Ordinance on the Preservation and Archiving of Court Records (VAGA) - Subject Matter and Scope (VAGA)

1. This regulation governs the retention periods and archiving of court records pursuant to § 2, which are related to concluded proceedings.

2. The regulation applies to all judicial authorities except for justices of the peace.

1. The court records within the meaning of this regulation include

a) Procedural files on any information carrier, which are received, accessed, or created by the courts during a judicial proceeding and remain under the control of the courts even after the conclusion of the proceedings;

b) Data contained within the specialized applications of the courts or in applications connected via an interface, over which the court exercises control;

c) Collections of judgments, which represent a separate collection of final decisions;

d) Case management systems, which provide an overview of all proceedings with the supplementary data necessary for their understanding and use.

1. The retention periods are calculated from the date the final decision becomes legally binding.

2. The courts shall retain the procedural files and data in their specialized application during the retention period to the extent that essential processes and outcomes of the business activities can be traced and demonstrated at any time.

3. Separate collections of judgments shall be retained for 10 years from the date of judgment delivery.

4. Business records shall be retained until the procedural files are delivered to the state archive.

5. The delivery to the state archive is regulated separately below.

1. For the case files of district courts and district court presidencies in civil matters, the following retention periods apply

a) Proceedings without impact on personal status (ordinary proceedings, simplified proceedings, summary proceedings, conciliation proceedings, legal assistance proceedings, supervisory proceedings, proceedings concerning adult maintenance, etc.), with the exception of proceedings concerning judicial prohibitions: 10 years;

b) Ordinary proceedings concerning inheritance matters: 30 years;

c) Proceedings concerning divorce and legal separation (Art. 111 to 117 of the Swiss Civil Code [ZGB] of December 10, 1907), as well as proceedings concerning the dissolution of a registered partnership, provided no minor children are involved, proceedings concerning the nullity of a marriage or registered partnership, recognition of a foreign divorce decree with and without children: 50 years;

d) Proceedings with impact on personal status, particularly divorces and legal separations (Art. 111 to 117 ZGB) as well as proceedings concerning the dissolution of a registered partnership, provided minor children are involved, and proceedings concerning child maintenance and other child issues without impact on personal status, declarations of absence, and judicial prohibitions: 70 years;

e) Proceedings concerning paternity (establishment and challenges) as well as proceedings concerning personal status (rectification of civil status register, determination or change of personal status): 99 years.

2. For the case files of district courts and district court presidencies in criminal matters, the following retention periods apply in the event of

a) Dismissals or acquittals without the imposition of a measure due to lack of culpability

1. Misdemeanors: 10 years;

2. Felonies and crimes: 30 years;

3. Indelible offenses: 99 years;

b) Convictions or acquittals with the imposition of a measure due to lack of culpability

1. Misdemeanors: 15 years;

2. Felonies without fatality and crimes sanctioned exclusively by fines: 30 years;

3. Other felonies without fatality: 50 years;

4. Felonies with fatality and crimes: 70 years;

5. Offenses with a life-long imposed measure and indelible offenses: 99 years.

3. In the case of multiple offenses or multiple accused persons in the same proceeding, the longest retention period is applicable.

1. The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office takes over the case files from the Juvenile Court and the Juvenile Court Presidency and retains them according to the retention periods applicable to them.

1. Procedural Records of the Detention Court, which are contained within the procedural records of other courts, the Public Prosecutor's Office, or the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office, are stored with those records.

2. Other procedural records are retained by the Detention Court for 5 years.

1. The procedural files of cases adjudicated in the second instance by the Civil, Criminal, and Appellate Chambers are returned for storage to the lower court.

2. Files of proceedings in which the Civil, Criminal, or Appellate Chambers have judged as the first instance are retained for 10 years.

3. The Supervisory Authority for Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy retains its procedural files for 13 years.

1. The administrative court retains its procedural records for 10 years.

2. It retains procedural records relating to child and adult protection for 30 years.

1. The Insurance Court retains its case files for 13 years.

2. The Cantonal Tax Court, the Cantonal Valuation Commission, the Cantonal Conciliation Authority for Gender Equality, as well as the Conciliation Authorities for Tenancy and Lease Relationships retain their case files for 10 years.

1. No later than 10 years after the expiration of the retention period, the procedural files shall be fully or partially transferred to the state archive, or completely destroyed, following consultation with the state archive.

2. The state archive takes over data that is contained in the specialized applications of the courts or in applications connected via an interface.

3. The state archive assumes the collections of judgments every 10 years.

4. The state archive assumes business records after the expiration of the retention periods.

1. The State Archive selectively assumes a portion of the following procedural records from the district courts and district court presidencies in civil matters

a) Conciliation procedures;

b) Procedures related to debt enforcement and bankruptcy;

c) Procedures without impact on civil status;

d) Procedures concerning inheritance matters;

e) Divorce and legal separation procedures (Art. 111 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code);

f) Paternity procedures;

g) Other family law procedures.

2. The district courts and district court presidencies destroy the following procedural records after the retention period has expired

a) Legal assistance procedures;

b) Procedures concerning judicial prohibitions;

c) Supervisory procedures.

3. The State Archive fully assumes the following procedural records from the district courts and district court presidencies in criminal matters

a) Offenses resulting in death;

b) Crimes, subject to paragraph 4 letters b and d;

c) Non-prescriptible offenses according to Article 101 paragraph 1 letter d of the Swiss Criminal Code (StGB) of December 21, 1937.

4. The State Archive selectively assumes the following procedural records from the district courts and district court presidencies in criminal matters for dismissals, acquittals, and partial convictions

a) Infractions;

b) Crimes sanctioned exclusively with fines;

c) Offenses without deadly consequences;

d) Offenses with a lifetime ordered measure and non-prescriptible offenses according to Article 101 paragraph 1 letter e StGB.

5. The State Archive also selectively assumes those procedural records that are qualified as special or significant based on substantive criteria.

1. The Submission of the Case Files of the Juvenile Court and the Office of the Juvenile Court President is governed by the provisions applicable to the Juvenile Prosecution.

1. Procedural files of the detention court, which are included in the procedural files of other courts, the public prosecutor's office, or the juvenile prosecutor's office, are archived together with these files.

2. The state archive partially assumes other procedural files.

1. Records of proceedings in which the Civil Division of the Supreme Court has adjudicated as the first instance are partially retained by the State Archives.

2. Records of proceedings in which the Criminal or Review Divisions have adjudicated as the first instance shall be destroyed after the retention period has expired.

3. Procedural records of the Supervisory Authority for Debt Collection and Bankruptcy are partially retained by the State Archives.

1. The State Archive partially takes over case files from the Administrative Court, the Cantonal Conciliation Authority for Equality between Women and Men, and the Conciliation Authorities for Tenancy and Lease Affairs.

2. Case files from the Insurance Court, the Cantonal Tax Court, and the Cantonal Estimation Commission are destroyed after the retention period has expired.

1. This regulation does not apply to proceedings that were decided by a first judicial instance before the regulation came into force.