Information on penalties, measures and pre-trial detention have been made available since 1984.
Sanctions for adults are: Custodial sentence, financial penalty, community service and fines. Thefollowing measures can be imposed: Indefinite incarceration and in and outpatient treatment of mental disorders or addictive behaviour. For young adults who were under 25 at the time of committing the offence, the Penal Code provides the possibility of placement in an institution for young adults.
|
Adults1 |
|
|---|---|---|
2020 |
2021 |
|
Total convictions with main sanction2 |
98 167 |
97 386 |
Custodial sanction |
14 236 |
13 572 |
unsuspended |
7 682 |
7 104 |
partially suspended |
738 |
700 |
suspended |
5 816 |
5 768 |
Financial penalty |
83 656 |
83 565 |
unsuspended |
15 718 |
16 480 |
suspended |
67 938 |
67 085 |
Fine only |
110 |
109 |
Measures only |
80 |
74 |
Verdicts with provisional pre-trial custody |
17 060 |
17 320 |
of which up to 2 days |
12 555 |
13 083 |
Total verdicts with measures |
522 |
471 |
indefinite incarceration |
3 |
4 |
inpatient measures |
219 |
200 |
outpatient measures |
304 |
279 |
Total expulsions |
2 012 |
1 895 |
The statistics on criminal convictions of the Federal Bureau of Statistics are elaborated based on the entries of the final convictions in the Swiss Convictions Register (VOSTRA). Expulsion is recorded in VOSTRA together with other sanctions (sentences and measures) and is therefore part of the criminal justice statistics.
A table with the pronounced expulsion is elaborated from this data. It contains information on the type and duration of the expulsion as well as on the characteristics of the convicted person such as gender, age and residence status.
The Federal Bureau of Statistics has developed a calculation method for the application rate of the mandatory expulsion. For all convictions of offenses under Article 66a of the Criminal Code and for which a mandatory expulsion should be ordered, it is shown whether an expulsion has been pronounced or not. Since 2019, this has been possible for all offenses in the catalog of Article 66a. The application rates show breakdowns by the characteristics of the person and the sentences. Cantonal data are also available:
A publication on the application rate’s calculation and an analysis of factors increasing the risk for expulsion were based on the data from 2017.
Publication to be downloaded in German or in French
Since 2021, figures on the application of the hard-case clause are available.
Figures showing the nationalities of those sentenced to expulsion are available since 2017.
Principle punishment: length of the penalty
Principle sanction : Combination of sanctions
Principle punishment: sociodemographic characteristics
Measures
Pre-trial detention
Other measures
Publication to be downloaded in German
Publication to be downloaded in French
The Federal Statistical Office's collection of data on the convictions of minors and adults is based on extracts from the centrally managed register of convictions. This statistic has been compiled since 1946, and partially with data from 1936. For the years prior to 1948, statistical results are available in the form of tables, copies of which can be consulted or downloaded.
The continuation of the historical time series for minors can be found for the years 1984-1998 under "Historical data, minors, 1984-1998".
Detailed data on the convictions of minors from 1999 onwards are available on the Swiss Statistics website. Detailed conviction figures for adults are available for the years from 1984 onwards.
The historical conviction data cannot be compared with one another nor with data from the current data collection. Data must first be harmonised and aligned with population data.
