Language Services Ordinance (LangSO)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 2 Organisation
1 The Federal Administration language services include all units that provide translation and other linguistic services in the Central Language Services of the Federal Chancellery and in the departments. 2 They are organised according to language. 3 They work with the Parliamentary Services Language Service on professional and organisational matters and consult with the same on matters of common interest.
Art. 3 Federal Chancellery units
The Central Language Services of the Federal Chancellery comprise a separate unit each for German, French, Italian, Romansh, English and terminology, each with its own head.
Art. 4 Departmental units
1 The language services in the departments comprise units for German, French, Italian and, where appropriate, for English and for further languages, each with its own head responsible for the language concerned. 2 Each department has at least one central unit each for German, French and Italian that plans and coordinates the work in the language concerned within the department. 3 The head of a central unit may issue instructions and request information within the department insofar as this is required for planning and coordination of its work.
Art. 5 Cross-departmental coordination
1 The Federal Chancellery shall coordinate translation and other linguistic services in the Federal Administration; in doing so, it shall respect the requirements for manageability, the connection between the various tasks, the balance between the languages and their status. 2 The Conference of Language Services (COLS) shall support the Federal Chancellery in ascertaining the needs of the language services and in guiding and coordinating their activities. 3 The COLS is a consultative body. It comprises representatives of the Central Language Services of the Federal Chancellery and the departmental language services. The Parliamentary Services Language Service may participate in the COLS. 4 The Federal Chancellery oversees the COLS. It approves its regulations.