Council of States wants to review leniency program
Published: Wednesday, Dec 20th 2023, 12:12
Volver a Live Feed
In the fight against organized crime, the Federal Council should examine the introduction of a leniency programme. This is the demand of the Council of States. On Wednesday, it approved a corresponding postulate from its Legal Affairs Committee (RK-S) - by 22 votes to 16.
Specifically, the RK-S wants to instruct the Federal Council to set out the advantages and disadvantages of such a leniency program in a report. The experiences of other countries should be taken into account. In addition, it should be explained how a corresponding model could be structured in Swiss criminal law and criminal procedure law.
The committee decided on the postulate following a hearing with federal prosecutor Stefan Blättler, according to its spokesperson Daniel Jositsch (SP/ZH). Blättler had argued in the past for the introduction of a leniency program. A corresponding basic report would allow the further procedure to be carefully examined, said Jositsch.
A minority in the Council of States argued that the postulate should be rejected. The opponents argued that a report would be useless. Parliament had already spoken out against a more far-reaching leniency program several times in recent years. With such a regulation, for example, the public prosecutor's office can already give leniency witnesses a binding guarantee of a reduced sentence or immunity from prosecution.
A yes vote by the Council of States does not mean that the law will actually be changed, Jositsch made clear on behalf of the committee. It was merely a matter of describing the initial situation and clarifying various open questions.
The Swiss Criminal Code currently provides for the so-called minor leniency program. This means that the court can grant members of criminal organizations a discretionary reduction in sentence for their cooperation with the prosecution authorities. Witness protection programs are also provided for persons who are at risk due to their involvement in criminal proceedings.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic