The overwhelming majority of criminal convictions in Switzerland are not handed down by a court. They arrive by post, as a penal order issued by the public prosecutor, with no hearing and with nobody having argued anything. The document runs to two or three pages, it is written in administrative language, and it looks more like an invoice than a judgment.
It is a judgment nonetheless, or more precisely it becomes one. A penal order sets out a penalty, states a period during which the person named may object, and if that period passes without an objection it carries the same force as a decision reached after a full trial. It goes on the criminal record according to the penalty imposed, it can be relied on later, and it is almost never reopened.
What is actually in it
Four things, and it is worth finding them in this order rather than reading the document from the top.
- The facts relied on, summarised in a paragraph. This is the prosecutor’s version, not yours, and it is the one that will be treated as established if nobody disputes it.
- The legal characterisation — the article of law being applied to those facts.
- The penalty, often a monetary penalty expressed in day-fines, sometimes with a separate fine and the costs of the proceedings.
- The route and the period for objecting, usually at the end and often in small type.
| Point | Penal order | Judgment |
|---|---|---|
| Who issues it | The public prosecutor | A court |
| Hearing | None | A trial, with the parties present |
| Reasoning | A summary of the facts and the penalty | A reasoned judgment |
| What makes it final | No objection within the period | No appeal within the period |
A penal order is not a proposal. It is a conviction waiting to not be challenged.
Objecting is not the same as defending
An objection is a simple act and a widely misunderstood one. It does not have to give reasons, it does not have to prove anything, and it does not win the case. Its effect is procedural: it cancels the automatic effect of the order and sends the matter back to the prosecutor, who may then drop it, maintain it, or pass the file to a court.
That explains something many people find counter-intuitive: deciding to object and deciding to dispute the facts are not the same decision. Somebody may simply want a penalty they consider disproportionate looked at again, or want access to the procedural file, which is not otherwise possible.
Why the calendar decides everything
Time runs from service, not from reading. A registered letter left uncollected is treated as served at the end of the postal holding period, which means a spell abroad or a badly notified change of address can start a clock nobody saw. That mechanism produces most of the files that reach a lawyer too late.
How long the period is, how it is calculated, whether anything suspends it and the rare grounds for restoring it all depend on the procedure and the circumstances. Those are precisely the questions this article does not answer: they are assessed on the documents, and a lawyer with the order in front of them answers in minutes.
What is worth keeping fits in a sentence. A penal order is the only document you can turn into a final conviction by doing nothing at all, and the useful moment to show it to somebody is when it arrives, not when you decide to deal with it.
These articles are general information and are not legal advice. Only a lawyer consulted on your own situation can advise you.
