Financial Crime World

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Safeguards in Place for Civil Claims

In Switzerland, various measures have been implemented to ensure that investigations are conducted fairly and suspects’ rights are respected throughout criminal proceedings.

  • Suspects have the right to freely choose whether or not to be assisted by an attorney.
  • In certain cases, a defence counsel is mandatory, such as when:
    • The detention period exceeds 10 days
    • The accused risks a custodial sentence exceeding one year and/or expulsion from Switzerland
  • All communications between the accused and their defence counsel are privileged, meaning that criminal authorities are prohibited from reading such correspondence and must exclude it from the file if seized during a search or provided by a third party to the authority.
  • The authorities can only launch sealing procedures if they consider that no privilege applies.

Right to Exclude Unlawfully Obtained Evidence

  • Criminal authorities are not bound by limited means of evidence, but the manner in which evidence is collected is strictly governed by the Criminal Procedure Code (CCP) and restricted by parties’ rights derived from:
    • The Swiss Federal Constitution
    • The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
  • There are two types of unlawful evidence:
    • Evidence obtained through physical violence or coercion, which must be excluded from the file.
    • “Relatively usable evidence” obtained through illegal means, which will be left on file if there is an overwhelming public interest in exploiting the relevant evidence.

Provision of Written Rights

  • The CCP has codified several criminal defence rights and procedural guarantees, including:
    • The right to a fair and speedy trial
    • The right to be heard and participate in the gathering of evidence
    • The presumption of innocence
  • These rights are also derived from:
    • The Swiss Federal Constitution
    • The ECHR

Relevant Process for Judicial Review

  • Decisions rendered by the Office of the Public Prosecutor (PPO) during an investigation can be appealed to the courts.
  • The PPO’s decisions on charges, bail, and custody can be challenged before a criminal court.
  • The accused has the right to appeal any verdict or sentence handed down by a criminal court.

Anti-Corruption Conventions

  • Switzerland is a signatory to several international anti-corruption conventions, including:
    • The OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (1997)
    • The Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption (1999)
    • The UN Convention against Corruption (2003)

Bribery and Corruption Offences

  • In Switzerland, bribery and corruption are criminal offences.
  • The Criminal Code (CC) prohibits:
    • Active and passive bribery of foreign officials
    • Bribery of private individuals
    • Abuse of and misconduct in public office
    • Breach of official secrecy
    • Failure to take all reasonable organisational measures to prevent the commission of bribery and corruption offences by companies

International Cooperation

  • Switzerland has ratified several bilateral treaties with other countries regarding mutual assistance in:
    • The seizure, confiscation, and repatriation of the proceeds of crimes
    • Crimes stemming from corruption
  • This cooperation aims to combat international corruption and money laundering.

These safeguards ensure that suspects’ rights are respected throughout criminal proceedings in Switzerland, while also combating bribery and corruption at home and abroad.