Criminal justice

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In focus

Convictions

In 2018 the number of juvenile convictions remained stable overall with 13 787 cases according to the juvenile conviction statistics. For adult convictions, numbers stagnated with just under 110 000 convictions.

Sanctions and pre-trial detention

Conditional financial penalties continued to be the most common sentence (70%) in 2018. A total of 1 702 expulsions were issued in 2018. An expulsion was pronounced for 71% of convictions due to offences for which the legislator provides for compulsory expulsion.

At a glance

Key figures for juvenile and adult criminal justice, 2018
	Convictions		Convicted persons
	Minors¹	Adults²	Minors¹	Adults²
Judgments / Convictions
Total	13 787	107 085	12 071	98 445
By sex
male	*	*	9 448	81 466
female	*	*	2 623	16 979
By act
by SCC	8 452	33 724	7 099	32 189
by RTA	1 229	57 023	1 163	54 032
by NarcA (drug dealing)	870	5 761	841	6 165
by FNA	538	18 047	502	14 989
Main sanction³
Custodial sentence	811	13 957	*	*
of which suspended	512	5 011	*	*
Monetary penalty	*	92 769	*	*
of which suspended	*	75 076	*	*
Employment in community service / personal work	5 685	156	*	*
of which suspended	476	34	*	*
Fine	2 945	85	*	*
Caution	3 930	*	*	*
Single measure	28	63	*	*
Exemption from punishment	388	*	*	*

¹ For juvenile convictions felonies, misdemeanours and contraventions are taken into account.
² For adults only felonies and misdemeanours are included, because contraventions are only recorded in the register of convictions as an exception.
³ One main sanction is established per verdict and this is the only one shown in the table. For this reason sanctions are ranked according to their severity and only the most severe sanction is shown. A custodial sentence is considered to be the most severe sanction for minors, followed by personal performance, fines, cautions and lastly exemption from punishment. For adults, custodial sentence is considered to be the most severe sanction, followed by financial penalties, community service, fines and measures.

SCC: Swiss Criminal Code
RTA: Road Traffic Act
NarcA: Narcotics Act
FNA: Foreign Nationals Act Sources:
Statistics on criminal conviction of minors (JUSUS), state of the database: 24.05.2019
Criminal conviction statistics (SUS), state of the Register of Criminal Conduct: 20.05.2019

The juvenile conviction statistics and the conviction statistics (adults) allow analyses to be made by conviction and by convicted persons. In addition to providing details on convicted persons, information is available on the offences and on the pronounced sanctions.

The juvenile convictions statistics (JUSUS) shows all convictions of juveniles which contain an offence against the Criminal Code, the Aliens Act and the Narcotics Act or a felony or misdemeanour against the Road Traffic Act. The juvenile conviction statistics has existed in its present form since 1999.

The conviction statistics (SUS) shows all convictions of adults recorded in the register of convictions which were pronounced on the basis of a felony or misdemeanour. Contraventions are not taken into account as these are only rarely entered in the register of convictions. The conviction statistics has existed in its present form since 1984.

Principal results 2018

Stable conviction figures, latest findings on expulsions
In 2018, 13 787 entries were recorded in the statistics of juvenile convictions. Throughout Switzerland, 468 persons were in external placements under juvenile law on the reference day 31.1.2019. The number of juvenile convictions remained stable, that of external placements fell slightly (-2.5%). At 107 085 the number of adult convictions was also similar to that of last year. Conditional financial penalties continued to be the most common sentence (70%). A total of 1702 expulsions were issued in 2018. An expulsion was pronounced for 71% of convictions due to offences for which the legislator provides for compulsory expulsion.

Validity of statistics

Criminality indicators
The figures in the conviction statistics for minors and adults only partially convey criminality. Many offences are not reported to the police, not all offences are solved or end in a conviction.
Furthermore, with regard to the conviction statistics, not all sentences are recorded in the register of convictions. If a verdict is the result of a serious offence (felony or misdemeanour), it is, on principle, recorded in the register of convictions and therefore included in the conviction
statistics. If, however, a conviction is made solely on the basis of a contravention, then this is only rarely recorded in the register of convictions.
The conviction statistics do not, therefore, cover all convictions but only those due to the perpetration of a felony or misdemeanour. Under which conditions a verdict regarding a contravention is recorded, is legally determined in Art. 3 of the ordinance of 29 September 2006 on the register of convictions (VOSTRA ordinance).

Evaluation of the development of criminality
The VOSTRA ordinance was revised in 1992 and 2007. On each occasion, the changes had an impact on the number of convictions recorded in the register of convictions. For this reason, it is difficult to evaluate the trend in adult convictions from 1984 to 2015. It was therefore decided - in particular with regard to time series - to only take into account the verdicts made due to the perpetration of a felony and/or misdemeanour.
Despite the restriction to only these convictions, the evaluation of the development of criminality over time is only possible to a limited extent with the data from the conviction statistics. Victims' reporting behaviour can change over time, therefore influencing conviction numbers. Furthermore, the intensity of police controls may rise or fall depending on the priorities set. In particular in the area of road traffic and drug offences, such factors can effect the number of crimes reported and
thus influence convictions. The impact of revisions of laws and new forms of criminality should not be ignored either.

Completeness of data
Convictions are only recorded in the register of convictions once they are final. This can - in particular with serious offences - take some time due to appeals that may be made. For these reasons it takes several years until all convictions occurring in a given year are recorded in the register of convictions and appear in the statistics. The juvenile conviction statistics also contains only final verdicts.
This should be taken into account when interpreting data from the most recent survey years, in particular with regard to serious offence.

Further information

Selection: Tables on total of convicted persons

Selection: Tables relative to the main laws

Selection: Tables relative to the sanctions

All tables on the topic Criminal justice

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Statistical sources and concepts

Surveys