The terrorist threat and Swiss law

The terrorist threat and Swiss law

"Like everyone else, I've been appalled by the tragic events that have taken place in France, and I wonder whether Switzerland, which still claims to be a peaceful country, has the necessary legal arsenal to deal with the threat of terrorism?

Philippe

The people who have sown terror and death in Paris and other parts of France over the past few days have committed crimes that would of course be punishable under our Criminal Code (CP) if they had taken place in Switzerland, since the assassinations, murders, bodily harm, kidnappings, hostage-taking, threats and other forms of coercion committed by these individuals are prohibited in our country, as they are in every civilised state. Ordinary criminal law therefore provides a panoply of sanctions to punish such acts.

More specifically, in the chapter dealing with crimes and offences against the public peace, technical or organisational preparatory acts for the most serious behaviours listed above are punishable by a custodial sentence, even if they are not ultimately committed for reasons beyond the perpetrator's control (art. 260bis CP), as well as threats that alarm the public (art. 258 CP), public incitement to crime or violence (art. 259 CP), participation in a criminal organisation (art. 260ter CP), endangering public safety with weapons (art. 260quater CP) or financing terrorism (art. 260quinquies CP).

However, some countries, such as France and the United States, have adopted special legislative instruments to deal with these particular types of crime, because of their savagery and the large number of potential victims they can cause. In particular, they have introduced more extensive means of action and investigation, as well as harsher penalties for individuals convicted of terrorism. In Switzerland, the usefulness of such a legal arsenal is controversial, especially as the Federal Code of Criminal Procedure already provides for numerous means of investigation, and a new law on intelligence is currently before Parliament to strengthen the capacity to monitor the correspondence of people suspected of wanting to commit such crimes, so that the Confederation's Intelligence Service is able to detect and prevent threats to internal or external security posed by terrorism and violent extremism in good time.

However, those who are resistant to too much state intervention in the private sphere will continue to wonder whether it is necessary to equip the authorities with increasingly invasive means, at least as long as criminals have the ingenious idea of leaving their identity papers intact in their vehicles or in the rubble of the buildings they blow up...