ser­va­tions that in­dic­ate that as­sets ori­gin­ate from a felony or an ag­grav­ated tax mis­de­mean­our in terms of Art­icle 305bis num­ber 1bis.431

429In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 23 March 1990, in force since 1 Aug. 1990 (AS 1990 10771078; BBl 1989 II 1061).

430 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

431In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 18 March 1994 (AS 1994 1614; BBl 1993 III 277). Amended by No I 4 of the FA of 12 Dec. 2014 on the Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the 2012 Re­vi­sion of the Re­com­mend­a­tions of the Fin­an­cial Ac­tion Task Force, in force since 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 20151389; BBl 2014605).

Art. 306

Per­jury by a party to civil pro­ceed­ings

 

1 Any per­son who is a party to civil pro­ceed­ings and, fol­low­ing an ex­press cau­tion by the judge that he must tell the truth and no­ti­fic­a­tion of the pen­al­ties for fail­ure to do so, gives false evid­ence in re­la­tion to the case shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2432

3 If the false state­ment relates to mat­ters that are ir­rel­ev­ant to the ju­di­cial de­cision, the pen­alty is a mon­et­ary pen­alty.433

432 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

433 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 307

Per­jury. Per­jury by an ex­pert wit­ness. False trans­la­tion

 

1 Any per­son who ap­pears in ju­di­cial pro­ceed­ings as a wit­ness, ex­pert wit­ness, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er and gives false evid­ence or provides a false re­port, a false ex­pert opin­ion or a false trans­la­tion in re­la­tion to the case shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2434

3 If the false state­ment relates to mat­ters that are ir­rel­ev­ant to the court’s de­cision, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.435

434 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

435 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 308436

Mit­ig­a­tion of the sen­tence and ex­emp­ted acts

 

1 If the of­fend­er makes his false ac­cus­a­tion (Art. 303), false re­port of an of­fence (Art. 304) or a false state­ment (Art. 306 and 307) of his own ac­cord and be­fore it has caused any leg­al det­ri­ment to oth­ers, the court may re­duce the sen­tence (Art. 48a) or waive a pen­alty.

2 The of­fend­er shall not be li­able to a pen­alty if he has made a false state­ment (Art. 306 and 307) be­cause:

a.
by testi­fy­ing truth­fully, he would risk pro­sec­u­tion; or
b.
by testi­fy­ing truth­fully, a re­l­at­ive or an­oth­er per­son to whom he is so closely re­lated that his con­duct is ex­cus­able would risk pro­sec­u­tion.

436 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 309437

Ad­min­is­trat­ive cases and pro­ceed­ings be­fore in­ter­na­tion­al courts

 

Art­icles 306–308 also ap­ply to:

a.
the ad­min­is­trat­ive court pro­ceed­ings, ar­bit­ra­tion pro­ceed­ings and pro­ceed­ings be­fore pub­lic au­thor­it­ies and pub­lic of­fi­cials who are en­titled to ex­am­ine wit­nesses;
b.
pro­ceed­ings be­fore in­ter­na­tion­al courts where Switzer­land re­cog­nises their man­dat­ory jur­is­dic­tion.

437 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 22 June 2001 (Of­fences against the Ad­min­is­tra­tion of Justice be­fore In­ter­na­tion­al Courts), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2002 (AS2002 14911492; BBl 2001 391).

Art. 310

As­sist­ing pris­on­ers to es­cape

 

1. Any per­son who by us­ing force, threats or false pre­tences, frees or as­sists in the es­cape of a per­son un­der ar­rest, a con­victed pris­on­er or a per­son com­mit­ted to an in­sti­tu­tion by of­fi­cial or­der shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the act is com­mit­ted by a mob, any per­son who par­ti­cip­ates in the mob shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Any par­ti­cipants who com­mit acts of vi­ol­ence against per­sons or prop­erty shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from three months to three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 90 daily pen­alty units.438

438 Second para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 311

Pris­on mutiny

 

1. Con­victed pris­on­ers or oth­er per­sons who have been com­mit­ted to an in­sti­tu­tion by of­fi­cial or­der who form a ri­ot­ous as­sembly with the com­mon in­tent

to at­tack the of­ficers of the in­sti­tu­tion or oth­er per­sons en­trus­ted with their su­per­vi­sion,

to co­erce these per­sons by force or the threat of force to carry out acts or ab­stain from car­ry­ing out acts, or

to break out of the in­sti­tu­tion by us­ing force,

are li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from one month to three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 30 daily pen­alty units.439

2. Any par­ti­cipant who com­mits acts of vi­ol­ence against per­sons or prop­erty shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence of from three months to five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of not less than 90 daily pen­alty units.440

439 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

440 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Title Eighteen: Offences against Official or Professional Duty

Art. 312

Ab­use of pub­lic of­fice

 

Any mem­ber of an au­thor­ity or a pub­lic of­fi­cial who ab­uses his of­fi­cial powers in or­der to se­cure an un­law­ful ad­vant­age for him­self or an­oth­er or to cause pre­ju­dice to an­oth­er shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 313441

Over­char­ging of taxes

 

Any pub­lic of­fi­cial who with a view to his own or an­oth­er's gain levies taxes, fees or oth­er charges which are not due or which ex­ceed the stat­utory rates shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

441 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 314442

Mis­con­duct in pub­lic of­fice

 

Any mem­ber of an au­thor­ity or pub­lic of­fi­cial who, in the course of a leg­al trans­ac­tion and with a view to ob­tain­ing an un­law­ful ad­vant­age for him­self or an­oth­er, dam­ages the pub­lic in­terests that he has a duty to safe­guard shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.


442 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 315316443

 

443 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 22 Dec. 1999, with ef­fect from 1 May 2000 (Re­vi­sion of the Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion; AS 2000 1121; BBl 1999 5497).

Art. 317444

For­gery of a doc­u­ment by a pub­lic of­fi­cial

 

1. Any pub­lic of­fi­cial or per­son act­ing in an of­fi­cial ca­pa­city who wil­fully forges or fals­i­fies a doc­u­ment or uses the genu­ine sig­na­ture or hand­writ­ing of an­oth­er to pro­duce a false doc­u­ment,

any pub­lic of­fi­cial or per­son act­ing in an of­fi­cial ca­pa­city who wil­fully falsely cer­ti­fies a fact of leg­al sig­ni­fic­ance, and in par­tic­u­lar falsely cer­ti­fies the au­then­ti­city of a sig­na­ture or hand­writ­ing or the ac­cur­acy of a copy,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, a mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.445

444Amended by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

445 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 317bis446

Ex­emp­ted acts

 

1 Any per­son who, as part of a cov­ert in­vest­ig­a­tion, pro­duces, amends or uses doc­u­ments with the ap­prov­al of a court in or­der to con­struct or main­tain his cov­er story or pro­duces, amends or uses doc­u­ments with the au­thor­isa­tion of the Fed­er­al In­tel­li­gence Ser­vice (FIS) un­der Art­icle 17 In­telSA447 or the au­thor­isa­tion of the Head of the Fed­er­al De­part­ment of De­fence, Civil Pro­tec­tion and Sport (DDPS) in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 18 In­telSA in or­der to cre­ate or main­tain his cov­er story or as­sumed iden­tity does not com­mit an of­fence un­der Art­icles 251, 252, 255 and 317.448

2 Any per­son who, with au­thor­isa­tion for a cov­ert in­vest­ig­a­tion or as in­struc­ted by the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity un­der Art­icle 17 or 18 In­telSA, pro­duces or amends of­fi­cial doc­u­ments for the pur­poses of cov­er stor­ies or as­sumed iden­tit­ies does not com­mit an of­fence un­der Art­icles 251, 252, 255 and 317.449

3 Any per­son who pro­duces, amends or uses of­fi­cial doc­u­ments un­der the Fed­er­al Act of 23 Decem­ber 2011450 on Ex­tra-Pro­ced­ur­al Wit­ness Pro­tec­tion does not com­mit an of­fence un­der Art­icles 251, 252, 255 and 317.451

446In­ser­ted by Art. 24 No 1 of the FA of 20 June 2003 on Cov­ert In­vest­ig­a­tions, in force since 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 1409; BBl 1998 4241). Amended by An­nex No 3 of the FA of 23 Dec. 2011, in force since 16 Ju­ly 2012 (AS 2012 3745; BBl 20075037, 2010 7841).

447 SR 121

448 Amended by An­nex No II 2 of the FedD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Coun­cil of Europe Con­ven­tion on the Pre­ven­tion of Ter­ror­ism and its Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol and the Strength­en­ing of Crim­in­al Justice In­stru­ments for com­bat­ing Ter­ror­ism and Or­gan­ised Crime, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2021 (AS 2021 360; BBl 2018 6427).

449 Amended by An­nex No II 5 of the In­tel­li­gence Ser­vice Act of 25 Sept. 2015, in force since 1 Sept. 2017 (AS 2017 4095; BBl 2014 2105).

450 SR 312.2

451 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 3 of the FA of 23 Dec. 2011 on Ex­tra-Pro­ced­ur­al Wit­ness Pro­tec­tion, in force since 1 Jan. 2013 (AS 2012 6715; BBl 2011 1).

Art. 318

Is­su­ing a false med­ic­al cer­ti­fic­ate

 

1. Any doc­tor, dent­ist, veter­in­ary sur­geon or mid­wife who wil­fully is­sues a cer­ti­fic­ate, the con­tent of which is un­true, for the pur­pose of be­ing pro­duced to the au­thor­it­ies or to ob­tain an un­law­ful ad­vant­age, or which may pre­ju­dice the sub­stan­tial and law­ful in­terests of third parties shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

If the of­fend­er has re­ques­ted, ac­cep­ted or se­cured the prom­ise of re­com­pense, a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to mon­et­ary pen­alty shall be im­posed.452

2. …453

452 Second para­graph amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

453 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 319

As­sist­ance by a pub­lic of­fi­cial in the es­cape of pris­on­ers

 

Any pub­lic of­fi­cial who as­sists or al­lows a per­son un­der ar­rest, a con­victed pris­on­er or a per­son com­mit­ted to an in­sti­tu­tion by of­fi­cial or­der to es­cape shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 320454

Breach of of­fi­cial secrecy

 

1. Any per­son who dis­closes secret in­form­a­tion that has been con­fided to him in his ca­pa­city as a mem­ber of an au­thor­ity or as a pub­lic of­fi­cial or which has come to his know­ledge in the ex­e­cu­tion of his of­fi­cial du­ties or as an aux­il­i­ary to a pub­lic of­fi­cial or an au­thor­ity shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

A breach of of­fi­cial secrecy re­mains an of­fence fol­low­ing ter­min­a­tion of em­ploy­ment as a mem­ber of an au­thor­ity or as a pub­lic of­fi­cial or of the aux­il­i­ary activ­ity.

2. The of­fend­er is not li­able to any pen­alty if he has dis­closed the secret in­form­a­tion with the writ­ten con­sent of his su­per­i­or au­thor­ity.

454 Amended by An­nex 1 No 7 of the In­form­a­tion Se­cur­ity Act of 18 Dec. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 232, 750; BBl 2017 2953).

Art. 321

Breach of pro­fes­sion­al con­fid­en­ti­al­ity

 

1. Any per­son who in his ca­pa­city as a mem­ber of the clergy, law­yer, de­fence law­yer, not­ary, pat­ent at­tor­ney, aud­it­or sub­ject to a duty of con­fid­en­ti­al­ity un­der the Code of Ob­lig­a­tions (CO)455, doc­tor, dent­ist, chiro­pract­or, phar­macist, mid­wife, psy­cho­lo­gist, nurse, physio­ther­ap­ist, oc­cu­pa­tion­al ther­ap­ist, di­eti­cian, op­to­met­rist, os­teo­path or as an as­sist­ant to any of the fore­go­ing per­sons dis­closes con­fid­en­tial in­form­a­tion that has been con­fided to him in his pro­fes­sion­al ca­pa­city or which has come to his know­ledge in the prac­tice of his pro­fes­sion shall be li­able on com­plaint to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.456

A stu­dent who dis­closes con­fid­en­tial in­form­a­tion that has come to his know­ledge in the course of his stud­ies is also li­able to the fore­go­ing pen­al­ties.

A breach of pro­fes­sion­al con­fid­en­ti­al­ity re­mains an of­fence fol­low­ing the ter­min­a­tion of pro­fes­sion­al em­ploy­ment or of the stud­ies.

2. The per­son dis­clos­ing the in­form­a­tion is not li­able to any pen­alty if he does so with the con­sent of the per­son to whom the in­form­a­tion per­tains or on the basis of writ­ten au­thor­isa­tion is­sued in re­sponse to his ap­plic­a­tion by a su­per­i­or au­thor­ity or su­per­vis­ory au­thor­ity.

3. The fed­er­al and can­ton­al pro­vi­sions on the du­ties to re­port and co­oper­ate, the duty to testi­fy and on the ob­lig­a­tion to provide in­form­a­tion to an au­thor­ity are re­served.457

455SR 220

456 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the Health­care Oc­cu­pa­tions Act of 30 Sept. 2016, in force since 1 Feb. 2020 (AS 2020 57; BBl 2015 8715).

457Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FA of 15 Dec. 2017 (Child Pro­tec­tion), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 2947; BBl 2015 3431).

Art. 321bis458

Breach of pro­fes­sion­al con­fid­en­ti­al­ity in re­search in­volving hu­man be­ings

 

1 Any per­son who dis­closes without au­thor­isa­tion a pro­fes­sion­al secret that has come to his know­ledge in the course of his re­search activ­it­ies in­volving hu­man be­ings in ac­cord­ance with the Hu­man Re­search Act of 30 Septem­ber 2011459 shall be li­able to a pen­alty in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 321.

2 Pro­fes­sion­al secrets may be dis­closed for the pur­pose of re­search in­to hu­man dis­eases and con­cern­ing the struc­ture and func­tion of the hu­man body if the re­quire­ments of Art­icle 34 of the Hu­man Re­search Act of 30 Septem­ber 2011 are met and au­thor­isa­tion for dis­clos­ure has been ob­tained from the re­spons­ible eth­ics com­mit­tee.

458In­ser­ted by An­nex No 4 of the FA of 19 June 1992 on Data Pro­tec­tion (AS 1993 1945; BBl 1988 II 413). Amended by An­nex No 2 of the Hu­man Re­search Act of 30 Sept. 2011, in force since 1 Jan. 2014 (AS 2013 3215; BBl 2009 8045).

459 SR 810.30

Art. 321ter460

Breach of postal or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions secrecy

 

1 Any per­son who in his ca­pa­city as a pub­lic of­fi­cial, em­ploy­ee or aux­il­i­ary of an or­gan­isa­tion provid­ing postal or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions ser­vices re­veals to a third party de­tails of cus­tom­ers' post, pay­ments or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions, opens sealed mail or tries to find out its con­tent, or al­lows a third party the op­por­tun­ity to carry out such an act shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 The fore­go­ing pen­al­ties also ap­ply to any per­son who by de­cep­tion causes a per­son bound by a duty of con­fid­en­ti­al­ity in terms of para­graph 1 to breach his ob­lig­a­tion of secrecy.

3 A breach of postal or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions secrecy re­mains an of­fence even after ter­min­a­tion of em­ploy­ment as a pub­lic of­fi­cial, em­ploy­ee or aux­il­i­ary of an or­gan­isa­tion provid­ing postal or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tion ser­vices.

4 A breach of postal or tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions secrecy does not carry a pen­alty if it is car­ried out in or­der to de­term­ine the iden­tity of the en­titled per­son.461

5 Art­icle 179octies is re­served, to­geth­er with the fed­er­al and can­ton­al pro­vi­sions on the ob­lig­a­tions to give evid­ence or provide in­form­a­tion to a pub­lic au­thor­ity.

460 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 2 of the Tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions Act of 30 April 1997, in force since 1 Jan. 1998 (AS 19972187; BBl 1996III 1405).

461 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 322462

Breach of the me­dia duty to provide in­form­a­tion

 

1 Me­dia or­gan­isa­tions are ob­liged, at the re­quest of any per­son, to re­veal im­me­di­ately and in writ­ing their place of busi­ness and the iden­tity of those re­spons­ible for their pub­lic­a­tions (Art. 28 para. 2 and 3).463

2 News­pa­pers, magazines or peri­od­ic­als must in­dic­ate in an im­print the place of busi­ness of their me­dia or­gan­isa­tion, sig­ni­fic­ant hold­ings in oth­er or­gan­isa­tions and the ed­it­or re­spons­ible. If the ed­it­or is re­spons­ible only for part of the news­pa­per, magazine or peri­od­ic­al, it must be in­dic­ated that he is the ed­it­or re­spons­ible for that part. De­tails of the ed­it­ors re­spons­ible must be giv­en for each part of the news­pa­per, magazine or peri­od­ic­al.

3 In the event of any vi­ol­a­tion of the pro­vi­sions of this Art­icle, the man­ager of the me­dia or­gan­isa­tion shall be li­able to a fine. If the per­son in­dic­ated as ed­it­or (Art. 28 para. 2 and 3) does not in fact hold such a po­s­i­tion, this also con­sti­tutes an of­fence.464

462 Amended by No I of the FA of 10 Oct. 1997, in force since 1 April 1998 (AS 1998 852856; BBl 1996 IV 525).

463 Part of sen­tence amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

464 Part of sen­tence amended by No II 2 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 322bis465

Fail­ure to pre­vent an il­leg­al pub­lic­a­tion

 

1 Any per­son who, as the per­son re­spons­ible in terms of Art­icle 28 para­graphs 2 and 3, wil­fully fails to pre­vent the pub­lic­a­tion of ma­ter­i­al, the pub­lic­a­tion of which con­sti­tutes an of­fence shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty. If the of­fence is com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, the pen­alty is a fine.

2 If the pen­alty for the of­fence that ap­plies to the au­thor in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 28 para­graph 1 is less severe, that pen­alty shall be im­posed.

3 If the of­fence com­mit­ted by the au­thor is only pro­sec­uted on com­plaint, the of­fence un­der para­graph 1 shall only be pro­sec­uted if a com­plaint has been made against the au­thor.

465 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 10 Oct. 1997 (AS 1998 852856; BBl 1996 IV 525). Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Title Nineteen: Bribery466

466 Inserted by No I 1 of the FA of 22 Dec. 1999 (Revision of the Criminal Law on Corruption), in force since 1 May 2000 (AS 2000 11211126; BBl 1999 5497).

Art. 322ter

1. Bribery of Swiss pub­lic of­fi­cials

Bribery

 

Any per­son who of­fers, prom­ises or gives a mem­ber of a ju­di­cial or oth­er au­thor­ity, a pub­lic of­fi­cial, an of­fi­cially-ap­poin­ted ex­pert, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er, an ar­bit­rat­or, or a mem­ber of the armed forces an un­due ad­vant­age, or of­fers, prom­ises or gives such an ad­vant­age to a third party in or­der to cause the pub­lic of­fi­cial to carry out or to fail to carry out an act in con­nec­tion with his of­fi­cial activ­ity which is con­trary to his duty or de­pend­ent on his dis­cre­tion,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 322quater

Ac­cept­ance of bribes

 

Any per­son who as a mem­ber of a ju­di­cial or oth­er au­thor­ity, as a pub­lic of­fi­cial, of­fi­cially-ap­poin­ted ex­pert, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er, or as an ar­bit­rat­or de­mands, se­cures the prom­ise of or ac­cepts an un­due ad­vant­age for that per­son or for a third party in or­der that he car­ries out or fails to carry out an act in con­nec­tion with his of­fi­cial activ­ity which is con­trary to his duty or de­pend­ent on his dis­cre­tion,

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

Art. 322quinquies467

Grant­ing an ad­vant­age

 

Any per­son who of­fers, prom­ises or gives a mem­ber of a ju­di­cial or oth­er au­thor­ity, a pub­lic of­fi­cial, an of­fi­cially-ap­poin­ted ex­pert, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er, an ar­bit­rat­or or a mem­ber of the armed forces an un­due ad­vant­age for that per­son or for a third party in or­der that the per­son car­ries out his of­fi­cial du­ties shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

467 Amended by No I of the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2016 (AS 2016 1287; BBl 2014 3591).

Art. 322sexies468

Ac­cept­ance of an ad­vant­age

 

Any per­son who as a mem­ber of a ju­di­cial or oth­er au­thor­ity, as a pub­lic of­fi­cial, of­fi­cially-ap­poin­ted ex­pert, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er, or as an ar­bit­rat­or, de­mands, se­cures the prom­ise of, or ac­cepts an un­due ad­vant­age for him­self or for a third party in or­der that he car­ries out his of­fi­cial du­ties shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

468 Amended by No I of the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2016 (AS 2016 1287; BBl 2014 3591).

Art. 322septies

2. Bribery of for­eign pub­lic of­fi­cials

 

Any per­son who of­fers, prom­ises or gives a mem­ber of a ju­di­cial or oth­er au­thor­ity, a pub­lic of­fi­cial, an of­fi­cially-ap­poin­ted ex­pert, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er, an ar­bit­rat­or, or a mem­ber of the armed forces who is act­ing for a for­eign state or in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion an un­due ad­vant­age, or gives such an ad­vant­age to a third party, in or­der that the per­son car­ries out or fails to carry out an act in con­nec­tion with his of­fi­cial activ­it­ies which is con­trary to his du­ties or de­pend­ent on his dis­cre­tion,

any per­son who as a mem­ber of a ju­di­cial or oth­er au­thor­ity, a pub­lic of­fi­cial, an of­fi­cially-ap­poin­ted ex­pert, trans­lat­or or in­ter­pret­er, an ar­bit­rat­or, or a mem­ber of the armed forces of a for­eign state or of an in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tion de­mands, se­cures the prom­ise of, or ac­cepts an un­due ad­vant­age for him­self or for a third party in or­der that he car­ries out or fails to carry out an act in con­nec­tion with his of­fi­cial activ­ity which is con­trary to his duty or de­pend­ent on his dis­cre­tion469

shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing five years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

469 Para­graph in­ser­ted by Art. 2 No 2 of the FedD of 7 Oct. 2005 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Crim­in­al Law Con­ven­tion and the Ad­di­tion­al Pro­tocol of the Coun­cil of Europe on Cor­rup­tion, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2006 (AS 2006 23712374; BBl 20046983).

Art. 322octies470

3. Bribery of private in­di­vidu­als

Bribery

 

1. Any per­son who of­fers, prom­ises or gives an em­ploy­ee, part­ner, agent or any oth­er aux­il­i­ary of a third party in the private sec­tor an un­due ad­vant­age for that per­son or a third party in or­der that the per­son car­ries out or fails to carry out an act in con­nec­tion with his of­fi­cial activ­it­ies which is con­trary to his du­ties or de­pend­ent on his dis­cre­tion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 In minor cases, the of­fence is only pro­sec­uted on com­plaint.

470 Amended by No I of the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2016 (AS 2016 1287; BBl 2014 3591).

Art. 322novies471

Ac­cept­ing bribes

 

1 Any per­son who as an em­ploy­ee, part­ner, agent or any oth­er aux­il­i­ary of a third party in the private sec­tor de­mands, se­cures the prom­ise of, or ac­cepts an un­due ad­vant­age for him­self or for a third party in or­der that the per­son car­ries out or fails to carry out an act in con­nec­tion with his of­fi­cial activ­it­ies which is con­trary to his du­ties or de­pend­ent on his dis­cre­tion shall be li­able to a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or to a mon­et­ary pen­alty.

2 In minor cases, the of­fence is only pro­sec­uted on com­plaint.

471 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2016 (AS 2016 1287; BBl 2014 3591).

Art. 322decies472

4. Gen­er­al pro­vi­sions

 

1 The fol­low­ing are not un­due ad­vant­ages:

a.
ad­vant­ages per­mit­ted un­der pub­lic em­ploy­ment law or con­trac­tu­ally ap­proved by a third party;
b.
neg­li­gible ad­vant­ages that are com­mon so­cial prac­tice.

2 Private in­di­vidu­als who ful­fil of­fi­cial du­ties are sub­ject to the same pro­vi­sions as pub­lic of­fi­cials.

472 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 25 Sept. 2015 (Crim­in­al Law on Cor­rup­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2016 (AS 2016 1287; BBl 2014 3591).

Title Twenty: Contraventions of Federal Law473

473 Originally Title 19.

Art. 323474

Fail­ure of a debt­or to com­ply with the reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing Debt En­force­ment and Bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings

 

The fol­low­ing per­sons are li­able to a fine:

1. a debt­or who is not present or has not ap­poin­ted a rep­res­ent­at­ive to be present at the seizure of or the re­cord­ing of an in­vent­ory of his as­sets of which he has been giv­en law­ful no­tice (Art. 91 para. 1 no 1, 163 para. 2 and 341 para. 1 DEBA475);476

2. a debt­or who fails to dis­close his as­sets in­clud­ing those not in his pos­ses­sion, or his claims and rights against third parties to the ex­tent re­quired to ob­tain sat­is­fac­tion by seizure or to im­ple­ment an at­tach­ment (Art. 91 para. 1 para. 2 and 275 DEBA);

3. a debt­or who fails to fully dis­close his as­sets in­clud­ing those not in his pos­ses­sion, or his claims and rights against third parties on the re­cord­ing of an in­vent­ory of as­sets (Art. 163 para. 2, 341 para. 1 DEBA);477

4. a debt­or who fails to dis­close or make avail­able all his as­sets to the Bank­ruptcy Of­fice (Art. 222 para. 1 DEBA);

5. a debt­or who does not make him­self avail­able to the bank­ruptcy ad­min­is­trat­or dur­ing the bank­ruptcy pro­ceed­ings un­less he has spe­cial per­mis­sion to be ex­cused this duty (Art. 229 para. 1 DEBA).

474Amended by An­nex No 8 of the FA of 16 Dec. 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1997 (AS 1995 12271307; BBl 1991 III 1).

475SR 281.1

476 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

477 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 324478

Fail­ure of third parties to com­ply with the reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing debt col­lec­tion, bank­ruptcy and com­pos­i­tion pro­ceed­ings

 

The fol­low­ing per­sons are li­able to a fine:

1. any adult per­son who shared a house­hold with a debt­or who is de­ceased or has ab­sconded and who fails to dis­close full de­tails of that debt­or's as­sets and to make them­selves avail­able to the Bank­ruptcy Of­fice (Art. 222 para. 2 DEBA479);

2. any debt­or of a bank­rupt who fails to re­port to the Bank­ruptcy Of­fice with­in the time lim­it (Art. 232 para. 2 para. 3 DEBA);

3. any per­son who pos­sesses items be­long­ing to a debt­or as a pledge or for any oth­er reas­on and fails to de­liv­er such items to the Bank­ruptcy Of­fice with­in the time lim­it (Art. 232 para. 2 para. 4 DEBA);

4. any per­son who pos­sesses items be­long­ing to a debt­or as a pledgee and fails to de­liv­er such items to the li­quid­at­ors after ex­piry of the time lim­it for real­isa­tion (Art. 324 para. 2 DEBA);

5. any third party who fails to com­ply with his duty to provide in­form­a­tion and to de­liv­er as­sets in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 57apara­graph 1, 91 para­graph 4, 163 para­graph 2, 222 para­graph 4 and 341 para­graph 1 of the DEBA.480

478Amended by An­nex No 8 of the FA of 16 Dec. 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1997 (AS 1995 12271307; BBl 1991 III 1).

479SR 281.1

480 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 325

Fail­ure to com­ply with ac­count­ing reg­u­la­tions

 

Any per­son who wil­fully or through neg­li­gence fails to com­ply with the stat­utory duty to keep prop­er ac­counts or to pre­serve ac­counts, busi­ness cor­res­pond­ence and busi­ness tele­grams,

any per­son who wil­fully or through neg­li­gence fails to com­ply with the stat­utory duty to pre­serve ac­counts, busi­ness cor­res­pond­ence and busi­ness tele­grams,

shall be li­able to a fine.

Art. 325bis481

In­fringe­ment of the reg­u­la­tions on re­port­ing pay­ments to state bod­ies

 

A per­son shall be li­able to a fine if he or she wil­fully com­mits any of the fol­low­ing acts:

a.
provides false in­form­a­tion in the re­port on pay­ments made to state bod­ies in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 964d CO482 or wholly or partly fails to make the re­quired re­port;
b.
fails to com­ply with the ob­lig­a­tion to keep and re­tain re­ports on pay­ments to state bod­ies in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 964h CO.

481In­ser­ted by No III 2 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (In­dir­ect Counter-Pro­pos­al to the Pop­u­lar Ini­ti­at­ive "For re­spons­ible busi­nesses – pro­tect­ing hu­man rights and the en­vir­on­ment"), in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 846; BBl 2017 399).

482 SR 220

Art. 325ter483

In­fringe­ment of oth­er re­port­ing ob­lig­a­tions

 

1 A per­son shall be li­able to a fine not ex­ceed­ing 100 000 francs if he or she wil­fully com­mits any of the fol­low­ing acts:

a.
provides false in­form­a­tion in the re­ports in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 964a, 964b and 964l CO484 or fails to make the re­quired re­ports;
b.
fails to com­ply with the stat­utory ob­lig­a­tion to re­tain and doc­u­ment the re­ports in ac­cord­ance with Art­icles 964c and 964lCO.

2 A per­son who acts through neg­li­gence shall be li­able to a fine not ex­ceed­ing 50 000 francs.

483In­ser­ted by No III 2 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (In­dir­ect Counter-Pro­pos­al to the Pop­u­lar Ini­ti­at­ive "For re­spons­ible busi­nesses – pro­tect­ing hu­man rights and the en­vir­on­ment"), in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 846; BBl 2017 399).

484 SR 220

Art. 325quater485

Fail­ure to com­ply with the reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing the pro­tec­tion of ten­ants of do­mest­ic and com­mer­cial prop­er­ties

 

Any per­son who pre­vents or at­tempts to pre­vent a ten­ant by the threat of det­ri­ment­al con­sequences, and in par­tic­u­lar the ter­min­a­tion of the lease, from con­test­ing the level of rent or oth­er claims of the land­lord,

any per­son who serves no­tice of ter­min­a­tion on the ten­ant be­cause the ten­ant as­serts or wishes to as­sert his rights un­der the CO486, or

any per­son who un­law­fully de­mands or at­tempts to de­mand pay­ment of rent or oth­er claims after the fail­ure of an at­tempt to reach agree­ment there­on or fol­low­ing a court judg­ment there­on,

shall be li­able on com­plaint by the ten­ant to a fine.

485Ori­gin­ally Art­icle 325bis. In­ser­ted by No II Art. 4 of the FA of 15 Dec. 1989 on the Amend­ment of the CO (Leases and Ten­an­cies) (AS 1990 802; BBl 1985 I 1389at the end, fi­nal pro­vi­sions on Titles VIII and VIIIbis). Amended by No III 2 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (In­dir­ect Counter-Pro­pos­al to the Pop­u­lar Ini­ti­at­ive "For re­spons­ible busi­nesses – pro­tect­ing hu­man rights and the en­vir­on­ment"), in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 846; BBl 2017 399).

486SR 220

Art. 326488

Ap­plic­a­tion to leg­al en­tit­ies, trad­ing com­pan­ies and sole pro­pri­et­or­ships

1. ...

 

488Re­pealed by No II 3 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 326bis490

2. In cases fall­ing un­der Art­icle 325quater

 

1 Where the acts con­sti­tut­ing of­fences un­der Art­icle 325quater are com­mit­ted while at­tend­ing to the af­fairs of a leg­al en­tity, gen­er­al or lim­ited part­ner­ship or sole pro­pri­et­or­ship491 or oth­er­wise in the pro­vi­sion of com­mer­cial or busi­ness ser­vices to an­oth­er, the crim­in­al pro­vi­sions ap­ply to those nat­ur­al per­sons who have com­mit­ted the acts.492

2 An em­ploy­er or prin­cip­al who is aware of the of­fence or be­comes aware of the of­fence sub­sequently and who, al­though he is in a po­s­i­tion to do so, fails to pre­vent the of­fence or to rem­edy its con­sequences shall be li­able to the same pen­al­ties as the of­fend­er.

3 If the em­ploy­er or prin­cip­al is a leg­al en­tity, gen­er­al or lim­ited part­ner­ship, sole pro­pri­et­or­ship493 or cor­por­ate body without leg­al per­son­al­ity, para­graph 2 ap­plies to the culp­able man­age­ment bod­ies, mem­bers of the man­age­ment bod­ies, ex­ec­ut­ive part­ners, de facto man­agers or li­quid­at­ors.

490In­ser­ted by No II Art. 4 of the FA of 15 Dec. 1989 on the Amend­ment of the CO (Leases and Ten­an­cies), in force since 1 Ju­ly 1990 (AS 1990 802; BBl 1985 I 1389at the end, fi­nal pro­vi­sions on Titles VIII and VIIIbis).

491 Foot­note rel­ev­ant to Ger­man text only.

492 Amended by No III 2 of the FA of 19 June 2020 (In­dir­ect Counter-Pro­pos­al to the Pop­u­lar Ini­ti­at­ive "For re­spons­ible busi­nesses – pro­tect­ing hu­man rights and the en­vir­on­ment"), in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 846; BBl 2017 399).

493 Foot­note rel­ev­ant to Ger­man text only.

Art. 326ter494

Con­tra­ven­tion of the law on busi­ness and oth­er names

 

Any per­son who uses a name for a leg­al en­tity or branch entered in the Com­mer­cial Re­gister that does not cor­res­pond to the name entered in the Com­mer­cial Re­gister and which may be mis­lead­ing,

any per­son who uses a mis­lead­ing name for a leg­al en­tity or branch not entered in the Com­mer­cial Re­gister, or

any per­son who gives the im­pres­sion that a for­eign leg­al en­tity not entered in the Com­mer­cial Re­gister has its re­gistered of­fice or a branch in Switzer­land,

shall be li­able to a fine495.

494In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994 (AS 1994 2290; BBl 1991 II 969). Amended by An­nex No 5 of the FA of 16 Dec. 2005 (Law on Lim­ited Li­ab­il­ity Com­pan­ies and Amend­ments to the Law on Com­pan­ies Lim­ited by Shares, Co­oper­at­ives, the Com­mer­cial Re­gister and Busi­ness Names), in force since 1 Jan. 2008 (AS 20074791; BBl 20023148, 20043969).

495 Cor­rec­ted by the Draft­ing Com­mit­tee of the Fed­er­al As­sembly (Art. 58 para. 2 ParlA; SR 171.10).

Art. 326quater496

Pro­vi­sion of false in­form­a­tion by an em­ploy­ee be­ne­fits in­sti­tu­tion

 

Any per­son who as a man­age­ment of­ficer of an em­ploy­ee be­ne­fits in­sti­tu­tion is un­der a stat­utory ob­lig­a­tion to provide in­form­a­tion to be­ne­fi­ciar­ies and su­per­vis­ory bod­ies but fails to provide any in­form­a­tion or provides false in­form­a­tion shall be li­able to a fine.

496In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 17 June 1994, in force since 1 Jan. 1995 (AS 1994 22902307; BBl 1991 II 969).

Art. 327497

Vi­ol­a­tion of ob­lig­a­tions to give no­tice of the be­ne­fi­cial own­er of shares or cap­it­al con­tri­bu­tions

 

Any per­son who wil­fully fails to com­ply with ob­lig­a­tions un­der Art­icle 697j para­graphs 1–4 or Art­icle 790a para­graphs 1–4 of the CO498 to give no­tice of be­ne­fi­cial own­er of shares or cap­it­al con­tri­bu­tions shall be li­able to a fine.

497Amended by No I 2 of the FA of 21 June 2019 on Im­ple­ment­ing the Re­com­mend­a­tions of the Glob­al For­um on Trans­par­ency and Trans­fer of In­form­a­tion for Tax Pur­poses, in force since 1 Nov. 2019 (AS 2019 3161; BBl 2019 279).

498 SR 220

Art. 327a499

Vi­ol­a­tion of com­pany law ob­lig­a­tions on keep­ing re­gisters

 

A per­son shall be li­able to a fine if he or she wil­fully fails to keep any of the fol­low­ing re­gisters in ac­cord­ance with the reg­u­la­tions or if he or she in­fringes as­so­ci­ated com­pany law ob­lig­a­tions:

a.
in the case of a com­pany lim­ited by shares: the share re­gister in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 686 para­graphs 1–3 and 5 CO500 or the re­gister of the be­ne­fi­cial own­ers of the shares in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 697l CO;
b.
in the case of a lim­ited li­ab­il­ity com­pany: the re­gister of con­tri­bu­tions in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 790 para­graphs 1–3 and 5 CO or the re­gister of the be­ne­fi­cial own­ers of the cap­it­al con­tri­bu­tions in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 790a para­graph 5 CO in con­junc­tion with Art­icle 697l CO;
c.
in the case of a co­oper­at­ive: the re­gister of co­oper­at­ive mem­bers in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 837 para­graphs 1 and 2 CO;
d.
in the case of an in­vest­ment com­pany with vari­able cap­it­al (Art. 36 of the Col­lect­ive In­vest­ment Schemes Act of 23 June 2006501); the share re­gister re­cord­ing the com­pany share­hold­ers or the re­gister of the be­ne­fi­cial own­ers of the shares held by the com­pany share­hold­ers in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 46 para­graph 3 of the Col­lect­ive In­vest­ment Schemes Act of 23 June 2006.

499 In­ser­ted by No I 2 of the FA of 21 June 2019 on Im­ple­ment­ing the Re­com­mend­a­tions of the Glob­al For­um on Trans­par­ency and Trans­fer of In­form­a­tion for Tax Pur­poses, in force since 1 Nov. 2019 (AS 2019 3161; BBl 2019 279).

500 SR 220

501 SR 951.31

Art. 327b502

Fail­ure to com­ply with the stat­utory ob­lig­a­tions of as­so­ci­ations

 

Any per­son who wil­fully fails to com­ply with the any of ob­lig­a­tions for as­so­ci­ations spe­cified in Art­icles 61a and 69 para­graph 2 of the Civil Code503 shall be li­able to a fine.

502 In­ser­ted by An­nex 1 No 2 of the FA of 19 March 2021, in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2021 656; 2022 551; BBl 2019 5451).

503 RS 210

Art. 328504

 

504 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 329

Breach of mil­it­ary secrecy

 

1. Any per­son who un­law­fully

enters build­ings or any oth­er places, the ac­cess to which is pro­hib­ited by the mil­it­ary au­thor­it­ies,

makes draw­ings, dia­grams or plans or takes pho­to­graphs or makes films of mil­it­ary es­tab­lish­ments or ob­jects serving the na­tion­al de­fence, or cop­ies or pub­lishes such draw­ings, dia­grams, plans, pho­to­graphs or films,

shall be li­able to a fine.

2. At­tempts and com­pli­city are also of­fences.

Art. 330505

 

505 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 331

Un­au­thor­ised wear­ing of the mil­it­ary uni­form

 

Any per­son who wears the uni­form of the Swiss armed forces without au­thor­ity shall be li­able to a fine.506

506 Pen­al­ties re­vised by No II 1 para. 16 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Art. 332507

 

507 Re­pealed by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Book Three: Introduction and Application of the Code508

508 Amended by No III of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Title One: Relationship between this Code and other Federal and Cantonal Acts

Art. 333

Ap­plic­a­tion of the Gen­er­al Pro­vi­sions to oth­er fed­er­al acts

 

1 The gen­er­al pro­vi­sions of this Code ap­ply to of­fences provided for in oth­er fed­er­al acts un­less these fed­er­al acts them­selves con­tain de­tailed pro­vi­sions on such of­fences.

2 In the oth­er fed­er­al acts, the terms be­low are re­placed as fol­lows:

a.
pen­al ser­vitude by a cus­todi­al sen­tence of more than one year;
b.
im­pris­on­ment by a cus­todi­al sen­tence not ex­ceed­ing three years or by a mon­et­ary pen­alty;
c.
im­pris­on­ment for less than six months by a mon­et­ary pen­alty, whereby a one-month cus­todi­al sen­tence cor­res­ponds to a mon­et­ary pen­alty of 30 daily pen­alty units up to a max­im­um of 3000 francs.

3 An of­fence that car­ries a max­im­um pen­alty of de­ten­tion or a fine or of a fine only is a con­tra­ven­tion. Art­icles 106 and 107 ap­ply. Art­icle 8 of the Fed­er­al Act of 22 March 1974509 on Ad­min­is­trat­ive Crim­in­al Law is re­served. An of­fence is also a con­tra­ven­tion if, in terms of an­oth­er Fed­er­al Act that came in­to force be­fore 1942, it car­ries a term of im­pris­on­ment not ex­ceed­ing three months.

4 Sen­tences of lengths dif­fer­ing from those men­tioned in para­graph 2 and Art­icle 41 as well as fines of amounts dif­fer­ing from those men­tioned in Art­icle 106 are re­served.

5 If an­oth­er fed­er­al act provides for a fine to be im­posed for a felony or mis­de­mean­our, Art­icle 34 ap­plies. Rules on de­term­in­ing a pen­alty that dif­fer from Art­icle 34 do not ap­ply. Art­icle 8 of the Fed­er­al Act of 22 March 1974 on Ad­min­is­trat­ive Crim­in­al Law re­mains re­served. If the fine is lim­ited to a sum un­der 1 080 000 francs, this lim­it no longer ap­plies. If the fine is lim­ited to a sum ex­ceed­ing 1 080 000 francs, this lim­it con­tin­ues to ap­ply. In this case, the max­im­um num­ber of daily pen­alty units equals the cur­rent max­im­um fine di­vided by 3000.

6510

6bis If an of­fence car­ries a cus­todi­al sen­tence or a mon­et­ary pen­alty with a min­im­um num­ber of daily pen­alty units, the lower lim­it also ap­plies to the min­im­um num­ber of days in cus­tody.511

7 The con­tra­ven­tions provided for in oth­er fed­er­al acts are of­fences, even if they have been com­mit­ted through neg­li­gence, un­less only in­ten­tion­al com­mis­sion is an of­fence in terms of the pro­vi­sion con­cerned.

509 SR 313.0

510 Re­pealed by No I 5 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sec­ond­ary Crim­in­al Law with the Amended Law on Sanc­tions, with ef­fect from 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 254; BBl 2018 2827).

511 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021 on the Har­mon­isa­tion of Sen­ten­cing Policy, in force since 1 Ju­ly 2023 (AS 2023 259; BBl 2018 2827).

Art. 334

Ref­er­ence to re­pealed pro­vi­sions

 

If ref­er­ence is made in fed­er­al le­gis­la­tion to pro­vi­sions be­ing amended or re­pealed by this Code, the ref­er­ences re­late to the pro­vi­sions of this Code that reg­u­late the mat­ter.

Art. 335

Can­ton­al acts

 

1 The can­tons re­tain the power to le­gis­late on con­tra­ven­tions that are not the sub­ject mat­ter of fed­er­al le­gis­la­tion.

2 The can­tons have the power to provide for sanc­tions for of­fences against can­ton­al ad­min­is­trat­ive and pro­ced­ur­al law.

Title Two: ...

Art. 336338512

 

512 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Title Three: ...

Art. 339348513

 

513 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Title Four: Administrative Assistance on Police Matters 514

514 Amended by Annex 1 No II 8 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Art. 349515

 

515 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 5 of the FA of 13 June 2008 on the Fed­er­al Po­lice In­form­a­tion Sys­tem, with ef­fect from 5 Dec. 2008 (AS 20084989; BBl 20065061).

Art. 349a516

1. Pro­tec­tion of per­son­al data.

a. Leg­al basis

 

The com­pet­ent fed­er­al au­thor­it­ies may only dis­close per­son­al data if there is a leg­al basis for do­ing so un­der Art­icle 36 para­graph 1 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Septem­ber 2020517 (FADP) or if:518

a.
dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data is re­quired to pro­tect the life or phys­ic­al in­teg­rity of the per­son con­cerned or of a third party;
b.
the per­son con­cerned has made their per­son­al data gen­er­al ac­cess­ible and has not ex­pressly pro­hib­ited the dis­clos­ure of the data.

516 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

517 SR 235.1

518 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 349b519

b. Equal treat­ment

 

1 For the dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data to the com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies of states linked to Switzer­land by one of the Schen­gen as­so­ci­ation agree­ments (Schen­gen States), no stricter data pro­tec­tion rules may ap­ply than for the dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data to Swiss crim­in­al au­thor­it­ies.

2 Spe­cial laws provid­ing for stricter data pro­tec­tion rules for the dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data to the com­pet­ent for­eign au­thor­it­ies do not ap­ply to dis­clos­ure to the com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies of the Schen­gen States.

519 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 349c520

c. Dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data to a third coun­try or an in­ter­na­tion­al body

 

1 Per­son­al data may not be dis­closed to the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity of a state which is not linked to Switzer­land by one of the Schen­gen as­so­ci­ation agree­ments (third coun­try), or to an in­ter­na­tion­al body if this would ser­i­ously en­danger the pri­vacy of the data sub­jects, in par­tic­u­lar due to a lack of ad­equate pro­tec­tion.

2 Ad­equate pro­tec­tion shall be en­sured by:

a.
the le­gis­la­tion of the third coun­try, if the European Uni­on has so provided in a in a res­ol­u­tion;
b.
an in­ter­na­tion­al treaty;
c.
spe­cif­ic guar­an­tees.

3 If the dis­clos­ing au­thor­ity is a fed­er­al au­thor­ity, it shall in­form the Fed­er­al Data Pro­tec­tion and In­form­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er (FD­PIC) of the cat­egor­ies of dis­clos­ures of per­son­al data made on the basis of spe­cif­ic guar­an­tees pur­su­ant to para­graph 2 let­ter c. Every dis­clos­ure is doc­u­mented.521

4 By way of derog­a­tion from para­graph 1, per­son­al data may be dis­closed to the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity of a third coun­try or an in­ter­na­tion­al body if dis­clos­ure is ne­ces­sary in a par­tic­u­lar case:

a.
to pro­tect the life or the phys­ic­al in­teg­rity of the data sub­ject or of a third party;
b.
to pre­vent im­min­ent ser­i­ous danger threat­en­ing the pub­lic se­cur­ity of a Schen­gen or a third coun­try;
c.
to pre­vent, de­tect or pro­sec­ute a crim­in­al of­fence, provided that dis­clos­ure does not con­flict with the over­rid­ing le­git­im­ate in­terests of the data sub­ject;
d.
to ex­er­cise or en­force leg­al claims against an au­thor­ity re­spons­ible for the pre­ven­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of a crim­in­al of­fence, provided that dis­clos­ure does not con­flict with the over­rid­ing le­git­im­ate in­terests of the data sub­ject.

5 If the dis­clos­ing au­thor­ity is a fed­er­al au­thor­ity, it shall in­form the FD­PIC522 of the dis­clos­ures pur­su­ant to para­graph 4.

520 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

521 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

522 Ab­bre­vi­ation in ac­cord­ance with An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941). This amend­ment has been made in the pro­vi­sions spe­cified in the AS.

Art. 349d523

d. Dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data by a Schen­gen State to a third coun­try or an in­ter­na­tion­al body

 

1 Per­son­al data trans­mit­ted or made avail­able by a Schen­gen State may be dis­closed to the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity of a third coun­try or an in­ter­na­tion­al body, only if:

a.
the dis­clos­ure is ne­ces­sary to pre­vent, de­tect or pro­sec­ute a crim­in­al of­fence;
b.
the Schen­gen State which trans­mit­ted or made avail­able the per­son­al data has giv­en its pri­or con­sent to the dis­clos­ure; and
c.
the re­quire­ments un­der Art­icle 349c are ful­filled.

2 By way of derog­a­tion from para­graph 1 let­ter b, per­son­al data may be dis­closed in a par­tic­u­lar case, if:

a.
the pri­or con­sent of the Schen­gen State not can­not be ob­tained in time; and
b.
dis­clos­ure is es­sen­tial to pre­vent an im­min­ent ser­i­ous threat to the pub­lic se­cur­ity of a Schen­gen State or a third coun­try or for safe­guard­ing the es­sen­tial in­terests of a Schen­gen State.

3 The Schen­gen State shall be in­formed im­me­di­ately of the dis­clos­ure re­ferred to in para­graph 2.

523 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 349e524

e. Dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data to a re­cip­i­ent es­tab­lished in a third coun­try

 

1 Where it is not pos­sible, in par­tic­u­lar in cases of emer­gency, to dis­close per­son­al data to the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity of a third coun­try through the nor­mal chan­nels of po­lice co­oper­a­tion, the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity may ex­cep­tion­ally dis­close them to a re­cip­i­ent es­tab­lished in that coun­try, provided the fol­low­ing re­quire­ments are ful­filled:

a.
The dis­clos­ure is es­sen­tial to ful­fil a stat­utory task of the au­thor­ity dis­clos­ing the data.
b.
No over­rid­ing in­terests of the data sub­ject worthy of pro­tec­tion stand in the way of dis­clos­ure.

2 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall in­form the re­cip­i­ent of the per­son­al data at the time of dis­clos­ure that he may use the data only for the pur­poses spe­cified by the au­thor­ity.

3 It shall in­form the com­pet­ent au­thor­ity of the third coun­try without delay of any dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data, provided it con­siders this ap­pro­pri­ate.

4 If the re­spons­ible au­thor­ity is a fed­er­al au­thor­ity, it shall in­form the FD­PIC without delay of any dis­clos­ure pur­su­ant to para­graph 1.

5 It shall doc­u­ment each dis­clos­ure of per­son­al data. The Fed­er­al Coun­cil shall reg­u­late the de­tails.

524 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 349f525

f. Ac­cur­acy of per­son­al data

 

1 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity shall cor­rect in­cor­rect per­son­al data without delay.

2 It shall no­ti­fy the au­thor­ity which trans­mit­ted the data, made them avail­able or dis­closed them of the cor­rec­tion without delay.


3 It shall in­form the re­cip­i­ent wheth­er the data it has dis­closed are up-to-date and re­li­able.

4 It shall also provide the re­cip­i­ent with any fur­ther in­form­a­tion that can be used to dis­tin­guish:

a.
the dif­fer­ent cat­egor­ies of data sub­jects;
b.
per­son­al data based on facts and on per­son­al as­sess­ments.

5 The ob­lig­a­tion to in­form the re­cip­i­ent ceases to ap­ply if the in­form­a­tion re­ferred to in para­graphs 3 and 4 is clear from the per­son­al data it­self or from the cir­cum­stances.

525 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 349g526

g. Veri­fic­a­tion of the leg­al­ity of the data pro­cessing

 

1 The data sub­ject may re­quest the FD­PIC to check wheth­er any data re­lat­ing to the data sub­ject is be­ing pro­cessed law­fully if:

a.
the data sub­ject’s right to in­form­a­tion about the ex­change of data about them is re­stric­ted or de­ferred (Art. 19 and 20 FADP527);
b.
his or her right to in­form­a­tion is denied, re­stric­ted or de­ferred (Art. 25 and 26 FADP); or
c.
his or her right to re­quest the rec­ti­fic­a­tion, de­struc­tion or de­le­tion of data re­lat­ing to him or her is par­tially or com­pletely denied (Art. 41 para. 2 let. a FADP).528

2 Only a fed­er­al au­thor­ity un­der the su­per­vi­sion of the FD­PIC may be ex­amined.

3 The Com­mis­sion­er shall com­plete the veri­fic­a­tion; he shall no­ti­fy the data sub­ject that either no data re­lat­ing to him or her has been un­law­fully pro­cessed, or that he has opened an in­vest­ig­a­tion pur­su­ant to Art­icle 49 FADP in the case of er­rors in the pro­cessing of per­son­al data.529

4 If the FD­PIC finds er­rors in the pro­cessing of the data, he shall or­der the com­pet­ent fed­er­al au­thor­ity to cor­rect them.

5 The no­ti­fic­a­tion re­ferred to in para­graph 3 shall al­ways be worded in the same way and is not sub­stan­ti­ated. It may not be con­tested.

526 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

527 SR 235.1

528 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

529 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 349h530

h. In­vest­ig­a­tion

 

1 If a data sub­ject cred­ibly demon­strates that an ex­change of per­son­al data con­cern­ing him or her could vi­ol­ate the pro­vi­sions on the pro­tec­tion of per­son­al data, he or she may re­quest the FD­PIC to open an in­vest­ig­a­tion pur­su­ant to Art­icle 49 FADP531.532

2 An in­vest­ig­a­tion may only be opened against a fed­er­al au­thor­ity that is un­der the su­per­vi­sion of the FD­PIC.

3 The parties are the data sub­ject and the fed­er­al au­thor­ity against which the in­vest­ig­a­tion has been opened.

4 Art­icles 50 and 51 FADP also ap­ply.533

530 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

531 SR 235.1

532 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

533 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 350

2. Co­oper­a­tion with IN­TER­POL

a. Jur­is­dic­tion

 

1 The Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice car­ries out the du­ties of a Na­tion­al Cent­ral Bur­eau in terms of the Con­sti­tu­tion and Gen­er­al Reg­u­la­tions of the In­ter­na­tion­al Crim­in­al Po­lice Or­gan­iz­a­tion (IN­TER­POL).

2 It is re­spons­ible for co­ordin­at­ing the ex­change of in­form­a­tion between the fed­er­al and can­ton­al pro­sec­u­tion ser­vices on the one hand and the Na­tion­al Cent­ral Bur­eaus of oth­er states and the Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ari­at of IN­TER­POL on the oth­er.


Art. 351

b. Tasks

 

1 The Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice co­ordin­ates the ex­change of po­lice in­form­a­tion for the in­vest­ig­a­tion and pro­sec­u­tion of­fences and for the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures.

2 It may trans­mit po­lice in­form­a­tion for the pur­pose of pre­vent­ing of­fences if there are spe­cif­ic in­dic­a­tions that there is a ser­i­ous prob­ab­il­ity of a felony or mis­de­mean­our be­ing com­mit­ted.

3 It may co­ordin­ate the ex­change of in­form­a­tion re­lat­ing to searches for miss­ing per­sons and for the iden­ti­fic­a­tion of un­known per­sons.

4 In the in­terest of pre­vent­ing and in­vest­ig­at­ing of­fences, the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice may re­ceive and provide in­form­a­tion from and to private in­di­vidu­als if this is in the in­terests of the per­sons con­cerned and their con­sent has been giv­en or may be as­sumed in the cir­cum­stances.

Art. 352

c. Data pro­tec­tion

 

1 The ex­change of po­lice in­form­a­tion is gov­erned by the prin­ciples of the Mu­tu­al As­sist­ance Act of 20 March 1981537 as well as the Con­sti­tu­tion and Gen­er­al Reg­u­la­tions of IN­TER­POL de­clared to be ap­plic­able by the Fed­er­al Coun­cil.

2 The FADP538 ap­plies to the ex­change of in­form­a­tion in con­nec­tion with searches for miss­ing per­sons and the iden­ti­fic­a­tion of un­known per­sons and for ad­min­is­trat­ive pur­poses.539

3 The Fed­er­al Of­fice may provide in­form­a­tion dir­ectly to the Cent­ral Bur­eaus of oth­er states provided the re­cip­i­ent state is sub­ject to the IN­TER­POL data pro­tec­tion reg­u­la­tions.

537 SR 351.1

538 SR 235.1

539 Amended by An­nex 1 No II 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 353

d. Fin­an­cial aid and oth­er pay­ments

 

The Con­fed­er­a­tion may provide fin­an­cial aid and make pay­ments to IN­TER­POL.

Art. 354541

3. Co­oper­a­tion in con­nec­tion with the iden­ti­fic­a­tion of per­sons

 

1 The re­spons­ible de­part­ment shall re­gister and store bio­met­ric crim­in­al re­cords data re­cor­ded and trans­mit­ted to the de­part­ment by can­ton­al, fed­er­al and for­eign au­thor­it­ies in con­nec­tion with crim­in­al pro­ceed­ings or in ful­fil­ment of oth­er stat­utory du­ties. This data may be used for com­par­is­on pur­poses to identi­fy a wanted or un­known per­son.

2 The fol­low­ing au­thor­it­ies may use and pro­cess data in terms of para­graph 1:

a.
the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice;
b.
the State Sec­ret­ari­at for Mi­gra­tion (SEM);
c.
the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Justice;
d.
the Fed­er­al Of­fice for Cus­toms and Bor­der Se­cur­ity542;
e.
the Swiss rep­res­ent­a­tions abroad re­spons­ible for is­su­ing visas;
f.
the Fed­er­al In­tel­li­gence Ser­vice;
g.
the can­ton­al po­lice au­thor­it­ies;
h.
the can­ton­al mi­gra­tion au­thor­it­ies.543

3 Per­son­al data that relates data in ac­cord­ance with para­graph 1 shall be pro­cessed in sep­ar­ate in­form­a­tion sys­tems; the pro­ced­ure is sub­ject to the pro­vi­sions of the Fed­er­al Act of 13 June 2008544 on Fed­er­al Po­lice In­form­a­tion Sys­tems, the Asylum Act of 26 June 1998545 and the For­eign Na­tion­als and In­teg­ra­tion Act of 16 Decem­ber 2005546 and the Cus­toms Act of 18 March 2005547.

4 The data may be used:

a.
un­til the ex­piry of the dead­lines for the de­le­tion of DNA pro­files spe­cified in Art­icles 16–19 des DNA Pro­fil­ing Act of 20 June 2003548; or
b.549
in the case of a con­vic­tion for a con­tra­ven­tion: for up to five years from the date of the judg­ment, provided the judg­ment is fi­nal.550

5 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil shall reg­u­late the de­tails, and in par­tic­u­lar the re­ten­tion peri­od for data that is re­cor­ded out­side crim­in­al pro­ceed­ings, the de­le­tion pro­ced­ure and co­oper­a­tion with the can­tons. It shall reg­u­late the trans­mis­sion of crim­in­al re­cords data by the com­pet­ent fed­er­al au­thor­it­ies and the can­tons.551

6 SEM or the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice (fed­pol) may trans­mit the data in an auto­mated pro­ced­ure to the na­tion­al sec­tion of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS) for the pur­pose of is­su­ing alerts.552

541 Amended by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, in force since 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

542 The name of this ad­min­is­trat­ive unit was changed in ap­plic­a­tion of Art. 20 para. 2 of the Pub­lic­a­tions Or­din­ance of 7 Oct. 2015 (SR 170.512.1).

543 Amended by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Ex­change of Notes between Switzer­land and the EU re­lat­ing to the Ad­op­tion of the Le­gis­la­tion on the Es­tab­lish­ment, Op­er­a­tion and Use of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS), in force since 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2021 365; 2022 638; BBl 2020 3465).

544 SR 361

545 SR 142.31

546 SR 142.20

547 SR 631.0

548 SR 363

549 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FA of 17 Dec. 2021, in force since 1 Aug. 2023 (AS 2023 309; BBl 2021 44).

550 Amended by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Ex­change of Notes between Switzer­land and the EU re­lat­ing to the Ad­op­tion of the Le­gis­la­tion on the Es­tab­lish­ment, Op­er­a­tion and Use of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS), in force since 23. Jan. 2023 (AS 2021 365; 2022 638; BBl 2020 3465).

551 Amended by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Ex­change of Notes between Switzer­land and the EU re­lat­ing to the Ad­op­tion of the Le­gis­la­tion on the Es­tab­lish­ment, Op­er­a­tion and Use of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS), in force since 23. Jan. 2023 (AS 2021 365; 2022 638; BBl 2020 3465).

552 In­ser­ted by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Ex­change of Notes between Switzer­land and the EU re­lat­ing to the Ad­op­tion of the Le­gis­la­tion on the Es­tab­lish­ment, Op­er­a­tion and Use of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS), in force since 23. Jan. 2023 (AS 2021 365; 2022 638; BBl 2020 3465).

Art. 355553

4. ...

 

553 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 5 of the FA of 13 June 2008 on the Fed­er­al Po­lice In­form­a­tion Sys­tem, with ef­fect from 5 Dec. 2008 (AS 20084989; BBl 20065061).

Art. 355a555

5. Co­oper­a­tion with Euro­pol

a. Ex­change of data

 

1 fed­pol and the Fed­er­al In­tel­li­gence Ser­vice (FIS) may pass on per­son­al data, in­clud­ing sens­it­ive per­son­al data to the European Po­lice Of­fice (Euro­pol).556


2 The passing on of such data is sub­ject in par­tic­u­lar to the re­quire­ments of Art­icles 3 and 10–13 of the Agree­ment of 24 Septem­ber 2004557 between the Swiss Con­fed­er­a­tion and the European Po­lice Of­fice.

3 At the same time as passing on data, the Fed­er­al Of­fice of Po­lice shall no­ti­fy Euro­pol of the pur­pose for which the data is provided as well as of any re­stric­tions with re­gard to its pro­cessing to which it is it­self sub­ject in ac­cord­ance with fed­er­al or can­ton­al le­gis­la­tion.

4 The ex­change of per­son­al data with Euro­pol is re­garded as equi­val­ent to an ex­change with a com­pet­ent au­thor­ity of a Schen­gen State (Art. 349b).558

555 In­ser­ted by Art. 2 of the FedD of 7 Oct. 2005 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Agree­ment between Switzer­land and Euro­pol, in force since 1 April 2006 (AS 2006 10171018; BBl 2005 983).

556 Amended by An­nex 2 No 1 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Ex­change of Notes between Switzer­land and the EU re­lat­ing to the Ad­op­tion of the Le­gis­la­tion on the Es­tab­lish­ment, Op­er­a­tion and Use of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS), in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2021 365; 2022 491; BBl 2020 3465).

557 SR 0.360.268.2

558 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, in force since 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 355b560

b. Ex­ten­sion of man­date

 

The Fed­er­al Coun­cil is au­thor­ised to agree with Euro­pol amend­ments to the scope of its man­date in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 3 para­graph 3 of the Agree­ment of 24 Septem­ber 2004561 between the Swiss Con­fed­er­a­tion and the European Po­lice Of­fice.

560 In­ser­ted by Art. 2 of the FedD of 7 Oct. 2005 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Agree­ment between Switzer­land and Euro­pol, in force since 1 April 2006 (AS 2006 10171018; BBl 2005 983).

561 SR 0.360.268.2

Art. 355c562

5bis. Co­oper­a­tion un­der the Schen­gen As­so­ci­ation Agree­ment. Jur­is­dic­tion

 

The fed­er­al and can­ton­al po­lice au­thor­it­ies shall im­ple­ment the pro­vi­sions of the Schen­gen As­so­ci­ation Agree­ment563 in ac­cord­ance with do­mest­ic law.

562 In­ser­ted by Art. 3 No 4 of the FedD of 17 Dec. 2004 on the Ad­op­tion and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Bi­lat­er­al Agree­ments between Switzer­land and the EU on the As­so­ci­ation to Schen­gen and Dub­lin, in force since 1 June 2008 (AS 20084472179; BBl 20045965).

563 Agree­ment of 26 Oct. 2004 between the Swiss Con­fed­er­a­tion, the European Uni­on and the European Com­munity on the As­so­ci­ation of that State with the Im­ple­ment­a­tion, Ap­plic­a­tion and De­vel­op­ment of the Schen­gen Ac­quis (SR 0.362.31); Agree­ment of 28 April 2005 between the Swiss Con­fed­er­a­tion and the King­dom of Den­mark on the Es­tab­lish­ment of Rights and Ob­lig­a­tions between these two States with a view to Co­oper­a­tion on Schen­gen (SR 0.362.33); Agree­ment of 17 Dec. 2004 between the Swiss Con­fed­er­a­tion, the Re­pub­lic of Ice­land and the King­dom of Nor­way on the im­ple­ment­a­tion, ap­plic­a­tion and de­vel­op­ment of the Schen­gen Ac­quis and on the cri­ter­ia and pro­ced­ure for de­term­in­ing the State re­spons­ible for ex­amin­ing an ap­plic­a­tion for asylum lodged in Switzer­land, Ice­land or Nor­way (SR 0.362.32).

Art. 355d564

5ter. ...

 

564 In­ser­ted by Art. 3 No 4 of the FedD of 17 Dec. 2004 on the Ad­op­tion and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Bi­lat­er­al Agree­ments between Switzer­land and the EU on the As­so­ci­ation to Schen­gen and Dub­lin (AS 20084472179; BBl 20045965). Re­pealed by An­nex 2 No II of the FA of 13 June 2008 on the Fed­er­al Po­lice In­form­a­tion Sys­tem, with ef­fect from 5 Dec. 2008 (AS 20084989; BBl 20065061).

Art. 355e565

5quater. SIRENE Of­fice

 

1 fed­pol man­ages the cent­ral of­fice for the ex­change of sup­ple­ment­ary in­form­a­tion with the Schen­gen states (SIRENE Of­fice).566

2 Das SIRENE Of­fice is the con­tact, co­ordin­a­tion and con­sulta­tion point for the ex­change of in­form­a­tion in con­nec­tion with the alerts in the SIS. It re­views the form­al ad­miss­ib­il­ity of Swiss and for­eign alerts in the SIS.

565 In­ser­ted by Art. 3 No 4 of the FedD of 17 Dec. 2004 on the Ad­op­tion and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Bi­lat­er­al Agree­ments between Switzer­land and the EU on the As­so­ci­ation to Schen­gen and Dub­lin, in force since 1 June 2008 (AS 20084472179; BBl 20045965).

566 Amended by An­nex 1 No 4 of the FedD of 18 Dec. 2020 on the Ap­prov­al and Im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Ex­change of Notes between Switzer­land and the EU re­lat­ing to the Ad­op­tion of the Le­gis­la­tion on the Es­tab­lish­ment, Op­er­a­tion and Use of the Schen­gen In­form­a­tion Sys­tem (SIS), in force since 22 Nov. 2022 (AS 2021 365, 2022 638; BBl 2020 3465).

Art. 355f355g567

 

567 In­ser­ted by No 4 of the FA of 19 March 2010 on the Im­ple­ment­a­tion of Frame­work De­cision 2008/977/JHA on the pro­tec­tion of per­son­al data pro­cessed in the frame­work of po­lice and ju­di­cial co­oper­a­tion in crim­in­al mat­ters (AS 2010 3387; BBl 2009 6749). Re­pealed by No II 2 of the FA of 28 Sept. 2018 on the im­ple­ment­a­tion of Dir­ect­ive (EU) 2016/680 on the pro­tec­tion of nat­ur­al per­sons with re­gard to the pro­cessing of per­son­al data by com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies for the pur­poses of the pre­ven­tion, in­vest­ig­a­tion, de­tec­tion or pro­sec­u­tion of crim­in­al of­fences or the ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al pen­al­ties, with ef­fect from 1 March 2019 (AS 2019 625; BBl 2017 6941).

Art. 356361568

 

568 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085).

Art. 362569

6. No­ti­fic­a­tion in re­la­tion to por­no­graphy

 

If an in­vest­ig­at­ing au­thor­ity es­tab­lishes that por­no­graph­ic art­icles (Art. 197 para. 4) have been pro­duced in or im­por­ted from a for­eign state, it shall im­me­di­ately no­ti­fy the Fed­er­al Cent­ral Of­fice for Com­bat­ing Por­no­graphy.

569 Amended by An­nex No 1 of the FedD of 27 Sept. 2013 (Lan­zarote Con­ven­tion), in force since 1 Ju­ly 2014 (AS 2014 1159; BBl 2012 7571).

Title Five: ...

Art. 363570

 

570 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No II 8 of the Crim­in­al Pro­ced­ure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085). Re­vised by the Fed­er­al As­sembly Draft­ing Com­mit­tee on 20 Feb. 2013 (AS 2013 845).

Art. 364571

 

571 Re­pealed by An­nex No 1 of the FA of 15 Dec. 2017 (Child Pro­tec­tion), with ef­fect from 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 2947; BBl 2015 3431).

Title Six: …

Art. 365369572

 

572 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, with ef­fect from 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

Art. 369a573

 

573 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819). Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, with ef­fect from 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

Art. 370 and 371574

 

574 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, with ef­fect from 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

Art. 371a575

 

575 In­ser­ted by No I 1 of the FA of 13 Dec. 2013 on Activ­ity Pro­hib­i­tion Or­ders and Con­tact Pro­hib­i­tion and Ex­clu­sion Or­ders (AS 2014 2055; BBl 2012 8819). Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, with ef­fect from 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

Title Seven: Execution of Sentences and Measures, Probation Assistance, Institutions and Facilities

Art. 372

1. Duty to ex­ecute sen­tences and meas­ures

 

1 The can­tons shall ex­ecute the judg­ments is­sued by their crim­in­al courts on the basis of this Code. They are ob­liged to ex­ecute the judg­ments of the fed­er­al crim­in­al justice au­thor­it­ies in re­turn for the re­im­burse­ment of their costs.

2 De­cisions in crim­in­al cases made by po­lice au­thor­it­ies and oth­er com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies and the de­cisions of pro­sec­u­tion ser­vices are deemed equi­val­ent to court judg­ments.

3 The can­tons shall guar­an­tee the uni­form ex­e­cu­tion of crim­in­al sanc­tions.576

576 In­ser­ted by No II 2 of the FA of 6 Oct. 2006 on the New Sys­tem of Fin­an­cial Equal­isa­tion and the Di­vi­sion of Tasks between the Con­fed­er­a­tion and the Can­tons (NFA), in force since 1 Jan. 2008 (AS2007 57795817; BBl 2005 6029).

Art. 373

2. Mon­et­ary pen­al­ties, fines, costs and for­feit­ures

Ex­e­cu­tion

 

Leg­ally bind­ing de­cisions is­sued on the basis of fed­er­al or can­ton­al crim­in­al law re­lat­ing to mon­et­ary pen­al­ties, fines, costs and the for­feit­ure of prop­erty or as­sets may be ex­ecuted any­where in Switzer­land.

Art. 374

Right of dis­pos­al

 

1 The can­tons are en­titled to the mon­et­ary pen­al­ties and fines im­posed and the prop­erty and as­sets for­feited in ac­cord­ance with this Code.

2 The Con­fed­er­a­tion is en­titled to the pro­ceeds of the cases judged by the Crim­in­al or Ap­peals Cham­ber of the Fed­er­al Crim­in­al Court.577

3 The use of pro­ceeds for the be­ne­fit of per­sons harmed in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 73 is re­served.

4 The pro­vi­sions of the Fed­er­al Act of 19 March 2004578 on the Di­vi­sion of For­feited As­sets are re­served.579

577 Amended by No II 2 of the FA of 17 March 2017 (Cre­ation of an Ap­peals Cham­ber in the Fed­er­al Crim­in­al Court), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2017 5769; BBl 2013 7109, 2016 6199).

578 SR 312.4

579 In­ser­ted by An­nex No 1 of the FA of 19 March 2004 on the Di­vi­sion of For­feited As­sets, in force since 1 Aug. 2004 (AS 2004 3503; BBl 2002 441).

Art. 375

3. Com­munity ser­vice

 

1 The can­tons are re­spons­ible for the ex­e­cu­tion of com­munity ser­vice or­ders.

2 The com­pet­ent au­thor­ity de­cides on the nature and form of com­munity ser­vice to be per­formed.

3 The stat­utory max­im­um num­ber of work­ing hours may be ex­ceeded in the per­form­ance of com­munity ser­vice. The reg­u­la­tions on health and safety in the work­place re­main ap­plic­able.

Art. 376

4. Pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance

 

1 The can­tons or­gan­ise the sys­tem of pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance. They may del­eg­ate this duty to private or­gan­isa­tions.

2 Pro­ba­tion as­sist­ance is nor­mally the re­spons­ib­il­ity of the can­ton in which the pro­ba­tion­er is res­id­ent.

Art. 377

5. In­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies

Duty of the can­tons to es­tab­lish and op­er­ate

 

1 The can­tons shall es­tab­lish and op­er­ate in­sti­tu­tions and in­sti­tu­tion units for pris­on in­mates in open and se­cure cus­tody as well as for pris­on in­mates in semi-de­ten­tion and in the day re­lease em­ploy­ment.

2 They may also provide units for spe­cial in­mate groups, and in par­tic­u­lar for:

a.
wo­men;
b.
pris­on in­mates of spe­cif­ic age groups;
c.
pris­on in­mates serving very long or very short sen­tences;
d.
pris­on in­mates that re­quire con­stant care or treat­ment or are re­ceiv­ing ba­sic or ad­vanced train­ing.

3 They shall es­tab­lish and op­er­ate the in­sti­tu­tions provided for in this Code for the ex­e­cu­tion of meas­ures.

4 They shall en­sure that the reg­u­la­tions and the op­er­a­tion of the in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies com­ply with this Code.

5 They shall fa­cil­it­ate the ba­sic and ad­vanced train­ing of the staff.

Art. 378

Co­oper­a­tion between the can­tons

 

1 The can­tons may enter in­to agree­ments on the joint es­tab­lish­ment and op­er­a­tion of in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies or se­cure them­selves a right of joint use of the in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies be­long­ing to oth­er can­tons.

2 The can­tons shall in­form each oth­er of the spe­cial fea­tures of their in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies, and in par­tic­u­lar of the range of care, treat­ment and em­ploy­ment ser­vices; they shall co­oper­ate in the al­loc­a­tion of pris­on in­mates to in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies.

Art. 379

Li­cens­ing of private in­sti­tu­tions

 

1 The can­tons may grant li­cences to privately run in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies au­thor­ising them to ex­ecute sen­tences in the form of semi-de­ten­tion and of day re­lease em­ploy­ment to­geth­er with meas­ures un­der Art­icles 59–61 and 63.

2 Privately run in­sti­tu­tions and fa­cil­it­ies are sub­ject to the su­per­vi­sion of the can­tons.

Art. 380

Al­loc­a­tion of costs

 

1 The costs of the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures are borne by the can­tons.

2 The of­fend­er shall con­trib­ute in an ap­pro­pri­ate man­ner to the costs:

a.
by per­form­ing work while serving a sen­tence or un­der­go­ing a meas­ure;
b.
in ac­cord­ance with his in­come or as­sets if he re­fuses to per­form work as­signed to him even though the work sat­is­fies the re­quire­ments of Art­icles 81 or 90 para­graph 3; or
c.580
by de­duc­tion of part of the in­come due to him as pay­ment for an activ­ity while in semi-de­ten­tion, while sub­ject to elec­tron­ic mon­it­or­ing, while on day re­lease em­ploy­ment or while in ex­tern­al ac­com­mod­a­tion com­bined with day re­lease em­ploy­ment.

3 The can­tons shall is­sue de­tailed reg­u­la­tions on of­fend­ers' con­tri­bu­tions to costs.

580 Amended by No I 1 of the FA of 19 June 2015 (Amend­ments to the Law of Crim­in­al Sanc­tions), in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 1249; BBl 2012 4721).

Title 7a: Liability in Cases of Discharge from Lifelong Incarceration581

581 Inserted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (Indefinite Incarceration of Extremely Dangerous Offenders), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

Art. 380a

 

1 If a per­son sub­ject to lifelong in­car­cer­a­tion is re­leased on pa­role or dis­charged from in­car­cer­a­tion and com­mits a felony men­tioned in Art­icle 64 para­graph 1bis, the re­spons­ible body polit­ic shall be li­able for the res­ult­ant in­jury and loss.

2 In re­la­tion to rights of re­course against the of­fend­er and the time lim­its for fil­ing claims for dam­ages or sat­is­fac­tion, the pro­vi­sions of the CO582 on un­law­ful acts ap­ply.

3 In re­la­tion to rights of re­course against the mem­bers of the au­thor­ity is­su­ing the or­der, can­ton­al law or the Gov­ern­ment Li­ab­il­ity Act of 14 March 1958583 ap­plies.

Title Eight: Pardons, Amnesties, Re-opening of Cases

Art. 381

1. Par­dons

Jur­is­dic­tion

 

The right to grant a par­don in re­la­tion to con­vic­tions based on this Code or any oth­er fed­er­al act is ex­er­cised:

a.584
by the Fed­er­al As­sembly in cases in which the Crim­in­al or Ap­peals Cham­ber of the Fed­er­al Crim­in­al Court or an ad­min­is­trat­ive au­thor­ity of the Con­fed­er­a­tion has passed judg­ment;
b.
by the par­dons au­thor­ity of the Can­ton in cases in which a can­ton­al au­thor­ity has passed judg­ment.

584 Amended by No II 2 of the FA of 17 March 2017 (Cre­ation of an Ap­peals Cham­ber in the Fed­er­al Crim­in­al Court), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2017 5769; BBl 2013 7109, 2016 6199).

Art. 382

Par­don pe­ti­tion

 

1 The pe­ti­tion for a par­don may be filed by the of­fend­er, his leg­al rep­res­ent­at­ive or, with con­sent of the of­fend­er, by his de­fence agent, spouse or re­gistered part­ner.585

2 In the case of polit­ic­al felon­ies and mis­de­mean­ours and in the case of­fences con­nec­ted with polit­ic­al felon­ies or mis­de­mean­ours, the Fed­er­al Coun­cil or the can­ton­al gov­ern­ment is also en­titled to ini­ti­ate the par­don pro­ced­ure.

3 The par­dons au­thor­ity may stip­u­late that the pe­ti­tion for a par­don that has been re­fused may not be filed again be­fore the ex­piry of a cer­tain peri­od.

585 Amended by An­nex No 18 of the Same-Sex Part­ner­ship Act of 18 June 2004, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 20055685; BBl 2003 1288).

Art. 383

Ef­fects

 

1 A par­don may wholly or partly re­mit all sen­tences im­posed by leg­ally bind­ing judg­ment or com­mute the sen­tences to less severe forms of sen­tence.

2 The par­don de­cree spe­cifies the ex­tent of the par­don.

Art. 384

2. Am­nesties

 

1 The Fed­er­al As­sembly may grant an am­nesty in crim­in­al mat­ters gov­erned by this Code or any oth­er fed­er­al act.

2 An am­nesty ex­cludes the pro­sec­u­tion of spe­cif­ic of­fences or cat­egor­ies of­fend­er and grants the re­mis­sion of re­lated sen­tences.

Art. 385

3. Re-open­ing of cases

 

In the case of con­vic­tions based on this Code or any oth­er fed­er­al act, where im­port­ant in­form­a­tion or evid­ence comes to light that was not avail­able to the court at the time of the earli­er pro­ceed­ings, the can­tons must al­low the re-open­ing of the case for the be­ne­fit of the of­fend­er.

Title Nine: Preventive Measures, Supplementary Provisions and General Transitional Provisions

Art. 386586

1. Pre­vent­ive meas­ures

 

1 The Con­fed­er­a­tion may em­ploy in­vest­ig­at­ive, edu­ca­tion­al and fur­ther meas­ures aimed at pre­vent­ing spe­cif­ic of­fences and crime in gen­er­al.

2 It may sup­port pro­jects that have the aim men­tioned in para­graph 1.

3 It may par­ti­cip­ate in or­gan­isa­tions that carry out meas­ures men­tioned in para­graph 1 or es­tab­lish and sup­port such or­gan­isa­tions.

4 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil reg­u­lates the nature, aims and form of the pre­vent­ive meas­ures.

586 In force since 1 Jan. 2006 in ac­cord­ance with the Or­din­ance of 2 Dec. 2005 (AS 2005 5723)

Art. 387

2. Sup­ple­ment­ary pro­vi­sions of the Fed­er­al Coun­cil

 

1 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil has the power per­son, after con­sult­ing the can­tons, to en­act pro­vi­sions on:

a.
the ex­e­cu­tion of cu­mu­lat­ive sen­tences, sup­ple­ment­ary sen­tences and cases where two or more in­di­vidu­al sen­tences are ex­ecuted sim­ul­tan­eously;
b.
the as­sign­ment of the re­spons­ib­il­ity for ex­ecut­ing sen­tences and meas­ures to an­oth­er can­ton;
c.
the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures im­posed on per­sons suf­fer­ing from ill­ness or in­valid­ity, or eld­erly per­sons;
d.
the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures in cases un­der Art­icle 80 in­volving wo­men;
e.
the wages paid to pris­on in­mates in ac­cord­ance with Art­icle 83.

1bis The Fed­er­al Coun­cil en­acts the re­quired pro­vi­sions on the es­tab­lish­ment of the Fed­er­al Com­mis­sion for the As­sess­ment of the Treat­ab­il­ity of Of­fend­ers sub­ject to Lifelong In­car­cer­a­tion (Art. 64c para. 1) re­lat­ing to the ap­point­ment of mem­bers of the Com­mis­sion and their re­mu­ner­a­tion, pro­ced­ures and the or­gan­isa­tion of the Com­mis­sion.587

2 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil may at the re­quest of the re­spons­ible can­ton­al au­thor­ity is­sue spe­cial pro­vi­sions on the sep­ar­a­tion of the in­sti­tu­tions of the Can­ton of the Ti­cino.

3588

4 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil may by way of a tri­al and for lim­ited time:

a.
in­tro­duce or per­mit new pen­al­ties and meas­ures as well as new forms of ex­e­cu­tion and modi­fy the scope of ap­plic­a­tion of ex­ist­ing sanc­tions and forms of ex­e­cu­tion;
b.
in­tro­duce or per­mit the del­eg­a­tion of the ex­e­cu­tion of cus­todi­al sen­tences to privately run in­sti­tu­tions that sat­is­fy the re­quire­ments of this Code re­lat­ing to the im­ple­ment­a­tion of sen­tences (Art. 74–85, 91 and 92). These in­sti­tu­tions are sub­ject to the su­per­vi­sion of the can­tons.

5 The can­ton­al im­ple­ment­ing pro­vi­sions for the tri­al of new sanc­tions and forms of ex­e­cu­tion and the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences by privately run in­sti­tu­tions (para. 4) re­quire the ap­prov­al of the Con­fed­er­a­tion in or­der to be val­id.

587 In­ser­ted by No I of the FA of 21 Dec. 2007 (In­def­in­ite In­car­cer­a­tion of Ex­tremely Dan­ger­ous Of­fend­ers), in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2008 29612964; BBl 2006 889).

588 Re­pealed by An­nex 1 No 3 of the Crim­in­al Re­cords Re­gister Act of 17 June 2016, with ef­fect from 23 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 600; BBl 2014 5713).

Art. 388

3. Gen­er­al trans­ition­al pro­vi­sions

Ex­e­cu­tion of earli­er judg­ments

 

1 Judg­ments is­sued in ap­plic­a­tion of the pre­vi­ous law are ex­ecuted in ac­cord­ance with the pre­vi­ous law. The ex­cep­tions in para­graphs 2 and 3 are re­served.

2 Where an act that does not carry a pen­alty un­der the new law has led to con­vic­tion un­der the pre­vi­ous law, the sen­tence or meas­ure im­posed is no longer ex­ecuted.

3 The pro­vi­sions of the new law on the re­gime for the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures and on the rights and ob­lig­a­tions of pris­on in­mates also ap­ply to of­fend­ers who have been con­victed in ac­cord­ance with the pre­vi­ous law.

Art. 389

Lim­it­a­tion

 

1 Un­less the law provides oth­er­wise, the pro­vi­sions of the new stat­ute of lim­it­a­tions for pro­sec­u­tion and the ex­e­cu­tion of sen­tences and meas­ures, if they are less strict, also ap­ply to of­fend­ers who have com­mit­ted of­fences or been con­victed be­fore this Code comes in­to force.

2 The peri­ods of time that have elapsed be­fore the new law comes in­to force are taken in­to ac­count.

Art. 390

Of­fences pro­sec­uted on com­plaint

 

1 In the case of­fences that are only pro­sec­uted on com­plaint, the peri­od for fil­ing a com­plaint is cal­cu­lated in ac­cord­ance with the law that ap­plied at the time of the of­fence.

2 If the new law re­quires a com­plaint to be filed in re­spect of an of­fence that was pro­sec­uted ex of­fi­cio un­der the pre­vi­ous law, the peri­od for fil­ing the com­plaint be­gins when the new law comes in­to force. If the pro­sec­u­tion has already been ini­ti­ated, it may only be con­tin­ued if a com­plaint is filed.

3 If the new law stip­u­lates the ex of­fi­cio pro­sec­u­tion of an of­fence that was only pro­sec­uted on com­plaint un­der the pre­vi­ous law, an of­fence com­mit­ted be­fore the new law comes in­to force is only pro­sec­uted if a com­plaint is filed.

Art. 391

4. Can­ton­al trans­ition­al pro­vi­sions

 

The can­tons shall no­ti­fy the Con­fed­er­a­tion of the re­quired trans­ition­al pro­vi­sions to the Swiss Crim­in­al Code.

Art. 392

5. Com­mence­ment of this Code

 

This Code comes in­to force on 1 Janu­ary 1942.

Final Provisions of the Amendment of 18 March 1971 589

589FA of 18 March 1971, in force since 1 July 1971 (AS 1971 777807; BBl 1965 I 561) and for Art. 49 No 4 para. 2, 82–99, 370, 372, 373, 379No 1 para. 2, 385and 391 in force since 1 Jan. 1974 (AS 1973 1840). Repealed by No IV of the FA of 13 Dec. 2002, with effect from 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979).

Final Provisions of the Amendment of 13 December 2002 590

590AS 2006 34593535; BBl 1999 1979

Transitional Provision to the Amendment of 26 September 2014 598

Transitional Provision to the Amendment of 12 December 2014 599

Transitional Provision to the Amendment of 19 June 2015 600