English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Chapter 1 Direction and Principles of Direction
Art. 35 Direction
1 The Federal Administration is directed by the Federal Council and the heads of department. 2 Each member of the Federal Council heads a department. 3 The Federal Council allocates the departments among its members; each member has the duty to take over their designated department. 4 The Federal Council may reallocate the departments at any time.
Art. 36 Principles of direction
1 The Federal Council and the heads of department set the objectives and priorities of the Federal Administration. 2 When they delegate the immediate fulfilment of tasks to project management bodies or units of the Federal Administration, they shall provide them with the required powers and resources. 3 They assess the performance of the Federal Administration and periodically check whether their objectives have been met. 4 They ensure the careful selection and continuing professional education of employees.
Chapter 2 The Departments
Section 1 Heads of Department
Art. 37 Direction and responsibility
1 The head of department bears political responsibility for running a department. 2 The head of department: a. sets the guidelines for running the department; b. delegates where necessary the immediate fulfilment of the department’s tasks to administrative units and employees under its authority; c. determines the organisation of the department within the terms of this act.
Art. 38 Leadership instruments
In principle, the head of department has the unrestricted right to issue instructions, to lead his or her department and intervene personally in a matter. Special provisions for individual administrative units and the attribution of certain powers under federal legislation are reserved.
Art. 38a Service agreements
1 The departments shall manage the following with annual service agreements: a. the administrative units of the central federal administration; b. the administrative units of the decentralised federal administration, if they do not keep their own accounts. 2 The Swiss Federal Audit Office is exempted from management by service agreement. The Federal Council may provide for further exceptions. 3 Where groups and offices manage administrative units with their own global budgets, the department may delegate the power to them to conclude the service agreements with these administrative units. 4 and 5 …
Art. 38a — Inserted by Annex No 2 of the FA of 26 Sept. 2014 (New Management Model for the Federal Administration), in force since 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 2015 1583; BBl 2014 767). Para. 4 — Repealed by No I 1 of the FA of 27 Sept. 2024 on Measures for Financial and Administrative Relief from 2025, with effect from 1 May 2025 (AS 2025 196; BBl 2024 558).
Art. 39 Personal staff
The heads of department may employ personal staff and assign tasks to them.
Art. 40 Information
In consultation with the Federal Chancellery, the heads of department take the measures required to inform the public of the departments’ activities and decide who is responsible for disseminating that information.
Section 2 The General Secretariats
Art. 41 Position
1 Each department has a general secretariat as its general administrative office. The general secretariat may also conduct other tasks. 2 The Secretary General is the department’s chief of staff.
Art. 42 Functions
1 The General Secretariat supports the head of department in the planning, organisation and coordination of the department’s activities and in the decisions that he or she is required to make. 2 It plays a supervisory role as instructed by the head of department. 3 It ensures that the planning and activities of the department are coordinated with those of the other departments and of the Federal Council. 4 It supports the head of department in preparing Federal Council discussions.
Section 3 Offices and Groups of Offices
Art. 43 Position and functions
1 The offices are the administrative units charged with dealing with the business of the Administration. 2 The Federal Council sets out in ordinances the way in which the Federal Administration is organised into offices. It assigns the offices areas of business which are closely related if possible and determines their tasks. 3 The Federal Council assign the offices to the departments according to the criteria of management, coherence of tasks and material and political balance. It may reassign the offices at any time. 4 The heads of department determine the organisational structure of the offices in their department. With the consent of the Federal Council, they may organise the offices into groups. 5 The office directors determine the detailed organisation of their offices.
Art. 44
Repealed by Annex No 2 of the FA of 26 Sept. 2014 (New Management Model for the Federal Administration), with effect from 1 Jan. 2016 (AS 2015 1583; BBl 2014 767).
Art. 45 Direction and Responsibility
The directors of the groups and offices are responsible to their superiors for directing the administrative units under them and for carrying out the duties assigned to them.
Section 4 State Secretaries
Inserted by No I of the FA of 28 Sept. 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2014 (AS 2013 4549; BBl 2002 2095, 2010 7811).
Art. 45a Appointment and function
1 The Federal Council may appoint as state secretaries the directors of offices or groups that are responsible for important fields of responsibility of a department. An office or group that is headed by a state secretary may be known as a state secretariat. 2 State secretaries support and relieve the burden on heads of department particularly in their dealings with foreign authorities.
Art. 45a — Inserted by No I of the FA of 28 Sept. 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2014 (AS 2013 4549; BBl 2002 2095, 2010 7811).
Art. 46 Temporary award of the title of «State Secretary»
The Federal Council may temporarily award the title of «State Secretary» to persons in the Federal Administration who represent Switzerland on its behalf in high-level international negotiations.
Art. 46 — Amended by No I of the FA of 28 Sept. 2012, in force since 1 Jan. 2014 (AS 2013 4549; BBl 2002 2095, 2010 7811).
Chapter 3 Fees
Inserted by No I 3 of the FA of 19 Dec. 2003 on the 2003 Budgetary Relief Programme, in force since 1 Jan. 2005 (AS 2004 1633; BBl 2003 5615).
Art. 46a
1 The Federal Council issues provisions on charging appropriate fees for decisions and other services provided by the Federal Administration. 2 It regulates the charging of fees in detail, in particular: a. the procedure for charging fees; b. the level of the fees; c. the question of liability when two or more people are required to pay fees; d. the time limits relating to the charging of fees. 3 When setting fees, it observes the principles of equivalence and cost recovery. 4 It may make exceptions in charging fees provided the decision or service is of overriding public interest.