Executive Decree concerning the Institute of Forensic Medicine

1 The Institute of Forensic Medicine is hereby established, with its seat in Bellinzona.

2 The Institute's operations particularly include official experts within the meaning of Article 183 paragraph 2 in conjunction with Articles 251-253 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPP).

3 The appointment of experts and the assignment of mandates shall take place according to the Criminal Procedure Code.

1 The Institute is an autonomous and independent body that particularly provides the services required for the benefit of judicial authorities.

2 The autonomy and independence of the Institute refer specifically to the execution of services pursuant to the mandates conferred on official experts in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, without any directive or influence from the executive or legislative branches.

3 The Institute is administratively assigned to the Department of Institutions, Division of Justice.

1 The Institute is organized to ensure the correct performance of services in favor of judicial authorities.

2 The Institute particularly ensures continuous availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for telephone consultation and interventions in the field of forensic medicine for public prosecutors, the juvenile magistrate, judges in criminal proceedings, the Cantonal Police, and doctors specialized in legal inspections.

3 Interventions can be urgent or scheduled. Urgent interventions include on-site inspections at the location where bodies are found or where crimes against life and personal integrity, as well as crimes against sexual integrity, have occurred, as well as immediate examinations of living persons for investigative purposes. Scheduled interventions include: autopsies, medico-legal examinations of living persons, verification of the human nature of recovered remains, opinions and expert reports on medical liability and any other medico-legal matter.

4 The Institute may provide further services to the competent authorities, notably as referred to in Article 85 of the Military Criminal Procedure of March 23, 1979 (MCP) and Article 17 paragraph 3 bis of the Asylum Act of June 26, 1998 (AsylA).

The grounds for recusal provided for in Article 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure apply to official experts.

1 Official experts and other employees of the Institute are subject to the Law on the Organisation of State Employees and Teachers of March 15, 1995 (LORD).

2 Official experts are not entitled to compensation for their activities in relation to mandates conferred by authorities under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

1 Personnel working at the Institute are subject to official secrecy (Art. 320 SCC), which also extends to the Department of Institutions and the Division of Justice.

2 This obligation also persists after the termination of the employment relationship.

To the extent not regulated by this Executive Decree in relation to the activity of official experts, the provisions of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure shall apply.

The Executive Decree of July 13, 2022, concerning the establishment of the Office of Forensic Sciences, is repealed.

This executive decree shall enter into force on January 1, 2024.

Published in BU 2023, 425.