Recidivism

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At a glance

Recidivism can be calculated by year of conviction or discharge. In this context, re-offenders are persons who commit an offence in the three years following a conviction or release from a custodial sentence and who are subsequently reconvicted. A record is also made of the special case of persons who are not only reconvicted after discharge from a custodial sentence but also re-imprisoned.

Among adults, the previous conviction and the recidivist conviction must always be due to a felony or misdemeanour. Among juveniles, the convictions can also be made solely on the basis of a contravention (less serious offences).

For this reason, the recidivism rates of juveniles and adults cannot be compared with one another.

Recidivism rate by reference year

	Reconviction after a conviction1)2)	Reconviction after release3)	Reimprisonment after release4)
Reference year	2020	2017	2017
Adults convicted	51 790	*	*
Adults released	*	1 332	1 332
Recidivist adults	19.7%	49.9%	24.2%
By sex
male	20.8%	49.2%	23.6%
female	15.4%	54.8%	28.3%
By age category
18 - 24 years	24.0%	57.5%	24.8%
25 - 34 years	22.0%	54.2%	29.5%
35 - 44 years		54.1%	26.5%
45 years and older	14.9%	38.2%	15.3%
By criminal history
No criminal history	14.7%	40.5%	12.8%
One previous conviction	30.3%	38.2%	16.5%
At least two previous convictions	46.2%	65.7%	37.9%
By selected offences
Violent crime5)	23.1%	41.0%	17.1%
Theft6)	31.4%	64.8%	38.1%
Serious violation of RTA	10.9%	38.3%	10.3%
Drink driving	14.0%
Trafficking in narcotic substances7)	28.6%	38.1%	18.2%

1) The term re-offender applies to persons who commit a felony or misdemeanour in the three years following a conviction and who are subsequently reconvicted.
2) The term re-offender applies to persons who commit a felony or misdemeanour within three years of a conviction and who are reconvicted.
3) The term re-offender applies to Swiss adults who commit a felony or misdemeanour leading to another conviction within three years of a conviction or release from a custodial sentence.
4) The term reimprisoned is applied to Swiss adults who, within three years of release from a custodial sentence, commit a felony or misdemeanour leading to another conviction and their subsequent imprisonment.
5) Intentional homicide (art. 111 SCC), murder (art. 112 SCC), manslaughter (art. 113, SCC), infanticide (art. 116 SCC), grievous bodily harm (art 122 SCC), common assault (art. 123 SCC), affray (art. 133 SCC), armed robbery (art. 140, SCC), extortion and blackmail (art. 156, SCC), threatening behaviour (art. 180, SCC), coercion (art. 181, SCC), false imprisonment and abduction (art. 183-184), hostage taking (art, 185, SCC), indecent assault (art. 189, SCC), rape (art. 1980, SCC) or violence or threats against public authorities (art. 285, SCC).
6) Art. 139 SCC
7) Art. 19 NarcA Sources:
Statistics on criminal conviction of minors (JUSUS), state of the database: 16.05.2024
Criminal conviction statistics (SUS), state of the Register of Criminal Conduct: 06.05.2024
Statistics on the Execution of Custodial Sentences (SVS), state of the database: 18.10.2022

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