Federal Act
on Freedom of Information in the Administration
(Freedom of Information Act, FoIA)

This Act seeks to pro­mote trans­par­ency with re­gard to the man­date, or­gan­isa­tion and activ­it­ies of the Ad­min­is­tra­tion. To this end, it con­trib­utes to in­form­ing the pub­lic by en­sur­ing ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments.

1 This Act ap­plies to:

a.

the Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­tra­tion;

b.

pub­lic and private bod­ies out­side the Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­tra­tion, in­so­far as they en­act le­gis­la­tion or is­sue first in­stance rul­ings with­in the mean­ing of Art­icle 5 of the Fed­er­al Act of 20 Decem­ber 1968³ on Ad­min­is­trat­ive Pro­ced­ure (Ad­min­is­trat­ive Pro­ced­ure Act);

c.

the Par­lia­ment­ary Ser­vices.

2 This Act does not ap­ply to the Swiss Na­tion­al Bank or the Swiss Fin­an­cial Mar­ket Su­per­vis­ory Au­thor­ity.⁴

3 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil is au­thor­ised to ex­clude oth­er or­gan­isa­tion­al units of the Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­tra­tion, as well as oth­er or­gan­isa­tions and per­sons out­side the Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­tra­tion, from the scope of this Act, should:

a.

the func­tions as­signed to same so re­quire;

b.

their com­pet­it­ive­ness be pre­ju­diced by be­ing sub­ject to this Act; or

c.

the func­tions as­signed to them be of only minor im­port­ance.

1 This Act does not ap­ply to:

a.

ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments re­lat­ing to:

1.

civil pro­ceed­ings,

2.

crim­in­al pro­ceed­ings,

3.

in­ter­na­tion­al mu­tu­al and ad­min­is­trat­ive as­sist­ance pro­ceed­ings,

4.

in­ter­na­tion­al dis­pute set­tle­ment pro­ceed­ings,

5.

con­sti­tu­tion­al and ad­min­is­trat­ive ju­di­cial pro­ceed­ings; or

6.

ar­bit­ra­tion pro­ceed­ings;

b.

the con­sulta­tion, by a party, of the case file in first-in­stance ad­min­is­trat­ive pro­ceed­ings.

2 Ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments con­tain­ing per­son­al in­form­a­tion about the ap­plic­ant is gov­erned by the Fed­er­al Act of 19 June 1992⁵ on Data Pro­tec­tion (Data Pro­tec­tion Act).

Spe­cial pro­vi­sions con­tained in oth­er Fed­er­al Acts are re­served where they:

a.

de­clare cer­tain in­form­a­tion secret; or

b.

de­clare the ac­cess to cer­tain in­form­a­tion to be sub­ject to re­quire­ments derog­at­ing from those set out herein;

1 An of­fi­cial doc­u­ment is any in­form­a­tion:

a.

which has been re­cor­ded, re­gard­less of the me­di­um;

b.

re­tained by the au­thor­ity which is­sued the same or to which it has been com­mu­nic­ated; and

c.

which con­cerns the ex­e­cu­tion of a pub­lic func­tion.

2 Doc­u­ments which have been pro­duced by means of a simple com­pu­ter­ised pro­cess from re­cor­ded in­form­a­tion which meets the re­quire­ments of para­graph 1 let­ters a, b and c above are deemed to be of­fi­cial doc­u­ments.

3 Not deemed to be of­fi­cial doc­u­ments are any doc­u­ments which:

a.

are used by an au­thor­ity in a com­mer­cial ca­pa­city;

b.

have not been is­sued; or

c.

are in­ten­ded for per­son­al use.

1 Any per­son has the right to in­spect of­fi­cial doc­u­ments and to ob­tain in­form­a­tion about the con­tent of of­fi­cial doc­u­ments.

2 The doc­u­ments may be in­spec­ted in situor a copy there­of may be re­ques­ted. The le­gis­la­tion gov­ern­ing copy­right is re­served.

3 Where an of­fi­cial doc­u­ment has already been pub­lished by the Fed­er­al Gov­ern­ment in pa­per or elec­tron­ic format, the rights un­der para­graphs 1 and 2 above are deemed to have been ful­filled.

1 The right of ac­cess shall be lim­ited, de­ferred or re­fused if such ac­cess to an of­fi­cial doc­u­ment:

a.

sig­ni­fic­antly im­pairs the free opin­ion-form­ing and de­cision-mak­ing pro­cesses of an au­thor­ity which is sub­ject to this Act, or of an­oth­er le­gis­lat­ive, ad­min­is­trat­ive or ju­di­cial body;

b.

af­fects the ex­e­cu­tion of spe­cif­ic meas­ures taken by an au­thor­ity in con­form­ity with its ob­ject­ives;

c.

is likely to com­prom­ise the do­mest­ic and in­ter­na­tion­al se­cur­ity of Switzer­land;

d.

is likely to af­fect the in­terests of Switzer­land in mat­ters of for­eign policy and in­ter­na­tion­al re­la­tions;

e.

is likely to af­fect re­la­tions between the Fed­er­al Gov­ern­ment and the can­tons, or inter-can­ton­al re­la­tions;

f.

is likely to af­fect the eco­nom­ic or mon­et­ary in­terests of Switzer­land;

g.

is likely to re­veal pro­fes­sion­al, busi­ness or man­u­fac­tur­ing secrets; or

h.

is likely to res­ult in the re­lease of in­form­a­tion provided vol­un­tar­ily by a third party to an au­thor­ity which un­der­took to main­tain secrecy with re­gard thereto.

2 The right of ac­cess shall be lim­ited, de­ferred or re­fused if such ac­cess to an of­fi­cial doc­u­ment is likely to pre­ju­dice the pri­vacy of a third party, un­less ex­cep­tion­ally out­weighed by pub­lic in­terest.

1 There is no right of ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments of joint re­port­ing pro­ceed­ings.

2 Ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments is gran­ted only after the polit­ic­al or ad­min­is­trat­ive de­cisions based there­on have been taken.

3 By way of ex­cep­tion, the Fed­er­al Coun­cil may de­cide to with­hold ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments res­ult­ing from of­fi­cial de­part­ment­al con­sulta­tion pro­cesses even after de­cisions have been made.

4 Un­der no cir­cum­stances may ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments about the status of pending or fu­ture ne­go­ti­ations be gran­ted.

5 Ac­cess to re­ports on the eval­u­ation of the per­form­ance of the Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­tra­tion and the ef­fect­ive­ness of its meas­ures is guar­an­teed.

1 Of­fi­cial doc­u­ments con­tain­ing per­son­al data shall, wherever pos­sible, be rendered an­onym­ous pri­or to in­spec­tion.

2 Where a re­quest for ac­cess cov­ers of­fi­cial doc­u­ments which can­not be rendered an­onym­ous, Art­icle 19 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act⁶ shall ap­ply. The rel­ev­ant pro­ced­ure shall be gov­erned by this Act.

1 An ap­plic­a­tion for ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments shall be ad­dressed to the au­thor­ity which cre­ated the doc­u­ments or re­ceived the same as primary ad­dress­ee from third parties not sub­ject to this Act.

2 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil may provide a spe­cial pro­ced­ure for ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments by Swiss rep­res­ent­a­tions abroad and by mis­sions to in­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­isa­tions.

3 The ap­plic­a­tion must be for­mu­lated in a suf­fi­ciently ac­cur­ate man­ner.

4 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil shall en­act reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing the par­tic­u­lars of this pro­ced­ure:

a.

it shall take the spe­cial needs of the me­dia in­to ac­count;

b.

should a large num­ber of ap­plic­a­tions cov­er the same doc­u­ment, it may stip­u­late oth­er mod­al­it­ies gov­ern­ing such ac­cess;

c.

it may ex­tend the pro­cessing dead­lines for ap­plic­a­tions which re­quire par­tic­u­larly ex­tens­ive pro­cessing.

1 Should an ap­plic­a­tion be made for ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments which con­tain per­son­al data, and which the au­thor­ity is con­sid­er­ing grant­ing, it shall con­sult the per­son con­cerned and af­ford him the op­por­tun­ity to sub­mit com­ments with­in ten days.

2 The au­thor­ity shall then in­form such con­sul­ted per­son of the po­s­i­tion it in­tends to take con­cern­ing the ap­plic­a­tion for ac­cess.

1 The au­thor­ity shall make a de­cision as soon as pos­sible and in any case no later than 20 days after re­ceipt of the ap­plic­a­tion.

2 The dead­line may, un­der ex­cep­tion­al cir­cum­stances, be ex­ten­ded by 20 days, should the ap­plic­a­tion for ac­cess con­cern a large num­ber of doc­u­ments or doc­u­ments which are com­plex or dif­fi­cult to ob­tain. Should an ap­plic­a­tion con­cern of­fi­cial doc­u­ments con­tain­ing per­son­al in­form­a­tion, the dead­line shall be ex­ten­ded for the re­quired peri­od.

3 Should an ap­plic­a­tion con­cern of­fi­cial doc­u­ments con­tain­ing per­son­al in­form­a­tion, the au­thor­ity shall sus­pend ac­cess un­til the leg­al situ­ation has been cla­ri­fied.

4 The au­thor­ity shall in­form the ap­plic­ant, with sum­mary grounds, of any ex­ten­sion of the dead­line, lim­it­a­tion or re­fus­al of ac­cess. In­form­a­tion con­cern­ing the lim­it­a­tion or deni­al of ac­cess, as well as the grounds there­for, shall be con­veyed in writ­ing.

1 A re­quest for me­di­ation may be filed by any per­son:

a.

whose ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments has been lim­ited, de­ferred or re­fused;

b.

whose ap­plic­a­tion was not de­cided by the au­thor­ity with­in the dead­line;

c.

who was con­sul­ted pur­su­ant to Art­icle 11, should the au­thor­ity in­tend grant­ing ac­cess con­trary to his wishes.

2 The re­quest for me­di­ation must be filed in writ­ing with the Fed­er­al Data Pro­tec­tion and In­form­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er with­in 20 days of re­ceipt of the de­cision from the au­thor­ity or the date of the au­thor­ity’s fail­ure to com­ply with the dead­line.

3 Should me­di­ation suc­ceed, the mat­ter is deemed to have been settled.

Should me­di­ation fail, the Fed­er­al Data Pro­tec­tion and In­form­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er shall provide the par­ti­cipants to the me­di­ation pro­ceed­ings with a writ­ten re­com­mend­a­tion with­in 30 days of re­ceipt of the re­quest for me­di­ation.

1 With­in ten days of re­ceipt of the re­com­mend­a­tion, the ap­plic­ant or the per­son con­sul­ted may re­quest a de­cision pur­su­ant to Art­icle 5 of the Ad­min­is­trat­ive Pro­ced­ure Act of 20 Decem­ber 1968⁷.

2 Fur­ther­more, the au­thor­ity shall hand down a de­cision, where, con­trary to the re­com­mend­a­tion, it in­tends to:

a.

lim­it, de­fer or re­fuse the right of ac­cess to an of­fi­cial doc­u­ment;

b.

grant the right of ac­cess to an of­fi­cial doc­u­ment con­tain­ing per­son­al in­form­a­tion.

3 A de­cision shall be is­sued with­in 20 days of re­ceipt of the re­com­mend­a­tion or the re­quest for a de­cision pur­su­ant to para­graph 1 above.

1 The ap­peals pro­ced­ure are sub­ject to the gen­er­al pro­vi­sions found in the rel­ev­ant le­gis­la­tion gov­ern­ing the fed­er­al ad­min­is­tra­tion of justice.

2 The ap­peal in­stances shall also have ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments which are secret.

1 In prin­ciple, ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments is sub­ject to pay­ment of a fee.⁹

2 No fee is charged for:

a.

the pro­cessing of an ap­plic­a­tion which gives rise to min­im­al costs;

b.

me­di­ation pro­ceed­ings (Art. 13); and

c.

pro­ceed­ings be­fore the first in­stance (Art. 15).

3 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil shall reg­u­late the de­tails and fee rates on the basis of the ef­fect­ive costs in­curred. Spe­cif­ic pro­vi­sions set out in oth­er le­gis­la­tion are re­served.

4 Fees may, in any event, be charged for the re­lease of re­ports, bro­chures and oth­er prin­ted ma­ter­i­al and in­form­a­tion car­ri­ers.

The Fed­er­al Data Pro­tec­tion and In­form­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er (the Com­mis­sion­er) pur­su­ant to Art­icle 26 of the Data Pro­tec­tion Act¹⁰ shall, in par­tic­u­lar, have the fol­low­ing du­ties and com­pet­en­cies un­der the present Act:

a.

con­duct­ing me­di­ation pro­ceed­ings (Art. 13) and mak­ing a re­com­mend­a­tion (Art. 14), should me­di­ation not suc­ceed;

b.

provid­ing in­form­a­tion ex of­fi­cio, or at the re­quest of in­di­vidu­als or au­thor­it­ies, on the mod­al­it­ies gov­ern­ing ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments;

c.

com­ment­ing on draft le­gis­la­tion and meas­ures of the Fed­er­al Gov­ern­ment which have a fun­da­ment­al im­pact on the prin­ciple of free­dom of in­form­a­tion.

1 The Com­mis­sion­er shall re­view the ex­e­cu­tion and ef­fect­ive­ness of this Act and, in par­tic­u­lar, the costs in­curred in its im­ple­ment­a­tion, and shall re­port on a reg­u­lar basis to the Fed­er­al Coun­cil.

2 The Com­mis­sion­er shall sub­mit the first re­port on the im­ple­ment­a­tion costs of this Act to the Fed­er­al Coun­cil with­in three years of its entry in­to force.

3 The re­ports of the Com­mis­sion­er shall be pub­lished.

1 With­in the con­text of me­di­ation pro­ceed­ings, the Com­mis­sion­er shall have ac­cess to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments, even if they are sub­ject to secrecy.

2 The Com­mis­sion­er and his sec­ret­ari­at shall be sub­ject to of­fi­cial secrecy to the same ex­tent as the au­thor­it­ies whose of­fi­cial doc­u­ments they in­spect or from whom they ob­tain in­form­a­tion.

The Fed­er­al Coun­cil may, in par­tic­u­lar, en­act pro­vi­sions gov­ern­ing the:

a.

pro­cessing of of­fi­cial doc­u­ments;

b.

in­form­a­tion per­tain­ing to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments;

c.

pub­lic­a­tion of of­fi­cial doc­u­ments.

Amend­ments to ex­ist­ing le­gis­la­tion are reg­u­lated in the An­nex.

This Act shall ap­ply to of­fi­cial doc­u­ments pro­duced or re­ceived by au­thor­it­ies after its com­mence­ment.

1 This Act shall be sub­ject to op­tion­al ref­er­en­dum.

2 The Fed­er­al Coun­cil shall de­term­ine the com­mence­ment date.

Com­mence­ment date: 1 Ju­ly 2006¹¹