Die neue schweizerische Strafprozessordnung (StPO)

On January 1, 2011, a unified criminal procedure law comes into effect across Switzerland for the first time. As of this date, the new Federal Criminal Procedure Code (StPO) replaces the previous 26 cantonal criminal procedures and the federal criminal process. At the same time, the youth criminal procedure is also standardized. The military criminal process and the federal administrative criminal procedure remain valid.

This work, which has been written as a teaching tool, aims to provide a quick and concise overview of the more than 450 articles of the new StPO for a predominantly non-legal audience, including first-year law students and practitioners. The new law does not follow the old Roman maxim, leges breves sunto, ut facilius teneantur, which states that legal provisions should be brief so that they can be easily understood and adhered to. This shortcoming is addressed by this work, which presents the key principles of the new StPO in a concise and as generally understandable manner as possible, using colorful tables, diagrams, and illustrations.