Criminal law

Blue zone, white lines: compliant? "I received a ticket for forgetting to put my parking disc in a blue zone in a shopping centre car park. This zone is signposted, but the parking lines are white. Don't the lines have to be blue? Can I dispute this?

Company cars: who is liable for fines? "I received a "notice to the keeper" for our French company car for exceeding the speed limit by more than 15km/h when it was limited to 40km/h. The offence was recorded in November 2007. The offence was recorded in November 2007, so isn't it time-barred? Yes, it is.

Long live holidays to forget the pain " My 8-year-old daughter goes to school in Geneva. For several months now she has been telling me that she is subjected to insults and abuse on a daily basis by a handful of pupils who have taken a dislike to her. The school recognises that there's a big problem but plays down the situation, claiming that my daughter is not...

Inappropriate speeding, fines and challenges. "If a motorist is issued with a ticket for inappropriate speed, wouldn't it make sense for the police to provide the exact number of kilometres per hour he was travelling? Adelita, Geneva According to the Federal Law on Road Traffic (LCR), everyone must obey signs and markings as well as...

Improper use of municipal services You are right: it is absolutely not normal for an employee, civil servant or magistrate to use his authority and the human resources of the public body he serves to obtain services that benefit him personally! Such behaviour, at a purely contractual level, constitutes a breach of the duty to respect the...

A foreign licence that's making waves I have a boating licence issued by the French authorities a few years ago, when I lived and worked in neighbouring France. I now live in Switzerland and would like to exchange this French licence for a Swiss sailing licence, but I've been told...

A butterfly classified as very dangerous I have a butterfly knife at home, but I was recently told that it is a prohibited weapon in Switzerland. It seemed to me that our weapons legislation was rather tolerant and that it was easy to acquire firearms. Is it true that a simple knife is banned? Vincent,...

Is it possible to have a child sitting in the front seat? "I usually carry my son in the front passenger seat of my car, with a booster seat; some of the mums at school claim that this is forbidden, on the grounds that he's not yet 12. One of them claims to have this information from the police. What does...

Electric scooter or skateboard? My 15-year-old son insists that I buy him an electric scooter, but I think it's dangerous unless he can ride on pavements, but I don't know if that's allowed. So I'd rather buy him an electric skateboard like the ones you see on...