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Revealed: the surprising extent of petty theft in Switzerland

While people in Switzerland have a reputation for being a law-abiding bunch, a new survey reveals a surprisingly high rate of petty theft in the country.

Published: 30 January 2019 18:34 CET
Revealed: the surprising extent of petty theft in Switzerland
One in eight adults in Switzerland say they have stolen from a supermarket. File photo: Depositphotos

Just under half (49 percent) of adults in Switzerland have deliberately not paid for something at least once in their lives, according to the survey by financial comparison website moneyland.ch. 

The finding is based on the results of a representative and anonymous online survey completed by 1,500 adults in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. 

The poll reveals that supermarkets are one of the main targets for petty theft. Around one in eight people (12 percent) said they had stolen from the supermarket giant Migros while 11 percent said they had done so from Migros' main competitor Coop. 

Read also: How 'stealing' a packet of grated cheese ended up costing one pensioner thousands of francs

Eight percent of survey respondents also said they had intentionally failed to pay for items while using self-service checkouts. But moneyland.ch director told Swiss daily Tages Anzeiger this figure was likely to be closer to 15 percent as not all survey respondents had actually used these increasingly popular checkouts. 

The survey also reveals that 13 percent of people have deliberately not paid hotel bills, while that figure is the same for restaurants. 

And it’s not just people on lower incomes who are responsible for these figures.

According to the survey, the percentage of people doing a runner at restaurants was highest (21 percent) in the group with assets of 300,000 to 500,000 Swiss francs. 

It's a similar story when it comes to people who have, on at least one occasion, used public transport after deciding not to buy a ticket. While the overall figure for all wealth groups was 34 percent, it was 39 percent for millionaires.

Meanwhile, just under 5 percent of all survey respondents said they 'often' travelled without a valid ticket.

The survey also found that men are more likely to have deliberately stolen or not paid for something than women (52 percent against 46 percent).  

Younger people are also more likely to offend (or to admit they have offended in an online survey). Only 31 percent of people aged 18–25 said they had never stolen while that figure was 49 percent among 26 to 49-year-olds and 60 percent for people aged from 50 to 75. 

But the differences between the French- and German-speaking parts of the country were minor in terms of the percentage of people who had never deliberately failed to pay for something (53 percent versus 50 percent).

CLIMATE CRISIS

Top Europe rights court to issue landmark climate verdicts

Europe's top rights court will on Tuesday issue unprecedented verdicts in three separate cases on the responsibility of states in the face of global warming, rulings that could force governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies.

Published: 7 April 2024 12:48 CEST
Top Europe rights court to issue landmark climate verdicts

The European Court of Human Rights, part of the 46-member Council of Europe, will rule on whether governments’ climate change policies are violating the European Convention on Human Rights, which it oversees.

All three cases accuse European governments of inaction or insufficient action in their measures against global warming.

In a sign of the importance of the issue, the cases have all been treated as priority by the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, the court’s top instance, whose 17 judges can set a potentially crucial legal precedent.

It will be the first time the court has issued a ruling on climate change.

While several European states, including France, have already been condemned by domestic courts for not fulfilling commitments against global warming, the ECHR could go further and make clear new fundamental rights.

The challenge lies in ensuring “the recognition of an individual and collective right to a climate that is as stable as possible, which would constitute an important legal innovation”, said lawyer and former French environment minister Corinne Lepage, who is defending one of the cases.

‘Turning point’ 

The court’s position “may mark a turning point in the global struggle for a liveable future,” said lawyer Gerry Liston, of the NGO Global Legal Action Network (GLAN).

“A victory in any of the three cases could constitute the most significant legal development on climate change for Europe since the signing of the Paris 2015 Agreement” that set new targets for governments to reduce emissions, he said.

Even if the Convention does not contain any explicit provision relating to the environment, the Court has already ruled based on Article 8 of the Convention — the right to respect for private and family life — an obligation of States to maintain a “healthy environment”, in cases relating to waste management or industrial activities.

Of the three cases which will be decided on Tuesday, the first is brought by the Swiss association of Elders for Climate Protection — 2,500 women aged 73 on average — and four of its members who have also put forward individual complaints.

They complain about “failings of the Swiss authorities” in terms of climate protection, which “would seriously harm their state of health”.

Damien Careme, former mayor of the northern French coastal town of Grande-Synthe, in his case attacks the “deficiencies” of the French state, arguing they pose a risk of his town being submerged under the North Sea.

In 2019, he already filed a case at France’s Council of State — its highest administrative court — alleging “climate inaction” on the part of France.

The court ruled in favour of the municipality in July 2021, but rejected a case he’d brought in his own name, leading Careme to take it to the ECHR.

‘For benefit of all’

The third case was brought by a group of six Portuguese, aged 12 to 24, inspired to act after fires ravaged their country in 2017.

Their case is not only against Portugal, but also 31 other states (every EU country, plus Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Russia).

Almost all European countries belong to the Council of Europe, not just EU members.

Russian was expelled from the COE after its invasion of Ukraine but cases against Moscow are still heard at the court.

The ECHR hears cases only when all domestic appeals have been exhausted. Its rulings are binding, although there have been problems with compliance of certain states such as Turkey.

The three cases rely primarily on articles in the Convention that protect the “right to life” and the “right to respect for private life”.

However, the Court will only issue a precedent-setting verdict if it determines that these cases have exhausted all remedies at the national level.

The accused states tried to demonstrate this is not the case during two hearings held in 2023.

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