Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland

The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland (FCC; , , ; ) is the court of first instance in cases subject to federal criminal jurisdiction in Switzerland. It was created in 2002 in the course of a wide-ranging reform of the Swiss federal judiciary. Most of its judgements can be appealed to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

Jurisdiction

Federal criminal jurisdiction covers the crimes enumerated in articles and of the Swiss Penal Code. These include crimes against federal interests (against federal institutions, by or against federal officials, etc.) as well as cases of white-collar crime, organised crime and money laundering of an intercantonal or international dimension.

In addition to adjudicating cases in these areas, the FCC has jurisdiction in certain specialised areas of criminal law, including crimes relating to nuclear material or civil aviation. It also reviews actions of the federal criminal prosecution authorities and decides conflicts of competence between the cantonal criminal prosecution authorities.

Organisation

The FCC consists of an appeals chamber that reviews the actions of subordinate authorities and a penal chamber that conducts trials.

The court's eleven judges are elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly for a term of six years, with reelections being possible. As of 2007, they are:

Penal chamber

Appeals chamber

Seat

The court took up its work on 4 April 2004 in Bellinzona. It is the first Swiss federal authority based in the...
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