Organisation
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) is an autonomous and institutionally independent federal authority. It acts as the federal criminal prosecution authority pursuant to Art. 7 of the Federal Act on the Organisation of Criminal Justice Authorities (StBOG; SR 173.71).
The OAG is responsible for investigating and prosecuting offences that fall under federal jurisdiction, as defined in Art. 23 and 24 CrimPC (SR 312.0) as well as in various special federal laws. These include, in particular:
- Offences against the security of the State, i.e., criminal acts targeting the Confederation or its interests;
- Complex criminal cases with inter-cantonal or international dimensions, especially in the areas of organized crime (including terrorism and its financing), money laundering, and international corruption;
- Certain cases of economic crime of national or international significance, within the scope of the Confederation’s optional jurisdiction.
The OAG is also responsible for executing requests for mutual legal assistance from foreign prosecuting authorities.
To remain effective and responsive to changes in criminal activity, the OAG has established the following priorities for criminal prosecution:
- organised crime,
- general economic offences, including international corruption and money laundering,
- terrorism,
- international criminal law,
- cybercrime.
It is headed by the Attorney General of Switzerland, who is elected by the Federal Assembly and holds extensive powers in terms of organisation and leadership. The Attorney General is supported by two deputies, also elected by the Federal Assembly, who may fully exercise the Attorney General’s powers in case of replacement.
Since 1 January 2022, the OAG has been led by Attorney General Stefan Blättler. On 14 June 2023, he was re-elected by Parliament for the 2024–2027 administrative term, receiving 209 out of 210 valid votes. His two deputies, Ruedi Montanari and Jacques Rayroud, were also reconfirmed in their roles for the same term.
The OAG is subject to oversight by a single independent authority elected by the Federal Assembly: the Supervisory Authority over the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (SA-OAG) (Art. 23 ff. StBOG; SR 173.71).
Finally, the OAG operates from multiple locations across Switzerland, with its headquarters in Bern and branch offices in Zurich, Lausanne, and Lugano.
Internal structure
The OAG is structured according to areas of offence or jurisdiction.
The divisions “National Security and Organised Crime (SK)”, “Economic Crime (WiKri)” (which includes the areas of General White-Collar Crime, Money Laundering, and International Corruption), and “Mutual Legal Assistance, Terrorism, International Criminal Law and Cybercrime (RTVC)” conduct investigations in their respective offence areas and perform the OAG’s core prosecutorial functions.
The “Forensic Financial Analysis (FFA)” division directly supports individual criminal cases by analysing specific economic issues.
The “OAG Operations” division brings together the areas that directly support criminal proceedings, namely the “Judgment Enforcement unit”, the “Centralised Processing of Incoming Communication (ZEB)”, and all "Procedural Services".
The General Secretariat includes the “OAG Staff”, “Human Resources”, “Finance”, and “Legal Service”, as well as the “OAG Technology” and “OAG Transformation & Projects” units.
The “Communication Service”, directly subordinate to the Attorney General, ensures internal and external communication as well as the OAG’s international relations.
