The institutions: Ticino prosecutors, the federal prosecutor in Lugano and the court in Bellinzona

Federal and cantonal jurisdiction

The division of labour between the cantonal and federal prosecution authorities determines who handles a money laundering or Mafia case arising in Ticino. Under the Swiss Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC), offences are in principle prosecuted by the cantons. Federal jurisdiction applies under Article 23 CrimPC to a list of offences against the Confederation. Article 24(1) CrimPC adds participation in and support of a criminal organization, financing of terrorism, money laundering, failure to exercise due diligence in financial transactions, bribery and the felonies committed by a criminal or terrorist organization, provided that the offences were committed to a substantial extent abroad or in several cantons without a clear focus in one of them. For felonies against property and forgery offences, Article 24(2) CrimPC allows the OAG to open an investigation under the same conditions if no cantonal authority is dealing with the case or if the competent cantonal prosecutor asks the OAG to take it over.¹ In practice this means that cases involving the Italian Mafia organizations and large crossborder laundering schemes are usually federal cases, investigated by the OAG and tried by the Federal Criminal Court, while frauds, embezzlements and smaller laundering cases with a local focus remain with the cantonal prosecutors.

The question of jurisdiction came before the Ticino Grand Council in a debate on whether the canton should create its own police offences against Mafia-type associations. A parliamentary initiative of 22 November 2021 proposed to amend the cantonal law on public order. The Council of State opposed it, arguing that cantonal contraventions would conflict with Article 260ter SCC and create an overlap of jurisdiction. The Attorney General of the Canton, Andrea Pagani, told the Grand Council's Justice and Rights Committee on 14 November 2022 that organized crime was transnational and that its investigation must remain federal. A federal prosecutor confirmed on 30 January 2023 that federal jurisdiction was appropriate, while acknowledging rare cases in which cantonal prosecution could apply. In its report of 22 April 2024 the committee recommended rejecting the initiative and proposed instead a cantonal initiative to the Federal Assembly for the insertion of Mafia-related offences into the Swiss Criminal Code, a proposal supported by the Council of State.²

The Ticino Public Prosecutor's Office

The Ticino Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministero pubblico del Cantone Ticino) is a single cantonal authority headed by the Attorney General (Procuratore generale). Its prosecutors today have jurisdiction throughout the canton, which distinguishes the present organization from the separate offices of the Sottoceneri and Sopraceneri that Chapter D.IV described for the 1980s. On 15 March 2021 the Grand Council approved an increase in the number of public prosecutors from 20 to 22, with jurisdiction throughout the canton, at an additional annual cost of about CHF 670,000. The debate revealed that one prosecutor in charge of economic and financial crime was handling more than 500 proceedings at the same time, when the desirable maximum was put at 150 to 180 proceedings a year.³ Two years earlier, on 11 September 2019, the Council of State had already proposed an additional ordinary prosecutor for economic and financial crime, assisted by a judicial secretary and an administrative assistant, because cases in this area had grown in complexity. Three judicial secretaries had been assigned directly to the Attorney General in July 2019 to support investigations in economic and financial crime and in the fight against fraud.⁴

The reorganization continued in 2026. On 8 June 2026 the Grand Council elected four deputy prosecutors (sostituti procuratori pubblici), who assist the public prosecutors and can conduct prosecutions for contraventions, misdemeanours and felonies. At the end of June 2026 one of the public prosecutors was appointed chief prosecutor to head the new section of deputy prosecutors.⁵ The purpose of these reforms is to free the experienced prosecutors for complex cases, including financial ones. The cantonal prosecution service works with the financial investigators of the cantonal police and, in tax matters, with the cantonal tax administration, which since 2016 has been relevant to money laundering because qualified tax offences are predicate offences under Article 305bis(1bis) SCC.⁶

Notes

1. Swiss Criminal Procedure Code of 5 October 2007 (CrimPC), SR 312.0, Art. 23, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-it/3/31/312.0-23-26.html, and Art. 24(1) and (2) (referring to Arts. 260ter, 260quinquies, 260sexies, 305bis, 305ter and 322ter–322septies SCC and to felonies under Titles Two and Eleven SCC), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-it/3/31/312.0-24-27.html. ↩
2. Gran Consiglio della Repubblica e Cantone Ticino, Commissione Giustizia e diritti, Rapporto No. 8186 R of 22 April 2024 on the parliamentary initiative of 22 November 2021, https://www4.ti.ch/fileadmin/POTERI/GC/allegati/rapporti/28448_8186%20R.pdf. ↩
3. "Due procuratori in più", RSI, 15 March 2021, https://www.rsi.ch/info/ticino-grigioni-e-insubria/Due-procuratori-in-pi%C3%B9--1249640.html. ↩
4. Repubblica e Cantone Ticino, Consiglio di Stato, press release of 11 September 2019, https://www3.ti.ch/CAN/comunicati/11-09-2019-comunicato-stampa-601568769312.pdf. ↩
5. "Pablo Fäh procuratore capo: dirigerà la sezione dei sost pp", laRegione, 30 June 2026, https://www.laregione.ch/cantone/ticino/1935538/servizi. ↩
6. Art. 305bis(1bis) SCC (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.