Swiss Criminal Code

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.