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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
Legal bases
By ratifying the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Switzerland undertook to supplement its national legislation accordingly. Its subsequent revision of the Swiss military penal code in 1950, though certainly prompt, was half-hearted. It was not until 1 March 1968, when a broader revision came into force, that national legislation was fully adapted to meet the requirements laid down in those Conventions:
— the scope of application of Swiss criminal law was extended to cover all armed conflicts within the meaning of international conventions;
— civilians who commit offences against international law in the event of armed conflict were explicitly made liable to military jurisdiction; it is thereby clearly established that Switzerland, or more specifically the military justice authorities, must prosecute violations of international humanitarian law even if the offence is committed outside Switzerland by nationals (civilians or members of the armed forces) of another country.
Brigadier General Jürg van Wijnkoop, LL.D., is Head of Military Justice of the Swiss Armed Forces.
1 See appended extracts.
2 Arrêté fédéral relatif à la coopération avec les tribunaux internationaux chargés de poursuivre les violations graves du droit international humanitaire, du 21 décembre 1995, Recueil officiel des lois fédérates, no 1, 9 Janvier 1996, p. 2.
4 “Civilians” must be understood as meaning all persons who are not members of the Swiss armed forces, thus also members of foreign armed forces.
5 Translation by the Review.