|
(Information as of 6 June 2005)
Date of deposit of instrument of ratification/acceptance or date of accession
The instrument of ratification of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (“the OECD Convention”) was deposited with the Secretary-General of the OECD on 31 May 2000.
Deposit of instrument of ratification/acceptance: 31 May 2000
Entry into force of the Convention: 30 July 2000
Entry into force of implementing legislation: 1 May 2000
Implementing legislation
To fulfil its obligations under the Convention, Switzerland had to effect a number of legislative changes.
Criminal provisions relating to corruption – Articles 322ter to 322octies of the Swiss Criminal Code of 21 December 1937 (CP), Book Two: Special provisions, Title 19: Corruption [Systematic Compendium of Swiss Federal Law (Recueil systématique, RS 311.0)] – were revised and consolidated. The main amendments were to criminalise active corruption, as with passive corruption, and to introduce a new offence of corrupting foreign public officials (Art. 322septies).
Articles 322ter to 322octies CP (“Revision of criminal law on corruption”) were adopted by the Federal Assembly (Parliament) on 22 December 1999 and published in the Official Digest (Recueil Officiel, RO 2000 1121). They entered into force on 1 May 2000. [See message of the Federal Council (Government) of 19 April 1999, Federal Gazette (Feuille Fédérale, FF 1999 5045).]
Criminal provisions had to be introduced in respect of the liability of legal entities. Under the new Articles 100quater and 100quinquies CP (Book One: General provisions, Title 6: corporate liability), Swiss businesses that have corrupted foreign public officials can now be fined up to CHF 5 million, independently of any criminal penalties against the individuals arranging the transactions, if the firm in question can be found not to have taken reasonable and necessary steps to prevent the offence.
Articles 100quater and 100quinquies CP were adopted by the Federal Assembly on 21 March 2003 and published in the Official Digest (RO 2003 3043). They entered into force on 1 October 2003. (See also the message of the Federal Council of 26 June 2002, FF 2002 5014.)
With this amendment to the Criminal Code relating to the criminal liability of legal entities, Switzerland has met all of its legislative obligations under the OECD Convention.
Also introduced was a criminal provision vesting new procedural powers in the Confederation in the realms of organised crime and economic crime. Article 340bis CP (Book Three: Entry into force and enforcement of the Criminal Code, Title 3: Federal jurisdiction and cantonal jurisdiction) stipulates inter alia that criminal corruption within the meaning of Articles 322ter to 322septies CP shall be subject to federal jurisdiction if most of the punishable acts have been committed abroad or in more than one canton with no obvious preponderance in any one canton.
Article 340bis CP (“New procedural powers vested in the Confederation in the realms of organised crime and economic crime”) was adopted by the Federal Assembly on 22 December 1999 and published in the Official Gazette (RO 2001 3071). It entered into force on 1 January 2002. (See also the message of the Federal Council of 28 January 1998, FF 1998 1253).
Other information
Relevant authorities
A number of federal administrative authorities are involved in combating bribery. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs deals particularly with issues relating to the OECD Convention, the Federal Office of Justice with those relating to the Council of Europe Convention, and the Department of Foreign Affairs with the UN Convention. The power to prosecute and judge corruption offences is shared between the cantons and the Confederation. For the Confederation, the competent authorities are the Office of the Attorney General, the Federal Criminal Court and the Federal Police (“Fedpol”); in the cantons, they are the cantonal judicial authorities and the cantonal police forces.
The Office of the Attorney General and Fedpol, along with the cantonal judicial and police authorities, are the most appropriate recipients of reports about bribery offences.
Contacts:
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco)
International Investments and Multinational Enterprises Unit
Effingerstrasse 1/ CH-3003 Berne
Tel. + 41 (0)31 323 12 75 / Fax + 41 (0)31 325 73 76
WHIN@seco.admin.ch
www.seco.admin.ch/themen/spezial/korruption/index.html?lang=fr
Federal Office of Justice (OFJ)
Service for International Criminal Law
Bundesrain 20 / CH - 3003 Berne
Tel. + 41 (0)31 322 41 16 / Fax + 41 (0)31 312 14 07
info@bj.admin.ch / www.bj.admin.ch
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
Economic and Financial Affairs Division
Bundesgasse 28 / CH – 3003 Berne
Tel. + 41 (0)31 324 99 84 / Fax + 41 (0)31 324 90 72
PA5-FINANZ-WIRTSCHAFT@eda.admin.ch /
www.eda.admin.ch/sub_ecfin/e/home/docus/corrup.html
Fedpol
Federal Office of Police
Nussbaumstrasse 29/ CH-3003 Berne
Tel. +41 (0)31 323 11 23, Fax +41 (0)31 322 53 04
www.fedpol.admin.ch
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
CH-3003 Berne
Tel. +41 (0)31 322 45 79 / fax +41 (0)31 322 45 07
info@ba.admin.ch
www.ba.admin.ch / www.cybercrime.admin.ch
Relevant Internet links to national implementing legislation
Relevant legislation
Articles 322ter to 322octies CP (“Provisions on corruption”):
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/311_0/index2.html
Articles 100quater and 100quinquies CP (“Provisions on corporate liability”):
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/311_0/index1.html
Article 340bis CP (“Provision on federal jurisdiction in the realms of organised crime, the financing of terrorism and economic crime”):
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/311_0/index3.html
Brochure
In order to heighten the awareness of all parties concerned with the problem of bribery, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, in collaboration with the Federal Office of Justice, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Business Federation (“economiesuisse”) and Transparency International (Switzerland), published an informative brochure. Aimed at Swiss businesses operating abroad, and especially at small and medium-sized enterprises, the brochure offers advice on preventing corruption, and on the changes to Swiss criminal law.
In English:
http://www.seco-admin.ch/imperia/md/content/spezialthemen/korruptionsbekaempfung/3.pdf
In French:
http://www.seco-admin.ch/imperia/md/content/spezialthemen/korruptionsbekaempfung/2.pdf
Monitoring report
On the occasion of the publication of the Phase 2 Monitoring Report on Switzerland in February 2005, a media conference was held. In addition to the Report, a press release and several explanatory documents were published on the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs’ website.
In French:
http://www.seco.admin.ch/news/00519/index.html?lang=fr
Signature/Ratification of other relevant international instruments
Switzerland signed the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption on 26 February 2001. A draft bill on the transposition and ratification of the Convention was submitted to the Federal Assembly in November 2004. In addition, Switzerland signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption on 10 December 2003.
Working Group on Bribery Monitoring Reports
Phase 1: Review of implementation of the Convention and 1997 Recommendation
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/47/2390244.pdf
Phase 2: Report on the Application of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the 1997 Recommendation on Combating Bribery in International Business Transactions
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/16/34350161.pdf
Phase 2: Follow-up Report on the Implementation of the Phase 2 Recommendations on the Application of the Convention and the 1997 Recommendation on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/7/60/38898790.pdf
|
Video: South Africa Signing Anti-Bribery Convention
