Freedom of Information Act (FoIA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 1 Aim and subject matter
This Act seeks to promote transparency with regard to the mandate, organisation and activities of the Administration. To this end, it contributes to informing the public by ensuring access to official documents.
Art. 2 Personal scope of application
1 This Act applies to: a. the Federal Administration; b. public and private bodies outside the Federal Administration, insofar as they enact legislation or issue first instance rulings within the meaning of Article 5 of the Federal Act of 20 December 1968 on Administrative Procedure (Administrative Procedure Act); c. the Parliamentary Services. 2 This Act does not apply to the Swiss National Bank or the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. 3 The Federal Council may exclude other organisational units of the Federal Administration, as well as other organisations and persons outside the Federal Administration, from the scope of this Act if: a. the tasks assigned to the same so require; b. their competitiveness would be prejudiced by being subject to this Act; or c. the tasks assigned to them are of only minor importance.
Para. 1 let. b — SR 172.021 Para. 2 — Amended by Annex No 1 the Financial Market Supervision Act of 22 June 2007, in force since 1 Jan. 2009 (AS 2008 5207; BBl 2006 2829).
Art. 3 Material scope of application
1 This Act does not apply to: a. access to official documents relating to: 1. civil proceedings, 2. criminal proceedings, 3. international mutual and administrative assistance proceedings, 4. international dispute settlement proceedings, 5. constitutional and administrative judicial proceedings; or 6. arbitration proceedings; b. the consultation, by a party, of the case file in first-instance administrative proceedings. 2 Access to official documents containing personal data about the person requesting access is governed by the Data Protection Act of 25 September 2020 (FADP).
Para. 2 — SR 235.1 Para. 2 — Amended by Annex 1 No II 10 of the Data Protection Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941).
Art. 4 Reservation of special provisions
Special provisions contained in other Federal Acts are reserved where they: a. declare certain information secret; or b. declare the access to certain information to be subject to requirements derogating from those set out herein;
Art. 5 Official documents
1 An official document is any information: a. which has been recorded, regardless of the medium; b. retained by the authority which issued the same or to which it has been communicated; and c. which concerns the fulfilment of a public task. 2 Documents which have been produced by means of a simple computerised process from recorded information which meets the requirements of paragraph 1 letters a, b and c above are also deemed to be official documents. 3 Not deemed to be official documents are any documents which: a. are used by an authority in a commercial capacity; b. are not complete; or c. are intended for personal use.