Victim Support Act (VSA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Counselling Centres
Art. 9 Services offered
1 The cantons shall ensure that professionally independent public or private counselling centres are available. The cantons shall take account of the special needs of different categories of victims. 2 They may operate joint counselling centres.
Art. 10 Inspection of files
1 The counselling centres may inspect the files of criminal prosecution authorities and courts from proceedings in which the victim or their relatives are involved, subject to their consent. 2 The right to inspect files may only be denied to the counselling centres if this would also be permitted in relation to the victim under applicable procedural law.
Art. 11 Duty of confidentiality
1 Persons who work for a counselling centre must treat information that comes to their attention as confidential in dealings with the authorities and private individuals. This duty of confidentiality continues to apply on termination of their employment. The duty to testify under the Criminal Procedure Code remains reserved. 2 The duty of confidentiality may be waived if the person receiving counselling agrees to this. 3 If the physical, psychological or sexual integrity of a minor or a person subject to a general deputyship is seriously at risk, the counselling centre may inform the child and adult protection authority or file a complaint with the prosecution authority. 4 Any person who breaches the duty of confidentiality shall be liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty.
Para. 1 — SR 312.0 Para. 1 — Amended by Annex 1 No II 10 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 5 Oct. 2007, in force since 1 Jan. 2011 (AS 2010 1881; BBl 2006 1085). Para. 3 — Amended by Annex No 3 of the FA of 15 Dec. 2017 (Child Protection), in force since 1 Jan. 2019 (AS 2018 2947; BBl 2015 3431).
Section 2 Assistance from Counselling Centres and
Art. 12 Counselling
1 The counselling centres shall provide counselling to victims and their families and support them in exercising their rights. 2 If the counselling centres receive a report in accordance with Article 8 paragraph 1 or 2, they shall contact the victim or the victim's relatives.
Para. 2 — Amended by annex 1 No 7 of the FA of 17 June 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 468; BBl 2019 6697).
Art. 13 Emergency assistance and longer-term assistance
1 The counselling centres shall provide victims and their relatives with immediate assistance for the most urgent needs that arise as a result of the offence (emergency assistance). 2 They shall provide victims and their relatives with additional assistance as necessary until the health of the person concerned has stabilised and until the other consequences of the offence have been resolved or compensated for as far as possible (longer-term assistance). 3 The counselling centres may arrange for emergency and longer-term assistance to be provided by third parties.
Art. 14 Scope of services
1 The services include the appropriate medical, psychological, social, material and legal assistance in Switzerland that has become necessary as a result of the offence. If required, the counselling centres shall provide emergency accommodation for victims or their relatives. 2 A person resident abroad who is the victim of a criminal offence in Switzerland is also entitled to contributions towards the costs of treatment at their place of residence.
Art. 15 Access to the counselling centres
1 The cantons shall ensure that the victim and his or her relatives can receive emergency assistance within a reasonable period of time. 2 The services of the counselling centres may be claimed regardless of when the offence was committed. 3 Victims and their relatives may contact a counselling centre of their choice.
Art. 16 Contributions to the cost of longer-term assistance from third parties
The costs of longer-term third-party assistance are covered as follows: a. in full if, in accordance with Article 6 paragraphs 1 and 2, the claimant's allowable income does not exceed twice the relevant amount for general living expenses; b. proportionately if the claimant's allowable income is between twice and four times the relevant amount for general living expenses in accordance with Article 6 paragraphs 1 and 2.
Art. 16 — See Art. 49 (Coordination with the SBA).
Section 3 Offences committed Abroad
Art. 17
1 If an offence has been committed abroad, the following persons are entitled to assistance under this chapter: a. the victim, if he or she was resident in Switzerland at the time of the offence and at the time of applying for assistance; b. the victim's relatives, if both they and the victim were resident in Switzerland at the time of the offence and at the time of applying for assistance. 2 Assistance is only provided if the state in which the offence was committed does not provide any benefits or the benefits provided are insufficient.
Section 4 Allocation of Costs among the Cantons
Art. 18
1 A canton that provides services under this chapter in favour of persons resident in another canton shall receive a compensatory payment from the latter. 2 If these compensatory payments are not made in terms of an intercantonal arrangement, the following principles apply: the canton of residence pays flat-rate contributions to the canton providing the services. The basis for calculation is the total expenditure incurred by the cantons for services under this chapter divided by the number of persons who have received these victim support services.