Got arrested? Call a criminal defence lawyer immediately!

You've just been arrested and the police is granting you 10 minutes to find a qualified defence lawyer on the internet?

A relative or friend of yours has just been arrested and you are looking for a good criminal defence lawyer?

Who gets arrested?

In Switzerland, you can be arrested relatively quickly if you are suspected of a misdemeanor or felony "urgently" (cf. Art. 221 Code of Criminal Procedure). A misdemeanor is any criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three years (Art. 10 para. 3 SCC). This includes, for example, damage to property that is not minor. A crime is any offense that is punishable by more than three years' imprisonment (Art. 10 para. 2 StGB). The law does not define what constitutes an "urgent" suspicion of a crime. In practice, opinions here often differ widely.

What are the grounds for detention?

In addition to the urgent suspicion of a crime, there must also be a special reason for detention, i.e. risk of absconding, risk of collusion (risk that people will be influenced or evidence suppressed) or risk of repetition (Art. 221 Criminal Procedure Code). The risk of collusion is usually the easiest for the public prosecutor to justify and is very often used as a reason for detention. The risk of absconding is the main reason for foreign nationals without permanent residence in Switzerland.

What happens during an arrest?

An arrest is often accompanied by searches (Art. 241 Criminal Procedure Code) and seizures. The public prosecutor's office (or even the police if necessary) can order searches on its own authority. If cell phones, computers or other data carriers have been seized, the police will immediately request the passwords. The persons concerned are not obliged to hand over any passwords, but in practice they often do so anyway, either out of shock or because the police tell them that they will be taken into custody if they do not cooperate. The surrender of (correct) passwords cannot, of course, be reversed at a later date and can significantly impair the position of the accused person in criminal proceedings. After an arrest, the police will also routinely carry out what is known as "identification recording" (ED recording). This involves taking photos of the arrested person ("mug shots") and taking fingerprints and a buccal swab. A DNA profile can later be created for the police database on the basis of the DNA swab. This often makes it possible to link the person to other circumstances, both past and future. A judicial appeal against the creation of a DNA profile is possible.

What rights do I have in the event of an arrest?

The most important rights are the right to refuse to give evidence and cooperate (Art. 158 Code of Criminal Procedure). The right to be informed of the reasons for the arrest within a short period of time and the right to a lawyer and to a free interpreter for foreign-language speakers.

What does "sealing" mean?

It is also important to make use of the right to seal records and data carriers (Art. 248 Code of Criminal Procedure). This is the only way to ensure that a court decides which data the criminal prosecution authorities are allowed to search and which are none of their business. The law protects a number of secrets (e.g. attorney-client privilege, medical confidentiality, sources of media professionals, highly private data comparable to a diary, business secrets). In addition, the principle of proportionality requires that nothing is analyzed that is obviously unrelated to the accusation. Without sealing proceedings, the accused waives all these rights to which they are entitled by law.

When do I get a lawyer as a "mandatory defence lawyer"?

If the accused person is charged with a serious crime, this is regularly a case of necessary defence (Art. 130 Code of Criminal Procedure). This is the case, among other things, if there is a (possible) threat of a custodial sentence of more than one year, a measure involving deprivation of liberty (e.g. psychiatry) or expulsion from the country. Other reasons also lead to a necessary defence, such as serious mental illness or pre-trial detention of more than 10 days. In case of doubt, the arrested person will always be assigned a lawyer via the Zurich criminal defence on-call service. Unless the arrested person knows a lawyer, asks for one and can be reached in time. Initial questionings are therefore regularly conducted with an on-call lawyer. There are many good and committed on-call lawyers. There are also others. Anyone who realizes that they are not satisfied with the on-call lawyer must try to change very quickly. This applies in particular if the on-call lawyer is appointed as an official defence lawyer, which will always be the case if the financial circumstances of the accused are not exactly lavish (cf. Art. 132 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The longer the request for a change of official defence counsel is delayed, the higher the hurdle for approval.

How long can I be detained?

The police can briefly detain people to establish their identity (so-called detention). If there is a strong suspicion of an offense or crime, they can detain arrested persons for up to 24 hours, after which the person must be "handed over" to the public prosecutor's office. The public prosecutor's office then has a further 24 hours to file an application for detention with the competent compulsory measures court (detention judge) or to release the person. This time limit of 2 x 24 hours is fixed but fluid. The handover from the police to the public prosecutor's office therefore does not have to take place exactly after 24 hours, as long as the total period of 48 hours is not exceeded. Finally, the compulsory measures court must decide within four days of the arrest. It can order detention for a maximum of three months (subject to extension!).

Is it true that I will not remain in detention if I cooperate with the authorities and make statements?

That depends. The police actually always want to convince those arrested that they only have to testify and then they will be released. But this is all too often a fallacy! It is not the police but the public prosecutor's office and the compulsory measures court that decide on the question of detention. Under no circumstances should you be lulled into a false sense of security by the police. In general, the more serious the offense is and the more people (co-accused, victim, witnesses) were involved in the crime, the more likely you are to be detained. It is certainly possible in individual cases to obtain release by making statements, but you should discuss and weigh this up very carefully with your defence. Particularly in the case of serious charges, it is often not worth making statements because imprisonment is initially unavoidable in many cases, but the statements increase the likelihood of conviction.

What should I do now?

Act quickly and get in touch with us. Criminal defence is our daily business. We have the experience and routine that you lack in this extreme situation. Call us now.