English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 10 Archiving
1 The authorities of the Confederation, the cantons and the communes shall ensure that files on compulsory social measures and placements prior to 1981 are held in safekeeping. The Federal Council shall regulate the safekeeping of such files, determining in particular for how long and in what form they are to be kept. 2 They may not use the files to take decisions that are prejudicial to the persons affected. 3 The authorities of the Confederation and the cantons shall assign protective periods to files containing personal data that take account of the legitimate interests of the persons affected, their family members, and research. 4 Institutions that were involved in compulsory social measures or placements and which are not bound under cantonal law by the canton’s information, data protection and archiving legislation are subject to the provisions of the information, data protection and archiving legislation of their canton of domicile. These institutions shall ensure that their fil
Art. 11 Inspection of files
1 Persons affected have the right to access the files related to them free of charge in a simple procedure. Their family members shall acquire this right following their death. 2 Other persons have the right to access the files if access is required for academic purposes. 3 While the protective period applies, access to the files shall be granted only if one of the following requirements is met: a. the person affected requests access to their personal data; b. the person affected consents to disclosure; c. the files are being used for purposes not related to specific persons, in particular for academic or statistical purposes; d. an authority requires the files in order to fulfil its statutory duties; e. other particularly legitimate interests apply. 4 Persons affected may request that disputed or incorrect content in the files be marked and that a counterstatement be added to the files. No person shall have the right to have files handed over, corrected or destroyed.
Art. 12 Support from the cantonal archives
1 The cantonal archives and other state archives shall support persons affected, their family members and any contact points in their search for files. 2 The cantonal archives shall also support the other state archives and the institutions under Article 10 paragraph 4 in the fulfilment of their obligations.
Art. 13 Savings of persons affected
1 The cantonal archives, other state archives and the institutions under Article 10 paragraph 4 shall investigate at the request of persons affected whether their archives contain any information on savings of these persons affected. They shall advise and support the persons affected and, following their death, their family members in their search. 2 If the files indicate that in the course of compulsory social measures or placements savings were held in a bank, the bank or its legal successor shall make the required enquiries free of charge at the request of the persons affected or, following their death, of their family members.