The OAG in easy language

Welcome to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG)

All people must respect the law.
When a person commits a crime, they do not respect the law.

• A crime is an action against the law:
  for example, a robbery or a theft.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
takes care of important facts
and serious crimes that happen in Switzerland.

Here is an example:
 
A group of people
wants to make terrorist attacks
in Switzerland and in other countries.

These people hide
in different Swiss cities.
They are terrorists.

Terrorism is a serious crime.
It affects the safety of all Switzerland
and other countries.

One city or one Canton alone
cannot solve this problem.
It needs much bigger help.

There is a service that works for all Switzerland:
it is the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland.
It will make an investigation to protect Switzerland.

Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG)

From now on,
to talk about the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland,
we will write “OAG”. This makes the text shorter.

• What is the OAG?

  The OAG is a justice service.
  This service works for all Switzerland.
  The head of the OAG is the Attorney General.
  His name is Stefan Blättler.

  Other people work with him.
  For example, the prosecutors:
  they are the people who organize the investigations.
  There are also assistants and experts.

• What does the OAG do?

  The OAG takes care of important facts
  and serious crimes in all Switzerland.

  Here is what the OAG does when a serious crime happens:

  • it makes the investigation to find the guilty people
  • it organizes all the steps of the investigation
  • it makes sure the law is respected

  Who commits these serious crimes?

  Sometimes single people.
  Sometimes groups of people or companies.

• What are these serious crimes?

  Here are some examples:

  • Drug trade
    Example: an international criminal organization
    creates a network to sell drugs.
    This network is active in different Swiss cities.
  • Money laundering
    Example: a big Swiss company
    takes part in illegal trade.
    It earns a lot of money by selling drugs.
    Then it pretends it earned that money honestly
    through its normal work.
  • Cybercrime (computer piracy)
    Example: a group of criminals
    attacks the computers of different Swiss companies.
    They want to steal secret information.
  • Terrorism
    Example: a group of criminals
    organizes an attack with a bomb.

  All these crimes are very serious
  and they are dangerous for the safety of Switzerland.

  In these cases, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland takes action.

Filing a complaint

Are you a victim of a serious crime?

Do you know important things about a serious crime?

Then you can tell everything to the police
and file a complaint.

• Who can file a complaint?

  • people
  • associations
  • companies
  • countries

• How to file a complaint?

  To file a complaint, you must make a dossier.
  A dossier is a folder with documents.

  The dossier must be written in one of these languages:
  German, French or Italian.

  Here is what information you must put in the dossier:

  • What happened?
  • Who committed the crime?
    How and where did it happen?
  • Evidence
    For example: written documents, photos, audio, video,
    letters or important e-mails.
    You can give this evidence on a USB stick,
    or you can photocopy the documents.
  • List of witnesses
    Who saw what happened?
    Name, surname, address, and phone number of the witnesses.
  • After this crime, is your life more difficult?
    Explain with examples why.
    For example:
    • I am always afraid, I always feel in danger.
    • They stole a lot of money from me.
    That is why I want to file a complaint.

  When the dossier is ready, you must send it to this address:

  Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG)
            Guisanplatz 1
            CH-3003 Bern

  Do you need help to create the dossier?
  or
  Do you prefer to file the complaint by speaking?

  Then call this number: 📞 058 462 45 79

Investigations

• Are investigations public?

  Information about investigations is public:
  everyone can read it.

  Sometimes this information
  must stay secret.
  
  In this way, the OAG wants to protect:

  • the victim
  • the investigation and the investigators
  • the person who might be guilty
  • the family members and the witnesses

  In these cases, the OAG keeps this information secret until the end of the investigation.

  The OAG informs the public and the journalists
  about what it has discovered during the investigation.
  The OAG publishes official documents:
  they are called press releases.

  • Click HERE to read the press releases

  Every year, the OAG writes an annual report.
  The annual report is a document
  that explains what the OAG has done during the year.

  • Click HERE to read the annual reports

• The Cantons

  The Cantons also have their Public Prosecution Office.

  It is called the Cantonal Public Prosecution Office
  and it takes care of less serious crimes.