Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

POLICE

Zurich is the ‘fines capital’ of Switzerland for 2019

Zurich is budgeting on receiving 152 Swiss francs (€135) per person as a result of fines handed out by the city’s police next year.

Published: 10 December 2018 10:33 CET

Zurich is the 'fines capital' of Switzerland for 2019

Sunset in Zurich West on November 29th. Photo: AFP

That is the highest amount of any city or canton in German-speaking Switzerland, according to research carried out by Swiss weekly Schweiz am Wochenende.

The total amount budgeted for police fines in this part of the country next year is a preliminary 285,673,200 francs, or around 45 francs per person – a similar figure to 2018.

Read also: Driver in Geneva fined for failing to go on green light

After Zurich, the second highest figure is in Baden in the canton of Aargau where preliminary budget projections have city police handing out fines totalling 113 francs per person in 2019.

This is almost twice as high as the 2017 figures with the huge increase based on the planned installation of fixed speed cameras in the canton, according to Schweiz am Wochenende.

At the bottom of the “fines” table is Solothurn, where cantonal police are budgeting for police fines of just 6 francs per person.

In Basel–Stadt, fines are expected to bring in 79 francs per person. In Schwyz, the figure is 44 francs, in St Gallen 43 francs, in Bern 39 francs and in Luzern 19 francs.

Cantonal police in Zurich are budgeting on taking in 17 francs per person in fines next year.

But the president of the Swiss police federation (VSPB), Johanna Bundi Ryser, was critical of the government budget projections.

Fines were designed to change behaviour and not give a boost to government coffers, she told Schweiz am Wochenende.

She said most police would not be influenced by the government budget projections as the number of fines handed out rarely had an impact on performance appraisals.

Read also: 'Rubbish criminal' sentenced to two days in prison

How free are people to protest in Switzerland?

In its recently released 2024 report, Amnesty International criticised Switzerland for imposing restrictions on the right to protest and for dispersing protests violently.

So what’s the problem?

While not an explicit ban on protest, Amnesty International considers the obligation in some Swiss cantons for protest organisers to gain official approval and shoulder potential costs to be a repressive measure—essentially a ‘workaround’ in cooling dissent.

Amnesty International’s criticism comes on the heels of other concerns.

In 2024, Amnesty International joined with the United Nations in criticizing moves by some Swiss cantons and cities to ban protests regarding the Middle East conflict as ‘disproportionate’.

Read More: How ordinary citizens can try to change the law in Switzerland

The organization has also highlighted the continued use of rubber bullets by Swiss police in dispersing protests as a serious area of concern.

Furthermore, any changes to protests are controlled or permitted in Switzerland must be made through individual cantons due to the country’s devolution of specific powers – a process that could take years.

So what restrictions have been introduced in Switzerland?

In early March, the ‘Anti-Chaoten’ initiative put forward by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) youth wing, which would have placed significant legal and financial burdens on protesters, was rejected in a Zurich cantonal referendum. However, a counterproposal by cantonal authorities was accepted at the polls.

The successful counterproposal requires explicit permission from authorities to hold a protest or rally, as well as passing on the cost of the police operation, as well as any intentional damage, to protest organizers. Failure to gain approval for protests can result in charges being laid.

Following the success of the Zurich measure, the Basel SVP intends to introduce a similar proposal to be voted on in August – with the same likely result.

Which protests have been dispersed violently in Switzerland?

Due to global events, protests have become increasingly common in Switzerland over the last five years. Most have been peaceful, but there have been exceptions.

Measures introduced to limit the spread of the coronavirus between 2020 and 2022 led to violent protests being dispersed in Bern, Zurich and Lucerne.

Read More: Switzerland to impose tougher penalties for violent protesters

Climate change protests have also been violently dispersed by police, using pepper spray and rubber bullets – such as in Basel in February 2023.

Amnesty International has also raised serious concerns regarding the police dispersal of an International Women’s Day protest in Basel on March 17th of this year, in which rubber bullets were also used.

Most recently, opponents of the Eritrean regime were dispersed with tear gas and water cannons at a demonstration in Gerlafingen, Aargau, on March 31st.

What right do the Swiss have to protest?

The right to peaceful protest is enshrined in the Swiss federal constitution—Article 16 provides for freedom of expression, while Article 23 protects the right to free association.

Indeed, in 2020, the country successfully introduced a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for world governments to protect the right to protest and not use the coronavirus pandemic as a reason to curtail freedoms.

Read More: What foreigners should know about the Swiss constitution

Furthermore, the country is a signatory to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, which could have some bearing on how protests are dispersed.

Url copied to clipboard!