Act on the Judicial Police (LPJu) - [4] (LPJU)

1. The judicial police investigate offenses on their own initiative, upon complaint by individuals or authorities, as well as on mandate from the Public Prosecutor's Office.

2. The scope of their rights and obligations is determined by the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure [A] and by this law.

1. Judicial police functions are exercised

a. by the security police;

b. by the gendarmerie;

c. by the municipal or inter-municipal police in cases provided for by this law. The inter-municipal police have the same powers as the municipal police;

d. by permanent wildlife and fisheries officers, within the scope of their powers defined in the legislation on wildlife and fisheries;

e. by the cantonal commercial police and the municipal or inter-municipal commercial police within the scope of the powers defined in cantonal and municipal legislation.

1. The State Council may decide, upon the recommendation of the Cantonal Security Council and the Operational Directorate, that a municipal police force or a section of a municipal police force has jurisdiction for judicial policing over all or part of the territory for which it has received accreditation.

2. The Commander of the Cantonal Police may, for the needs of an ongoing investigation, grant a municipal police force the powers conferred by law to the judicial police.

1. When one of the police forces mentioned in Article 2 undertakes investigative measures, the others must collaborate with it. They shall, in particular, communicate to it all information they may possess that is likely to contribute to the investigation.

2. Within the framework of police cooperation and without prejudice to Article 73 of the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure [B], the police responsible for the investigation shall transmit to the others all information likely to be of interest to them, notably those that may prevent or detect an offense.

3. Any initiation of an investigation within the cantonal territory requires an immediate and complete report of the investigations conducted in this context to the cantonal police.

1. The legal provisions assigning administrative police duties to the security police, the gendarmerie, and the local police remain reserved.

1. The commander of the cantonal police is the head of the judicial police.

2. The security police and the gendarmerie are directly subordinate to him.

3. The same applies to the municipal police when it is involved in an investigation by virtue of the powers conferred upon it pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 1 or 2.

1. Coercive measures provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure [A], excluding arrest, pursuit rights, and summons orders, may only be ordered by police officers designated by the Council of State, upon the proposal of the chief of the judicial police.

2. The provisional arrest of a person caught in the act of committing an offense or intercepted immediately after such an act must be approved, if it exceeds three hours, by a senior police officer specially designated by the Council of State.

1. The mandates entrusted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the court to the police are addressed to the chief of the judicial police. The chief then decides who will execute them and promptly forwards them to the designated officer.

2. The designated officer reports directly to the principal and sends without delay a duplicate of the report to the chief of the judicial police.

1. In case of emergency, any judicial police officer may be directly requisitioned. The head of the judicial police shall be informed by the requesting prosecutor.

1. Subject to Articles 2, letter c) and 3 above, the municipal police shall cooperate with the actions of the judicial police to the extent determined by the following articles.

1. When the performance of its duties, even administrative ones, leads it to discover facts of interest to the judicial police, the municipal police is required to communicate them to it.

1. The municipal police receive complaints and carry out various interventions and reports related to them to the extent provided in Article 18 below; they immediately forward them to the judicial police, with the exception of those that do not require immediate investigative measures.

1. The municipal police are required to immediately report to the competent authority any offenses subject to ex officio prosecution that come to their knowledge.

1. In suspicious cases, the municipal police immediately report to the judicial police.

2. If necessary, they take initial measures in accordance with Article 18.

1. The municipal police have the right to apprehend any person caught in the act of committing an offense.

2. They must promptly hand over the apprehended person to the Public Prosecutor's Office or the judicial police.

1. In the cases provided for in Articles 14, 15, and 16, the municipal police shall comply with the instructions given to them by the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the judicial police.

2. In the event that an incident requires immediate investigative measures, the municipal police shall take urgent precautionary measures. Specifically, it shall take the necessary steps to preserve the scene and, if necessary, hold the alleged perpetrators of the offense, the victims, and the witnesses at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the judicial police.

3. The intervening municipal police shall immediately notify the judicial police, which will determine the continuation of operations in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. It shall report its findings and the measures it has taken.

4. The collaboration between the municipal police and the judicial police should, as much as possible, spare an involved person from being confronted by multiple personnel from different agencies for the same incident.

1. The municipal police are obligated to assist the agents of the judicial police when requested.

1. The Public Prosecutor's Office, the competent criminal authorities for minor offenses, and the courts may call upon the municipal police

- when they require public force for certain urgent operations, particularly for serving warrants;

- for executing arrest warrants;

- for establishing intelligence reports; the municipal police shall transmit a duplicate of these reports to the cantonal police.

1. Rural and forest wardens are required to immediately report to the competent authority any prosecutable offenses of which they become aware in the performance of their duties.

2. The regulatory provisions of the Rural Code [C] and the Forestry Law [D] remain reserved.

1. The Department of Justice and Police [E] may require the local police to attend training courses. It organizes and conducts these courses.

1. Judicial police officers and auxiliaries are subject to the disciplinary measures provided by the laws and regulations of the body to which they belong.

2. Penalties are imposed by their respective superiors, after consultation, if necessary, with the head of the department responsible for cantonal police.

1. All legal or regulatory provisions that are incompatible with this law are hereby repealed.

1. The Council of State is responsible for the publication and execution of the present law, which shall come into effect on January 1, 1942.