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- Art. 5a FC
- Art. 6 FC
- Art. 10 FC
- Art. 16 FC
- Art. 17 FC
- Art. 20 FC
- Art. 22 FC
- Art. 29a FC
- Art. 30 FC
- Art. 32 FC
- Art. 42 FC
- Art. 43 FC
- Art. 43a FC
- Art. 55 FC
- Art. 56 FC
- Art. 60 FC
- Art. 68 FC
- Art. 75b FC
- Art. 77 FC
- Art. 96 para. 2 lit. a FC
- Art. 110 FC
- Art. 117a FC
- Art. 118 FC
- Art. 123b FC
- Art. 136 FC
- Art. 166 FC
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- Art. 11 CO
- Art. 12 CO
- Art. 50 CO
- Art. 51 CO
- Art. 84 CO
- Art. 143 CO
- Art. 144 CO
- Art. 145 CO
- Art. 146 CO
- Art. 147 CO
- Art. 148 CO
- Art. 149 CO
- Art. 150 CO
- Art. 701 CO
- Art. 715 CO
- Art. 715a CO
- Art. 734f CO
- Art. 785 CO
- Art. 786 CO
- Art. 787 CO
- Art. 788 CO
- Transitional provisions to the revision of the Stock Corporation Act of June 19, 2020
- Art. 808c CO
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- Art. 2 PRA
- Art. 3 PRA
- Art. 4 PRA
- Art. 6 PRA
- Art. 10 PRA
- Art. 10a PRA
- Art. 11 PRA
- Art. 12 PRA
- Art. 13 PRA
- Art. 14 PRA
- Art. 15 PRA
- Art. 16 PRA
- Art. 17 PRA
- Art. 19 PRA
- Art. 20 PRA
- Art. 21 PRA
- Art. 22 PRA
- Art. 23 PRA
- Art. 24 PRA
- Art. 25 PRA
- Art. 26 PRA
- Art. 27 PRA
- Art. 29 PRA
- Art. 30 PRA
- Art. 31 PRA
- Art. 32 PRA
- Art. 32a PRA
- Art. 33 PRA
- Art. 34 PRA
- Art. 35 PRA
- Art. 36 PRA
- Art. 37 PRA
- Art. 38 PRA
- Art. 39 PRA
- Art. 40 PRA
- Art. 41 PRA
- Art. 42 PRA
- Art. 43 PRA
- Art. 44 PRA
- Art. 45 PRA
- Art. 46 PRA
- Art. 47 PRA
- Art. 48 PRA
- Art. 49 PRA
- Art. 50 PRA
- Art. 51 PRA
- Art. 52 PRA
- Art. 53 PRA
- Art. 54 PRA
- Art. 55 PRA
- Art. 56 PRA
- Art. 57 PRA
- Art. 58 PRA
- Art. 59a PRA
- Art. 59b PRA
- Art. 59c PRA
- Art. 62 PRA
- Art. 63 PRA
- Art. 67 PRA
- Art. 67a PRA
- Art. 67b PRA
- Art. 75 PRA
- Art. 75a PRA
- Art. 76 PRA
- Art. 76a PRA
- Art. 90 PRA
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- Vorb. zu Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 2 FADP
- Art. 3 FADP
- Art. 5 lit. f und g FADP
- Art. 6 Abs. 6 and 7 FADP
- Art. 7 FADP
- Art. 10 FADP
- Art. 11 FADP
- Art. 12 FADP
- Art. 14 FADP
- Art. 15 FADP
- Art. 19 FADP
- Art. 20 FADP
- Art. 22 FADP
- Art. 23 FADP
- Art. 25 FADP
- Art. 26 FADP
- Art. 27 FADP
- Art. 31 para. 2 lit. e FADP
- Art. 33 FADP
- Art. 34 FADP
- Art. 35 FADP
- Art. 38 FADP
- Art. 39 FADP
- Art. 40 FADP
- Art. 41 FADP
- Art. 42 FADP
- Art. 43 FADP
- Art. 44 FADP
- Art. 44a FADP
- Art. 45 FADP
- Art. 46 FADP
- Art. 47 FADP
- Art. 47a FADP
- Art. 48 FADP
- Art. 49 FADP
- Art. 50 FADP
- Art. 51 FADP
- Art. 54 FADP
- Art. 57 FADP
- Art. 58 FADP
- Art. 60 FADP
- Art. 61 FADP
- Art. 62 FADP
- Art. 63 FADP
- Art. 64 FADP
- Art. 65 FADP
- Art. 66 FADP
- Art. 67 FADP
- Art. 69 FADP
- Art. 72 FADP
- Art. 72a FADP
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- Art. 2 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 3 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 4 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 5 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 6 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 7 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 8 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 9 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 11 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 12 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 25 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 29 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 32 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 33 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 34 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
CODE OF OBLIGATIONS
FEDERAL LAW ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
LUGANO CONVENTION
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON POLITICAL RIGHTS
CIVIL CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON CARTELS AND OTHER RESTRAINTS OF COMPETITION
FEDERAL ACT ON INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
DEBT ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON DATA PROTECTION
SWISS CRIMINAL CODE
CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
- I. Introduction
- II. The material scope of application of the CCC in relation to local mutual assistance
- III. Legal sources in mutual legal assistance
- IV. Obligation to provide legal assistance
- V. Principle of maximum accommodation
- VI. Forms of transmission in mutual legal assistance
- VII. Structure of the principle of double criminality
- VIII. Breaking through the fiscal reservation
- IX. Legislative mandate to the contracting states
- Bibliography
- Materials
I. Introduction
1 Art. 25 CCC summarizes under the heading "General Principles of Mutual Legal Assistance" various provisions relating to small-scale mutual legal assistance within the scope of application of the CCC. Specifically, the article contains provisions concerning
the material scope of application of the CCC (para. 1),
the relevant legal sources in legal assistance proceedings (para. 4),
the obligation to provide minor legal assistance (para. 1),
the principle of maximum accommodation (para. 1),
the possible forms of transmission in mutual legal assistance proceedings (para. 3),
the structure of the principle of double criminality (para. 5) and
the breach of the fiscal reservation (para. 4).
2 Furthermore, Art. 25 para. 2 CCC contains a legislative mandate to the contracting states.
3 The CCC is intended to supplement existing bilateral or multilateral treaties and agreements between the contracting parties (in particular the EUeR) and thereby accelerate and simplify mutual legal assistance procedures. Its conception as a supplementary convention has a strong impact on the regulatory content and the density of regulation relating to small-scale mutual assistance.
II. The material scope of application of the CCC in relation to local mutual assistance
4 The substantive scope of application of the CCC for small-scale mutual assistance is governed by Art. 25 para. 1 CCC and has two alternative connecting factors: On the one hand, it can be linked to the offense under investigation ("offenses related to computer systems and data") and, on the other hand, to the evidence to be collected ("evidence in electronic form").
A. Criminal offense as a connecting factor
5 On the one hand, the material scope of application applies if there is a suspicion that an offense described in Art. 2-11 CCC has been committed. On the other hand, the material scope of application applies to offenses committed by means of a computer system - regardless of the actual offense committed. The offence "computer systems" is defined in Art. 1 lit. a CCC as follows: "a device or a group of interconnected or related devices which, individually or in combination, perform automatic data processing on the basis of a program".
6 In the prima facie examination of this material scope of application by the mutual legal assistance authorities, the following must be taken into account in particular: Certain elements of the material scope of application are in principle part of the legally relevant facts to be clarified in the context of the foreign criminal investigation; in some circumstances, it is precisely these points that the requested measures of evidence are intended to clarify. Accordingly, no high demands are to be placed on the description of these factual elements.
B. Evidence in electronic form as a connecting factor
7 If evidence is to be collected in the context of mutual assistance in criminal matters which is presumed to be in electronic form, the material scope of application of the CCC applies irrespective of the offense under investigation. Evidence in electronic form may, in particular, be data.
III. Legal sources in mutual legal assistance
A. Mutual assistance provisions
8 Mutual assistance proceedings within the scope of the CCC are primarily governed by the relevant international treaties and the CCC. Insofar as these international treaties do not expressly or implicitly regulate certain issues, the national provisions apply (Art. 25 para. 4 CCC). In Switzerland, the IMAC and the IMAC Ordinance are authoritative for mutual assistance in criminal matters (Art. 1 para. 1 IMAC). The principle of favorability - also enshrined in Art. 25 para. 1 CCC - states that the national provisions apply even if they impose less stringent requirements for mutual assistance. Consequently, the provisions of the CCC only apply in mutual legal assistance proceedings if they represent the most favorable norm from the perspective of the requesting state.
B. Subsidiary procedural law in Switzerland
9 If the mutual assistance provisions lack relevant procedural provisions, the CrimPC and the APA apply mutatis mutandis in mutual assistance proceedings in Switzerland. The CrimPC is authoritative in mutual assistance proceedings if the IMAC refers to it directly or in connection with criminal procedural acts within the meaning of Art. 63 et seq. IMAC. In other cases, the APA serves as subsidiary procedural law.
IV. Obligation to provide legal assistance
10 Based on Art. 25 para. 1 CCC, the requested state is obliged, if all the conditions for mutual assistance are met, to provide minor mutual assistance if it is requested to do so by a contracting party. However, this obligation does not mean that the requesting state has the status of a party or the right to appeal within the framework of the legal assistance proceedings. Any divergent positions of states with regard to the question of whether the conditions for mutual assistance in criminal matters are met and whether mutual assistance should be provided shall be resolved at diplomatic level.
11 In the case of non-contractual mutual assistance in criminal matters, there is no entitlement to intergovernmental cooperation in criminal matters (see Art. 1 para. 4 IMAC).
V. Principle of maximum accommodation
12 Art. 25 para. 1 CCC obliges the requested state to comply with requests for mutual assistance within the scope of application of the CCC "to the greatest extent possible" (so-called principle of maximum accommodation).
13 The principle of maximum accommodation is a generally recognized principle of mutual assistance in criminal matters that is not merely programmatic in nature. The principle includes the above-mentioned principle of favorability. In practice, the principle of favorability applies in all mutual legal assistance proceedings - even if there is no obligation to do so under international treaties. It states that national law may not make legal assistance in criminal matters more difficult than overriding international treaty law, but it may make it easier.
14 The principle of maximum accommodation also relates to the scope of the legal assistance to be provided. It allows the measures requested in a request for mutual assistance to be interpreted generously and all potentially relevant evidence for the foreign criminal proceedings to be handed over to the requesting authority - even if the requesting authority has not explicitly requested this.
VI. Forms of transmission in mutual legal assistance
15 According to the IMAC, requests for mutual legal assistance addressed to Switzerland must generally be sent in writing to the Federal Office of Justice. However, several European treaties also permit direct communication between the competent judicial bodies (usually public prosecutors' offices) as well as alternatives to written correspondence.
16 Within the scope of application of the CCC, Art. 25 para. 3 CCC permits the use of "rapid means of communication, including fax or electronic mail" in urgent cases. This applies not only to requests for mutual legal assistance, but to all mutual legal assistance. The purpose of this provision is to speed up mutual assistance proceedings and, in particular, to enable evidence to be secured quickly in order to counteract the risk of evidence being lost. A request for mutual assistance must be submitted in writing at the explicit request of the requested state.
17 Temporal urgency is given if there is a risk of loss of evidence with the transmission in written form. This is particularly the case if data needs to be collected for the purposes of mutual legal assistance.
18 There is no numerus clausus with regard to the means of communication that may be used. In practice, e-mail, fax and state file-sharing platforms are used in particular. However, requests for legal assistance may also be made by telephone.
19 The relevant security and authentication standards are derived from the national legal systems or the guidelines and practice of the relevant authorities.
VII. Structure of the principle of double criminality
20 Art. 25 para. 5 CCC regulates the structure of the principle of dual criminality.
A. Principle of double criminality
21 Double criminality is a classic principle of international cooperation. It states that mutual assistance in criminal matters is only granted with regard to offenses that are punishable under the law of both the requesting and the requested state. The principle of dual criminality is part of public policy in Switzerland and has been ensured accordingly in all bilateral treaties and (by means of reservations) in multilateral mutual legal assistance agreements - including for the scope of application of the CCC.
B. Principle of double criminality within the scope of application of the CCC
22 If measures requiring procedural coercion are to be applied in the context of mutual assistance proceedings, the principle of double criminality applies within the scope of application of the CCC. However, there are also exceptions to this principle.
23 According to the general principles, criminal liability under the law of the requesting state - also within the scope of application of the CCC - is not to be examined in principle in mutual assistance proceedings here, subject to cases of obvious abuse.
24 On the question of double criminality under Swiss law, the executing authority examines whether the set of facts described in the request for mutual assistance can prima facie be subsumed under a Swiss criminal provision. Art. 25 para. 5 CCC states on the one hand that it is sufficient if the facts described in the request for mutual assistance can be subsumed under a single criminal offense under Swiss law - it is not necessary to further examine whether other offenses could also be fulfilled. On the other hand, it stipulates that dual criminality does not require identical criminal provisions in the requesting and requested state. Consequently, the content of para. 5 already corresponds to the current practice in Switzerland.
VIII. Breaking through the fiscal reservation
25 Traditionally, numerous sources of law - both national and international - contain a so-called fiscal reservation. For example, Art. 3 para. 3 IMAC stipulates that accessory legal assistance in proceedings for the evasion of fiscal duties is also excluded in principle.
26 Sentence two of Art. 25 para. 4 CCC is intended to ensure that any fiscal reservations do not stand in the way of mutual legal assistance within the scope of application of the CCC if criminal offenses within the meaning of Art. 2-11 CCC are being investigated. Since the offenses described in Art. 2-11 CCC are not fiscal offenses, the practical relevance of this provision is likely to be rather limited. At best, one could consider constellations of ideal competition: The perpetrator commits both a fiscal offense not eligible for mutual assistance and a criminal offense within the meaning of Art. 2-11 CCC through a single act or through a uniform, related act. In this case, the fiscal reservation would always be breached.
IX. Legislative mandate to the contracting states
A. General
27 Art. 25 para. 2 CCC obliges the Contracting States to ensure, when drafting their national legal systems, that national instruments exist to implement the provisions of Art. 27-35 CCC. This norm therefore primarily represents a so-called legislative mandate under international law.
28 The obligation is fundamentally directed at the legislature and requires active action on the part of the state party - if domestic law does not (yet) meet the requirements. States parties that already have the necessary legal instruments do not have to take legislative action.
B. Implementation in Switzerland
29 As we understand it here, the provisions of Art. 27-35 CCC are generally to be qualified as self-executing. With regard to their domestic applicability and enforceability, the legislator only saw a need for action with regard to Art. 30 and 33 CCC.
30 To implement Art. 30 CCC (Immediate disclosure of secured traffic data) and Art. 33 CCC (Mutual legal assistance in the collection of traffic data in real time), Art. 18b IMAC was inserted into the law with the marginal note "Electronic data" by federal decree of March 18, 2011.
Bibliography
Böhi Simon, Kommentierung zu Art. 18b IRSG, in: Niggli Marcel Alexander/Heimgartner Stefan (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Internationales Strafrecht, IRSG, GwÜ, Basel 2015.
Dangubic Miro, Parteistellung und Parteirechte bei der rechtshilfeweisen Herausgabe von Kontoinformationen, forumpoenale 2018, S. 112–117.
Dangubic Miro/Clerc Yves, Art. 80dbis – ein Überblick, forumpoenale 2022, S. 287–292.
Donatsch Andreas/Heimgartner Stefan/Meyer Frank/Simonek Madeleine, Internationale Rechtshilfe, 2. Aufl., Zürich et al. 2015.
Donatsch Andreas/Godenzi Gunhild/Tag Brigitte, Strafrecht I, Verbrechenslehre, 10. Aufl., Zürich 2022.
Garré Roy, Kommentierung zu Art. 35 IRSG, in: Niggli Marcel Alexander/Heimgartner Stefan (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Internationales Strafrecht, IRSG, GwÜ, Basel 2015.
Graf Damian K., in: Ackermann Jürg-Beat (Hrsg.), Wirtschaftsstrafrecht der Schweiz, Hand- und Studienbuch, 2. Aufl., Bern 2021.
Graf Damian K., Kommentierung zu Art. 32 CCC, in: Graf Damian K. (Hrsg.), Onlinekommentar, Übereinkommen über die Cyberkriminalität (Cybercrime Convention), abrufbar unter https://onlinekommentar.ch/de/kommentare/ccc32, besucht am 21.11.2023.
Heimgartner Stefan, Kommentierung zu Art. 64 IRSG, in: Niggli Marcel Alexander/Heimgartner Stefan (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Internationales Strafrecht, IRSG, GwÜ, Basel 2015.
Heimgartner Stefan/Niggli Marcel Alexander, Kommentierung zu Einführung IRSG, in: Niggli Marcel Alexander/Heimgartner Stefan (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Internationales Strafrecht, IRSG, GwÜ, Basel 2015.
Kocher Martin, Kommentierung zu Art. 3 IRSG, in: Niggli Marcel Alexander/Heimgartner Stefan (Hrsg.), Basler Kommentar, Internationales Strafrecht, IRSG, GwÜ, Basel 2015.
Popp Peter, Grundzüge der internationalen Rechtshilfe in Strafsachen, Basel et al. 2001.
Materials
Botschaft über die Genehmigung und die Umsetzung des Übereinkommens des Europarates über die Cyberkriminalität vom 18.6.2010, BBl 2010 4697 ff., abrufbar unter https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/federal-gazette/2010/4697.pdf, besucht am 21.10.2023 (zit. Botschaft 2010).
Explanatory Report to the Convention on Cybercrime, European Treaty Series – No. 185, Budapest, 23.XI.2001, abrufbar unter https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=09000016800cce5b, besucht am 21.10.2023 (zit. Explanatory Report).