Criminal law

Holidays, wine, champagne and driving " I'm a great lover of wine and champagne! For New Year's Eve on 24 and 31 December, I've been invited to wine-tasting evenings at the home of friends who live in the country and, as there's no public transport available, I'll have to drive there. I know that...

Everyone is equal when it comes to speeding! When it comes to speeding, a distinction is made between minor, medium and serious offences, depending on the extent to which the police have observed that the driver has exceeded the speed limit and the place where the offence was committed. In fact, the threshold for these different offences is not the same in a 30 km/h zone, in a...

What if it's not me in the photo? My car was flashed by a speed camera and the police have opened an investigation against me for speeding. I wasn't at the wheel, but I'm no informer. As the vehicle is in my name, can I...

Duty in the event of a traffic accident "I collided slightly with another vehicle that stopped suddenly in front of me. The driver only had a few minor scratches and there was little material damage to either of our cars. Claiming to be in a hurry, the driver quickly left the scene and the accident never happened again. Should I have...

Driving offences: what are they? I've heard that the law now provides for the offence of hit-and-run driving. What is it?" Martin, Carouge The VIA SICURA road safety programme is introducing changes to the law on road traffic (LCR), the first of which came into force on 1 January this year....

Private defence Criminal proceedings are clearly regulated throughout Switzerland by the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP). The issue you are raising is based, on the one hand, on the fundamental principle that all participants in such proceedings have the right to be assisted by legal counsel and, on the other hand, on the right...

Covid and domicile The domicile owned by the inhabitant belongs to him, so that he alone decides who may or may not enter it. Tenants are not the owners of their homes but, under the terms of a tenancy agreement, the landlord transfers the right of use to them. In both cases, the occupant...

Identity checks: police rights "I was recently stopped in the street for no apparent reason by police officers who asked me for my identity papers. Did they have the right to do so if I wasn't doing anything wrong? James, Geneva Stop-and-search for the purposes of identity checks is subject to requirements in the public interest and...

Driving with a foreign licence? I've been living in Switzerland for over a year now, and I'm wondering whether I'm allowed to drive a vehicle with my French driving licence. And what about my wife, who has a Kosovan driving licence? A. Geneva According to Article 5 of the Ordinance governing the admission...