Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only, has no legal force and may not be relied on in legal proceedings.
Chapter 1 Pending Status, Preparation for the Tria
Art. 328 Pending status
1 On receipt of the indictment, the proceedings become pending before the court. 2 When the proceedings become pending, authority over the proceedings passes to the court.
Art. 329 Examination of the indictment; suspension and abandonment of the proceedings
1 The director of proceedings shall examine whether: a. the indictment and the files have been presented in the proper manner; b. the procedural requirements are fulfilled; c. there are any procedural impediments. 2 If it is determined in this examination or later in the proceedings that a judgment cannot be issued at this time, the court shall suspend the proceedings. If required, it shall return the indictment to the public prosecutor for amendment or correction. 3 The court shall decide whether a suspended case remains pending before it. 4 If it is permanently impossible to issue a judgment, the court shall abandon the proceedings after granting the parties and other third parties adversely affected by abandonment the right to a fair hearing. Article 320 applies mutatis mutandis. 5 If the proceedings are only abandoned in relation to specific charges on the indictment abandoned, the abandonment order may be issued with the judgment.
Art. 330 Preparation for the trial
1 If the charges are to be considered, the director of proceedings shall immediately issue the orders required for the trial to be conducted. 2 In the case of courts with a panel of judges, the director of proceedings shall circulate the files. 3 The director of proceedings shall inform the victim of his or her rights, unless the prosecution authorities have already done so; Article 305 applies mutatis mutandis.
Art. 331 Scheduling the trial
1 The director of proceedings shall decide on the evidence that may be taken at the trial. He or she shall notify the parties of the composition of the court and what evidence is to be presented. 2 The director of proceedings shall at the same time set a deadline within which the parties must submit and justify requests for further evidence to be taken; when doing so, he or she shall notify the parties of the potential effect on costs and compensation of delayed requests for further evidence to be taken. He or she shall set the same deadline for the private claimants in order to quantify and justify their civil claim. 3 If the director of proceedings rejects a request for further evidence to be taken, he or she shall notify the parties of this and give a brief statement of the grounds. Rejection is non-contestable, but rejected requests for further evidence to be taken may be submitted again at the trial. 4 The director of proceedings shall fix a date, time and place for the trial and
Para. 2 — Second sentence inserted by No I of the FA of 17 June 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697).
Art. 332 Preliminary hearings
1 The director of proceedings may summon the parties to a preliminary hearing in order to settle organisational issues. 2 The director of proceedings may summon the parties to discuss a private settlement in accordance with Article 316. 3 If it is expected that it will not be possible to take certain evidence in the trial, the director of proceedings may take that evidence prior to the trial, entrust the task to a delegate of the court or in cases of urgency to the public prosecutor, or arrange for the evidence to be taken through mutual assistance procedures. The parties shall be given the opportunity to participate if evidence is taken in this way.
Art. 333 Amending and adding charges
1 The court shall allow the public prosecutor the opportunity to amend the charges if in its view the circumstances outlined in the indictment could constitute a different offence but the indictment does not meet the statutory requirements. 2 If further offences by the accused come to light during the main proceedings, the court may permit the public prosecutor to add charges to the indictment. 3 Additions are not permitted if the proceedings would be made unduly complex or this would affect the jurisdiction of the court or if a case involves co-offending or participation. In these cases, the public prosecutor shall commence preliminary proceedings. 4 The court may only base its judgment on a charge that has been amended or added to if the party rights of the accused and the private claimant have been observed. If necessary, it shall adjourn the trial.
Art. 334 Transfer
1 If the court concludes that in proceedings pending before it a sentence or measure must be considered that exceeds its competence, it shall transfer the case at the latest following the party submissions to the competent court. This court shall conduct its own procedure for taking evidence. 2 The decision to transfer the case to another court is non-contestable.
Chapter 2 Conduct of the Trial
Section 1 Court and Persons involved in the Procee
Art. 335 Composition of the court
1 The court shall sit for the entire duration of the trial in the composition required by law and in the presence of a clerk of court. 2 If a judge becomes unable to attend during the trial, the entire trial shall be held again unless the parties waive this requirement. 3 The director of proceedings may order that from the outset a substitute member of the court participates in the hearing in order to replace a member of the court if necessary. 4 If the court is hearing a case involving sexual offences, if so requested by the victim at least one of its members must be of the same gender as the victim. Where the court comprises one judge sitting alone, this rule need not be applied if the case involves victims of both genders.
Art. 336 Accused, duty defence lawyer and mandatory defence lawyer
1 The accused must attend the trial in person if: a. the case involves a felony or misdemeanour; or b. the director of proceedings orders a personal appearance. 2 Duty defence lawyers and the mandatory defence lawyers must attend the trial in person. 3 The director of proceedings may dispense with the requirement for the accused to attend in person at the accused's request if the accused shows good cause and his or her presence is not required. 4 If the accused fails to attend without being excused, the regulations on proceedings in absentia apply. 5 If a duty defence lawyer or mandatory defence lawyer fails to attend, the hearing shall be postponed.
Art. 337 Public prosecutor
1 The public prosecutor may submit written applications to the court or be represented by a prosecutor in court. 2 It is neither bound by the legal assessment nor by the applications set out in the indictment. 3 If it requests a custodial sentence of more than one year or a custodial measure, it must be represented in court by a prosecutor. 4 The director of proceedings may require the public prosecutor to be represented by a prosecutor in other cases if he or she regards it as necessary. 5 If the public prosecutor is not present at the trial, despite being required to be represented, the trial shall be postponed.
Art. 338 Private claimant and third parties
1 The director of proceedings may dispense with the requirements for a private claimant to attend at the claimant's request if his or her presence is not required. 2 A third party affected by an application for forfeiture is not required to appear in person. 3 If a private claimant or a third party affected by an application for forfeiture does not appear in person, he or she may be represented or submit written applications.
Section 2 Commencement of the Trial
Art. 339 Opening; Preliminary and supplementary issues
1 The director of proceedings shall open the trial, announce the composition of the court and establish whether the persons summoned are present. 2 The court and the parties may then raise preliminary issues in particular relating to: a. the competence of the charge; b. procedural requirements; c. procedural impediments; d. the files and the evidence taken; e. the admission of the public to the hearing; f. the division of the hearing. 3 The court decides immediately on the preliminary issues after granting the parties present the right to a fair hearing. 4 If the parties raise supplementary issues during the trial, the court shall deal with these in the same way as preliminary issues. 5 The court may adjourn the trial at any time in order to deal with preliminary or supplementary issues, and to add to or have the public prosecutor add to the files or the evidence.
Art. 340 Continuation of the hearing
1 The fact that any preliminary issues have been dealt with has the following consequences: a. the trial must be conducted to its completion without unnecessary interruptions; b. the charge may no longer be withdrawn and, subject to Article 333, may no longer be amended; c. parties required to attend may only leave the venue for the hearing with the consent of the court; if a party leaves the venue for the hearing, the hearing shall nevertheless continue. 2 After any preliminary issues have been dealt with, the director of proceedings shall announce the applications made by the public prosecutor, unless the parties dispense with this requirement.
Section 3 Procedure for Taking Evidence
Art. 341 Examination hearings
1 The director of proceedings or a member of the court that they have appointed shall conduct the examination hearings. 2 The other members of the court and the parties may request the director of proceedings to ask supplementary questions or request their authorisation to ask them themselves. 3 At the start of the beginning of the procedure for taking evidence, the director of proceedings shall question the accused in detail on his or her personal circumstances, on the charge and on the results of the preliminary proceedings.
Art. 342 Division of the trial
1 At the request of the accused or the public prosecutor or ex officio, the trial may be divided into two parts; in this event, it may be stipulated that: a. in the first part of the proceedings, only the offence and the issue of the accused's guilt will be considered, and that in the second the consequences of conviction or acquittal shall be considered; or b. in the first part of the proceedings, only the offence will be considered and in the second the issue of the accused's guilt together with the consequences of conviction or acquittal will be considered. 1bis The following are responsible for the decision: a. until the trial is opened: the director of proceedings; b. after the trial is opened: the court. 1ter If the director of proceedings rejects the request for the trial to be divided into two parts, he or she shall notify the parties of this and provide a brief statement of the grounds. The request may be filed again at the trial. 2 The decision on the division of the trial is
Para. 1bis let. b — Inserted by No I of the FA of 17 June 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697). Para. 1ter — Inserted by No I of the FA of 17 June 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697).
Art. 343 Taking of evidence
1 The court shall take new evidence and add to evidence already taken that is incomplete. 2 It shall take evidence again that was not taken in the proper manner in the preliminary proceedings. 3 It shall take evidence again that was taken in the proper manner in the preliminary proceedings if direct knowledge of the evidence appears necessary in order to reach a decision.
Art. 344 Differences in legal assessment
If the court intends to make an assessment of the legal aspects of the case that differs from that of public prosecutor in the indictment, it shall give notice of this to the parties present and give them the opportunity to comment.
Art. 345 Conclusion of the procedure for taking evidence
Before concluding the procedure for taking evidence, the court shall give the parties the opportunity to submit additional requests for further evidence to be taken.
Section 4 Party Submissions and Conclusion of the
Art. 346 Party submissions
1 On conclusion of the procedure for taking evidence, the parties shall present and justify their applications. The parties shall make their submissions in the following order: a. the public prosecutor; b. the private claimant; c. third parties affected by an application for forfeiture (Art. 69–73 SCC); d. the accused or his or her defence lawyer. 2 The parties have the right to make a second party submission.
Para. 1 let. c — SR 311.0
Art. 347 Conclusion of the party hearing
1 The accused is entitled to have the last word on conclusion of the party submissions. 2 The director of proceedings shall then declare the party hearing closed.
Section 5 Judgment
Art. 348 Deliberations on the judgment
1 The court shall retire on conclusion of the party hearing in order to deliberate on the judgment in private. 2 The clerk of court shall participate in an advisory capacity.
Art. 349 Additional evidence
If the court is not yet in a position to issue a judgment in the case, it may decide to take additional evidence and the reopen the party hearing.
Art. 350 Latitude in assessing the charge; Basis for the judgment
1 The court is bound by the facts of the case set out in the indictment but not by the legal assessment of the case therein. 2 It shall take account of the evidence taken in the preliminary proceedings and main proceedings.
Art. 351 Decision on and notice of the judgment
1 If the court is able to decide on the substance of the charge, it shall reach a verdict, and a decision on the sanctions and other consequences. 2 It shall reach its decision on all points of the judgment by a simple majority. Each member is obliged to vote. 3 It shall give notice of its judgment in accordance with the provisions of Article 84.