CONCORDAT regulating police cooperation in French-speaking Switzerland (C-Pol) - Scope (C-POL)

1. The parties to the concordat are the cantons of French-speaking Switzerland that declare their adherence.

2. Other cantons may also adhere to this concordat with the consent of the governments of all the partner cantons.

3. The partner cantons may also enlist municipal police forces to provide concordatal assistance to the requesting canton, to the extent permitted by their legal order.

1. The concordat aims to guarantee and promote cooperation between police forces for

a. mutual assistance under the concordat;

b. the exchange of judicial police data;

c. achieving operational, technical, scientific, and logistical synergies, as well as for related training.

1. The competent Directors of Police form the concordat authority. This authority constitutes itself.

2. The tasks and powers of the concordat authority include

a. promoting cooperation between police forces and mutual assistance within the meaning of this concordat;

b. issuing necessary mandates to police commands;

c. ensuring compliance with this concordat;

d. establishing the scale of costs incurred by the deployment of police forces in accordance with Article 13;

e. examining disputes relating to costs and claims for damages and submitting settlement proposals to the interested cantons;

f. taking cognizance of the deployment report, which must reach it no later than six months after the end of the deployment.

**1. A request for concordat assistance can only be made when the requesting canton cannot manage the situation it faces on its own and with its own resources.**

1. A request for concordat mutual assistance may be made in the following situations

a. in the event of a disaster;

b. during crimes accompanied by violence, such as acts of terrorism, aerial piracy, hostage-taking, serious cases of brigandage;

c. in the event of internal disturbances or risks of serious riots endangering persons or property;

d. when it is a matter of organizing joint judicial police controls and large-scale searches;

e. for the initial investigations conducted during judicial police inquiries concerning serious, important, and/or complex cases;

f. during large-scale events;

g. during important meetings, particularly at international conferences or State visits.

1. The cantonal government is the competent authority to request or grant inter-cantonal assistance. In emergency situations, it may delegate this authority to the competent Cantonal Director in charge of police matters.

2. Unless its own priority tasks prevent it, the requested party is obliged to provide the personnel designated by the inter-cantonal authority to the canton making the request.

3. Inter-cantonal assistance within the territory of the concordat cantons takes precedence over any request for support presented by other cantons.

4. When a canton is simultaneously requested by several concordat cantons, the inter-cantonal authority decides on the priorities or an appropriate allocation of personnel.

1. The canton requesting concordat assistance must inform the other parties to the concordat.

1. The police commander of the canton where the operations are taking place directs the police forces of his canton as well as those available to him under concordat-based mutual assistance.

2. A leader is designated by the commanders of the police forces engaged in operations spanning multiple cantons.

1. External police forces to the canton have, during the ordered operations, the same powers and the same obligations as the cantonal police of the requesting canton. They apply, in the exercise of activities inherent to their duties, the regulations in force in the canton where the operations are taking place.

2. In administrative or disciplinary matters, they are subject to the regulations of the canton to which they belong.

1. When, in the course of their duties, police forces from outside the canton where operations are taking place cause damage to that canton unlawfully, intentionally, or as a result of gross negligence, the canton from which they originate is liable.

2. The canton where the operations take place is liable, according to the legal order governing it, for damage caused to a third party by police forces from other cantons during their duties. If the damage was caused intentionally or through gross negligence, the canton where the operations take place, which is responsible, may assert its claims against the cantons from which the police forces in question originate.

3. The canton where the operations take place and the injured third party do not have a direct legal action against members of the police from other cantons.

4. The liability of a police member towards the canton to which they belong falls under the law of that canton.

5. The principles of the Code of Obligations [C] governing the exclusion of liability in the case of fault by the injured party themselves, the assessment of damage, the determination of damages, and the payment of compensation for moral harm are applicable by analogy when damage is caused within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 2.

1. The canton where the operations take place is liable, if the legal order governing it provides for it and in accordance with it, for damages resulting from lawful acts and caused to a third party by the police forces of other cantons during their engagement.

1. The canton from which the police forces originate provides its members with benefits for the consequences of accidents occurring during their engagement in another canton, according to its own legal obligations.

2. The canton where the operations take place reimburses the canton that provided it with concordat assistance for the benefits it was obliged to provide under paragraph 1, to the extent that they are not covered by a third party.

3. If the canton to which a police member belongs must pay said member their salary for a period of incapacity to work exceeding 14 days due to an accident in the canton where the operations take place, the canton where the service was performed must reimburse this amount, insofar as it is not covered by a third party.

1. The cost of joint criminal police operations and large-scale investigations is not charged.

2. The cost of initial investigations conducted during criminal police inquiries concerning serious, significant, and/or complex cases is charged according to the fee schedule.

3. The cost of concordat assistance provided in the event of a disaster is only charged if third parties are liable and to the extent that they are liable.

4. In other cases, the canton where the operations take place must reimburse the canton that provided the support for the expenses incurred by the personnel involved, vehicles, and equipment; Article 47 of the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure [D] remains reserved.

5. The fee schedule is set by the concordat authority.

1. For the purpose of elucidating offenses and identifying perpetrators or unknown persons, both living and deceased, as well as searching for missing persons, the cantons exchange, through common databases, judicial police information concerning, in particular, suspects of crimes or offenses, the crimes and offenses themselves, physical traces, dental data, and imagery.

2. The concordat authority defines the procedures, competencies, and operating rules of the common databases.

1. The concordat constitutes the permanent framework for encouraging and realizing synergies aimed at strengthening the fight against crime and ensuring an efficient use of resources.

2. The synergies extend to the operational, technical, scientific, and logistical fields as well as to the related training. Their implementation cannot be imposed on a partner canton.

1. This concordat is concluded for an indefinite duration.

2. A partner canton may denounce it, subject to a three-year notice period, effective at the end of a year. The other partner cantons shall decide whether to maintain it in force.

1. The concordat comes into effect as soon as at least three cantons have acceded to it.

2. The accession must be communicated to the governments of the cantons of French-speaking Switzerland through the Secretariat of the Latin Conference of Heads of Departments of Justice and Police (CLDJP).

1. Upon the entry into force of the present concordat, the concordat of October 10, 1988, regulating police cooperation in French-speaking Switzerland is revoked.