Organisation of the judicial system

Judicial cooperation

Guidelines published by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice

Text in original language, English and/or other available languages of the relevant national laws/provisions of the Criminal procedure codes on judicial cooperation in criminal matters

Links to the relevant sections of the Council of Europe and United Nations Treaties Offices websites containing information on the conventions to which Switzerland is party

National case law relevant for judicial cooperation in criminal matters

Useful national links

The Office of the Attorney General is, first and foremost, the Confederation's investigation and prosecution authority. It is competent for the prosecution of criminal acts which fall under Federal jurisdiction. This jurisdictional competence must be expressly assigned to the Office of the Attorney General by law. The criminal offences for which Federal jurisdiction is designated are expressly listed in the Swiss Code on Criminal Procedure (Arts. 23 and 24 CCP), as well as in various other Federal laws. All other criminal offences, i.e., by far the statistically larger portion, fall within the competence of the cantons. The Office of the Attorney General is not an authority to which the 26 cantonal prosecution authorities are subordinate. Hence, the Office of the Attorney General does not exercise any supervisory oversight over the cantonal public prosecutor offices, nor does it enjoy any right to issue directives to them.

Other useful information