LALIVE Newsflash: Commercial Bribery new ex officio crime in Switzerland – Last Grace Period for Health Checks in Risk Prone Organizations?
25 September 2015On 25 September 2015, the Swiss Parliament revised the Criminal Code (Articles 322octies and 322novies) and made commercial bribery an ex officio crime:
1 Any person who offers, promises or gives an employee […..] in the commercial sector an advantage which is not due to him/her, or offers, promises or gives such an advantage to a third party, in order to cause the employee to carry out an act in connection with his/her professional activity which is contrary to his/her duty or dependent on his/her discretion, is liable to custodial sentence up to three years or to a monetary penalty.
2 In minor cases, the act is pursued only upon complaint.
Currently, commercial bribery is a crime under the Federal Act on Unfair Competition and prosecuted only upon application by a competitor. The new law is expected to enter info force in 2016.
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