简体 繁體 日本語 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Русский Українська English Deutsch Français Español Português Tiếng Việt Türkçe العربية עברית

Organization, judges and caseload

Three chambers and their functions

The Federal Criminal Court is organized in three chambers under Articles 32 ff. StBOG.1 The Criminal Chamber (Corte penale, Strafkammer) tries at first instance the cases that the OAG brings before it by indictment. It also decides on requests for judicial assessment in federal administrative criminal law, for example where a person fined by the Federal Department of Finance for a breach of financial market or antimoney laundering legislation asks for a court decision. The Board of Appeal (Corte dei reclami penali, Beschwerdekammer) has two quite different functions. In criminal procedure it hears complaints against the acts and omissions of the OAG and the Federal Criminal Police, decides conflicts of jurisdiction between cantons and between the cantons and the Confederation, and rules on unsealing requests and certain other procedural matters. In international mutual assistance it is the appeal court against the final rulings of the executing cantonal and federal authorities.2 The Appeals Chamber (Corte d'appello, Berufungskammer) hears appeals against the judgments of the Criminal Chamber and requests for revision.3

The three chambers form one court with common governing bodies. The plenary court (Corte plenaria) elects the presidency and assigns judges to the chambers. An administrative commission composed of the president, the vice-president and one further judge manages the court's administration with the help of a general secretariat.4 For the years 2026 and 2027 the plenary court elected Roy Garré as president and Miriam Forni as vice-president, with David Bouverat as the third member of the administrative commission. In 2024 and 2025 the court had been presided over by Alberto Fabbri, with Joséphine Contu Albrizio as vice-president.5 Appeals against the judgments of the Appeals Chamber and against certain decisions of the Board of Appeal lie to the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne, which is also the administrative supervisory authority of the Federal Criminal Court.6

Judges, languages and resources

The federal criminal judges are elected by the United Federal Assembly on the proposal of its Judicial Committee for terms of six years, which are renewed by re-election, and they leave office at the end of the year in which they reach the age of 68. The judges of the Appeals Chamber are elected specifically for that chamber.7 As with all federal judges, the elections take account of the strength of the parliamentary groups and of the language regions, and the judges are expected to belong to a party. They pay a part of their salary to that party, a contribution that can amount to several thousand francs a year. The Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has criticized the practice, which is discussed further below.8 In 2025 the court had 22 judges sharing 19.3 full-time positions. Eleven were German-speaking, eight Frenchspeaking and three Italian-speaking. The same distribution was reported for 2023 and 2024.9 The court's website lists the ordinary judges with their chambers. Several of them, such as Roy Garré, Miriam Forni, Andrea Ermotti, Fiorenza Bergomi and Maurizio Albisetti Bernasconi, bear names familiar in Ticino, although the website does not state the judges' languages.10

The court is small by the standards of the other federal courts. In 2025 it employed 35 court clerks with 29.5 full-time positions Together with the administrative staff, 71 persons, two thirds of them women, worked at the court besides the judges, sharing 60.4 full-time positions. Its expenditure amounted to CHF 19.72 million, of which CHF 16.9 million were personnel costs and CHF 1.13 million rent.11 For comparison, the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen had 70 judges and a staff of 472 persons in 2025.12 The small size of the Federal Criminal Court explains why individual long trials can absorb a significant part of its capacity. A single judgment in a money laundering case in 2023 exceeded 600 pages.13

Notes

  1. Federal Act on the Organization of the Federal Criminal Authorities of 19 March 2010 (StBOG/LOAP), SR 173.71, Arts. 32 ff.; Federal Criminal Court, "Il Tribunale in generale" (above). ↩
  2. Federal Criminal Court, "Das Bundesstrafgericht in Kürze", https://www.bstger.ch/de/il-tribunale/il-tribunale-penale-federale-in-breve.html. Federal Act on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 March 1981 (IMAC), SR 351.1, Art. 25(1) and Art. 80e(1), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/3/35/351.1-25-42.html and https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/3/35/351.1-80e-119.html. ↩
  3. Federal Criminal Court, "Das Bundesstrafgericht in Kürze" (above). ↩
  4. Federal Criminal Court, "Il Tribunale in generale" (above); Federal Criminal Court, press release "Gerichtspräsidium für die Jahre 2026 und 2027", 17 December 2025, https://www.bstger.ch/de/media/comunicati-stampa/2025/2025-12-17/1522.html. ↩
  5. Federal Criminal Court, press release of 17 December 2025 (above); Geschäftsbericht 2025 (above). ↩
  6. Geschäftsbericht 2025 (above), section on supervision. Federal Act on the Federal Supreme Court of 17 June 2005 (Federal Supreme Court Act, BGG), SR 173.110, Art. 1(2) and Art. 78 ff.. ↩
  7. Federal Act on the Organization of the Federal Criminal Justice Authorities of 19 March 2010 (StBOG), SR 173.71, Art. 42(1) and (1bis) (election by the Federal Assembly; separate election of the judges of the Appeals Chamber) and Art. 48(1) and (2) (term of office of six years; retirement at the end of the year in which the judge reaches 68), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-it/1/17/173.71-42-48.html and https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-it/1/17/173.71-48-54.html; Parliament Act of 13 December 2002 (ParlA), SR 171.10, Art. 40a(1)(a) (Judicial Committee), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-it/1/17/171.10-40a-49.html. ↩
  8. Wikipedia, "Justiz-Initiative", https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justiz-Initiative (consulted as a last resort), on the party affiliation of federal judges, the contributions of several thousand francs a year paid to their parties and GRECO's criticism of these contributions. ↩
  9. Geschäftsbericht 2025 (above); Federal Criminal Court, Geschäftsbericht 2024 , 17 March 2025, https://www.bstger.ch/uploads/2025-03-17_BGer-GB24__BStGer_DE_Web.pdf; Geschäftsbericht 2023 , 12 March 2024, https://www.bstger.ch/uploads/2024-03-12_BGer-GB23__BStGer_DE_Web.pdf. ↩
  10. Federal Criminal Court, list of federal criminal judges, https://www.bstger.ch/de/il-tribunale/giudici/elenco-giudici-penali-federali.html (consulted September 2026). ↩
  11. Geschäftsbericht 2025 (above). ↩
  12. Federal Administrative Court, Rapporto di gestione 2025 , https://www.bvger.ch/media-releases/d07fd6f3-81fe-40f5-b976-719edb7c6c0f/it/ gb_2025_bvger_i.pdf. ↩
  13. Geschäftsbericht 2023 (above). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?

Helvetica Register is an information portal. It explains what companies and entrepreneurs from around the world, and in particular from Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, need to know about doing business in Switzerland: company law, commercial contracts, licences, banking, tax and residence.

Legal advice in Switzerland is provided by Ressos Legal, a Zurich law practice advising on all areas of Swiss law under the direction of Dr Alexander Ressos. Further information is available at www.ressos.ch.

Your project in Switzerland Speak to Dr Alexander Ressos Company formation, shareholder and commercial agreements, acquisitions, licences, bank accounts, tax and residence permits: I advise on Swiss law and coordinate with your lawyers in your home country, as well as local counsel in other jurisdictions as required.