Art. 1 Aim and subject matter
This Act seeks to promote transparency with regard to the mandate, organisation and activities of the Administration. To this end, it contributes to informing the public by ensuring access to official documents.
152.3
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
of 17 December 2004 (Status as of 19 August 2014)
The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation,
based on Article 173 paragraph 2 of the Federal Constitution1,
and having considered the Federal Council Dispatch dated 12 February 20032
decrees:
This Act seeks to promote transparency with regard to the mandate, organisation and activities of the Administration. To this end, it contributes to informing the public by ensuring access to official documents.
1 This Act applies to:
2 This Act does not apply to the Swiss National Bank or the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.4
3 The Federal Council is authorised to exclude other organisational units of the Federal Administration, as well as other organisations and persons outside the Federal Administration, from the scope of this Act, should:
4 Amended in accordance with Annex No 1 the Financial Market Supervision Act of 22 June 2007, in force since 1 Jan. 2009 (AS 2008 5207; BBl 2006 2829).
1 This Act does not apply to:
2 Access to official documents containing personal information about the applicant is governed by the Federal Act of 19 June 19925 on Data Protection (Data Protection Act).
Special provisions contained in other Federal Acts are reserved where they:
1 An official document is any information:
2 Documents which have been produced by means of a simple computerised process from recorded information which meets the requirements of paragraph 1 letters a, b and c above are deemed to be official documents.
3 Not deemed to be official documents are any documents which:
1 Any person has the right to inspect official documents and to obtain information about the content of official documents.
2 The documents may be inspected in situ or a copy thereof may be requested. The legislation governing copyright is reserved.
3 Where an official document has already been published by the Federal Government in paper or electronic format, the rights under paragraphs 1 and 2 above are deemed to have been fulfilled.
1 The right of access shall be limited, deferred or refused if such access to an official document:
2 The right of access shall be limited, deferred or refused if such access to an official document is likely to prejudice the privacy of a third party, unless exceptionally outweighed by public interest.
1 There is no right of access to official documents of joint reporting proceedings.
2 Access to official documents is granted only after the political or administrative decisions based thereon have been taken.
3 By way of exception, the Federal Council may decide to withhold access to official documents resulting from official departmental consultation processes even after decisions have been made.
4 Under no circumstances may access to official documents about the status of pending or future negotiations be granted.
5 Access to reports on the evaluation of the performance of the Federal Administration and the effectiveness of its measures is guaranteed.
1 Official documents containing personal data shall, wherever possible, be rendered anonymous prior to inspection.
2 Where a request for access covers official documents which cannot be rendered anonymous, Article 19 of the Data Protection Act6 shall apply. The relevant procedure shall be governed by this Act.
1 An application for access to official documents shall be addressed to the authority which created the documents or received the same as primary addressee from third parties not subject to this Act.
2 The Federal Council may provide a special procedure for access to official documents by Swiss representations abroad and by missions to international organisations.
3 The application must be formulated in a sufficiently accurate manner.
4 The Federal Council shall enact regulations governing the particulars of this procedure:
1 Should an application be made for access to official documents which contain personal data, and which the authority is considering granting, it shall consult the person concerned and afford him the opportunity to submit comments within ten days.
2 The authority shall then inform such consulted person of the position it intends to take concerning the application for access.
1 The authority shall make a decision as soon as possible and in any case no later than 20 days after receipt of the application.
2 The deadline may, under exceptional circumstances, be extended by 20 days, should the application for access concern a large number of documents or documents which are complex or difficult to obtain. Should an application concern official documents containing personal information, the deadline shall be extended for the required period.
3 Should an application concern official documents containing personal information, the authority shall suspend access until the legal situation has been clarified.
4 The authority shall inform the applicant, with summary grounds, of any extension of the deadline, limitation or refusal of access. Information concerning the limitation or denial of access, as well as the grounds therefor, shall be conveyed in writing.
1 A request for mediation may be filed by any person:
2 The request for mediation must be filed in writing with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner within 20 days of receipt of the decision from the authority or the date of the authority's failure to comply with the deadline.
3 Should mediation succeed, the matter is deemed to have been settled.
Should mediation fail, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner shall provide the participants to the mediation proceedings with a written recommendation within 30 days of receipt of the request for mediation.
1 Within ten days of receipt of the recommendation, the applicant or the person consulted may request a decision pursuant to Article 5 of the Administrative Procedure Act of 20 December 19687.
2 Furthermore, the authority shall hand down a decision, where, contrary to the recommendation, it intends to:
3 A decision shall be issued within 20 days of receipt of the recommendation or the request for a decision pursuant to paragraph 1 above.
1 The appeals procedure are subject to the general provisions found in the relevant legislation governing the federal administration of justice.
2 The appeal instances shall also have access to official documents which are secret.
8 Amended in accordance with Annex No 7 the Federal Administrative Court Act of 17June 2005, in force since 1 Jan. 2007 (AS 2006 2197 1069; BBl 2001 4202).
1 In principle, access to official documents is subject to payment of a fee.9
2 No fee is charged for:
3 The Federal Council shall regulate the details and fee rates on the basis of the effective costs incurred. Specific provisions set out in other legislation are reserved.
4 Fees may, in any event, be charged for the release of reports, brochures and other printed material and information carriers.
9 The correction of 19 Aug. 2014 relates to the Italian text only (AS 2014 2599).
The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (the Commissioner) pursuant to Article 26 of the Data Protection Act10 shall, in particular, have the following duties and competencies under the present Act:
1 The Commissioner shall review the execution and effectiveness of this Act and, in particular, the costs incurred in its implementation, and shall report on a regular basis to the Federal Council.
2 The Commissioner shall submit the first report on the implementation costs of this Act to the Federal Council within three years of its entry into force.
3 The reports of the Commissioner shall be published.
1 Within the context of mediation proceedings, the Commissioner shall have access to official documents, even if they are subject to secrecy.
2 The Commissioner and his secretariat shall be subject to official secrecy to the same extent as the authorities whose official documents they inspect or from whom they obtain information.
The Federal Council may, in particular, enact provisions governing the:
Amendments to existing legislation are regulated in the Annex.
This Act shall apply to official documents produced or received by authorities after its commencement.
(Art. 22)
The federal acts below are amended as follows:
...12
12 The amendments may be consulted under AS 2006 2319.