Criminal Provisions

Article 88 Failure to observe safety and security measures

1 Whoever intentionally commits any of the following offences shall be liable to a term of imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 Swiss francs:

a. manufacturing or supplying faulty components of a nuclear facility that are important in terms of nuclear safety or security;

b. damaging, removing, rendering unusable, using in an improper manner or putting out of operation an installation in a nuclear facility that is important in terms of nuclear safety or security, or failing to install or render such an installation ready for operation;

c. failing to observe protective measures that are important in terms of nuclear safety or security when handling nuclear materials or radioactive waste.

2 Whoever by committing the foregoing offences knowingly endangers the life or health of a number of human beings, or causes damage to property of significant value, shall be liable to a term of penal servitude, which may also be combined with a fine of up to 500,000 Swiss francs.

3 If the offender has acted negligently, he shall be liable to a term of imprisonment or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs.

Article 89 Offences involving nuclear goods and radioactive waste

1 Whoever intentionally commits any of the following offences shall be liable to a term of imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 million Swiss francs:

a. handling nuclear goods or radioactive waste without holding the necessary licence, or failing to comply with the conditions or requirements stipulated in a licence;

b. when applying for a licence, providing essential information that is incom-plete or false, or using an application that has been comincom-pleted by a third party;

c. falsely declaring nuclear goods or radioactive waste, or failing to notify the relevant authorities when importing, exporting or conveying such matter in transit;

d. actively or passively supplying, transferring or mediating nuclear goods or radioactive waste to another end-user or destination than the one named in the licence;

e. supplying a person with nuclear goods or radioactive waste even though it is known or has to be assumed that the person concerned will directly or indi-rectly pass them on unlawfully to an end-user;

f. participating in the financing of an illegal transaction with nuclear goods or radioactive waste, or mediating the financing of such a transaction.

2 In serious cases, the penalty shall be penal servitude of up to ten years. This pen-alty may also be combined with a fine of up to 5 million Swiss francs.

3 If the offender has acted negligently, he shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of up to six months, or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs.

Article 90 Failure to fulfil the licence obligations for nuclear facilities

1 Whoever intentionally commits any of the following offences shall be liable to a term of imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 Swiss francs:

a. constructing or operating a nuclear facility without a licence;

b. failing to fulfil the obligations arising from an operating licence for a nuclear facility (Articles 22 and 38), decommissioning obligations (Article 26) or the obligations associated with the disposal of radioactive waste and the sealing of a deep geological repository (Article 31 and Article 39, paragraphs 1 and 2);

c. carrying out operations that affect the protection zone of a deep geological repository, without holding the necessary licence;

d. carrying out an activity that requires a clearance, without first obtaining the necessary clearance.

2 If the offender has acted negligently, he shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of up to six months, or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs.

3 Whoever intentionally or negligently carries out other activities that are subject to the granting of a licence in accordance with the provisions of this Act or an associ-ated ordinance, but who does not hold the requisite licence, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs.

Article 91 Breach of secrecy

1 Whoever intentionally commits any of the following offences shall be liable to a term of imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 Swiss francs:

a. obtaining details of secret facts or precautionary measures aimed at protect-ing nuclear facilities, nuclear materials or radioactive waste against interven-tion by third parties or the effects of armed conflicts, in order to disclose them, or make them accessible, to unauthorised parties, or to use the infor-mation thus obtained themselves in an unauthorised manner;

b. disclosing such facts or measures, or making them accessible to unauthor-ised parties.

2 If the offender has acted negligently, he shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs.

Article 92 Surrendering ownership

1 Whoever intentionally surrenders ownership of nuclear materials or radioactive waste without the necessary authority to do so shall be liable to a term of imprison-ment or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs.

2 If the offender has acted negligently, he shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of up to six months or a fine.

Article 93 Contraventions

1 Whoever intentionally commits any of the following contraventions shall be liable to a term of imprisonment or a fine of up to 100,000 Swiss francs:

a. refusing to provide information, submit documentation or permit access to business premises or inspection of documentation in accordance with Article 73, or giving false information in this connection;

b. failing to comply with a reporting obligation, an auditing and accounting ob-ligation or an obob-ligation to keep records in accordance with this Act, or in-fringing against an associated ordinance;

c. infringing in any other way against the provisions of this Act or an associ-ated ordinance, if the misdemeanour concerned is declared punishable by law, or against a ruling if infringement thereof is declared punishable by law, and no unlawful behaviour is involved in accordance with another criminal offence.

2 Attempts and aiding and abetting shall be punishable by law.

3 If the offender has acted negligently, he shall be liable to a fine of up to 40,000 Swiss francs.

Article 94 Offences in commercial enterprises

For offences in accordance with this Act, Article 6 of the Federal Act of 22 March 1974²⁵ on Administrative Criminal Law applies.

Article 95 Offences committed abroad, involvement in offences committed abroad

1 A Swiss citizen who commits a felony or misdemeanour in accordance with Arti-cles 89 and 91 abroad shall be punishable by law even if the act is not subject to prosecution in the country concerned.

2 If a participant in an offence committed abroad has acted within Switzerland, the provisions of the Swiss Criminal Code apply provided the main act is punishable by law in Switzerland, irrespective of the law in the country in which the main act was committed.

25 SR 313.0

Article 96 Statute of limitations for misdemeanours

The term of limitation for misdemeanours is five years. This period may not be extended by more than half as the result of interruptions.

Article 97 Seizure of objects

A judge may order the seizure of objects, without consideration as to the liability of a given person to prosecution, if no guarantee is provided that the objects will be used for lawful purposes. Objects thus seized, and any proceeds from utilisation or disposal thereof, shall become the property of the Confederation.

Article 98 Seizure of assets or substitute claims

Any seized assets or substitute claims shall become the property of the Confedera-tion.

Article 99 Relationship to the Criminal Code

Seizure of goods and assets under Articles 97 and 98 above shall also be subject to the provisions of Articles 58 and 59 of the Swiss Criminal Code²⁶.

Article 100 Jurisdiction, obligation to report to the Office of the Attorney Gen-eral

1 The prosecution and judgement of felonies and misdemeanours in accordance with Articles 88 to 92 above shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Criminal Court.

2 Contraventions in accordance with Article 93 shall be prosecuted and judged by the SFOE. These proceedings shall be subject to the provisions of the Federal Act of 22 March 1974²⁷ on Administrative Criminal Law.

3 Licensing and supervisory authorities, cantonal and communal police and customs authorities are obliged to notify the Office of the Attorney General about any of-fences committed against this Act that may come to their attention in the course of their services and activities or in any other way.

Chapter 10: Final Provisions