The other federal courts and the courts of Ticino

Lausanne, Lucerne and St. Gallen

The Federal Criminal Court is one of four federal courts. The Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne, with its social law divisions in Lucerne, is the highest court of the country. In 2025 it received 7,947 new appeals and decided 7,883, with an average duration of 189 days.¹ It decides appeals in criminal matters against the judgments of the cantonal courts of appeal and of the Federal Criminal Court, appeals in civil matters including challenges to international arbitral awards, and appeals in public law matters. Its Italian-speaking judges and clerks handle the appeals from Ticino and the Italianlanguage cases from Bellinzona. Chapter J.I described the representation of the language regions in the federal courts.

The Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen, the second court created by the reform of the judiciary, began its work in 2007.² It is the largest federal court, with 70 judges and a staff of 472 persons in 2025. In that year it received 10,104 new cases and decided 8,242, with an average duration of 241 days. Cases in Italian accounted for 8 per cent of both the cases received (778) and the cases decided (647).³ For the financial centre it is the court of first instance against the rulings of FINMA and against the decisions of the Federal Tax Administration in international administrative assistance in tax matters. Chapter E.II discussed the group requests of the Italian tax authorities and the automatic exchange of information with Italy, whose disputes reach St. Gallen. Its decisions in the proceedings concerning Credit Suisse were among the most widely noticed of 2025.⁴

The Federal Patent Court and the question of English

The Federal Patent Court, established by the Federal Act on the Federal Patent Court of 20 March 2009, sits at the seat of the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen.⁵ In 2025 it received 14 cases and decided 15 ordinary and eight summary proceedings.⁶ It deserves mention in a chapter on language because its statute contains the most liberal language rule of the federal judiciary. The court designates one official language as the language of proceedings, taking that of the parties into account. Each party may use another official language in its submissions and hearings, and English may be used if the court and the parties agree. Judgments and procedural rulings are always written in an official language (Art. 36 PatCA).⁷

The comparison with Article 3 StBOG is instructive. In criminal proceedings, in which the liberty of the accused is at stake and the State is a party, the law insists on a single official language and on interpretation for those who do not understand it. In commercial patent disputes between sophisticated parties, the law allows English as a working language. The revised Code of Civil Procedure, in force since 1 January 2025, has opened a similar possibility for the cantons. Cantonal law may now provide that, at the request of all parties, proceedings are conducted in another national language or, in international commercial disputes before a commercial court or the ordinary court, in English.⁸ Ticino has so far shown little interest in English proceedings. Its legal profession and courts work in Italian, which is also the canton's comparative advantage within Switzerland.

Notes

1. Joint press release of 17 March 2026 (above). ↩
2. Press release of 23 June 2003 (above) (start of operations planned for 2007). The Federal Administrative Court began its work on 1 January 2007 and moved into its building in St. Gallen in 2012. ↩
3. Federal Administrative Court, Rapporto di gestione 2025 (above); joint press release of 17 March 2026 (above). ↩
4. Federal Administrative Court, Rapporto di gestione 2025 (above) (decisions in proceedings concerning Credit Suisse). The decisions concern in particular the write-off of Additional Tier 1 instruments ordered by FINMA in March 2023. ↩
5. Federal Act on the Federal Patent Court of 20 March 2009 (Patent Court Act, PatCA), SR 173.41, Art. 6, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/1/17/173.41-6-10.html. ↩
6. Joint press release of 17 March 2026 (above). ↩
7. PatCA, Art. 36, https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/en-de/1/17/173.41-36-40.html. ↩
8. Federal Act of 17 March 2023 amending the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC), SR 272, AS 2023 491, new Art. 129(2), in force since 1 January 2025, https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/filestore/fedlex.data.admin.ch/eli/oc/2023/491/de/pdf-a/fedlex-data-admin-ch-eli-oc-2023-491-de-pdf-a.pdf. ↩

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 October 2026.