Your rights in Switzerland: Can police enter your home if you break coronavirus rules?

Switzerland has mandated a slew of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, both for public and private domains. But can authorities knock on your door to check if you are complying with the restrictions in your home?

Published: 7 January 2021 11:35 CET
Updated: 7 January 2021 13:13 CET

Your rights in Switzerland: Can police enter your home if you break coronavirus rules?

Police can't forcefully enter your home. Photo by AFP

While it is easy to monitor public spaces, checking compliance in the privacy of your home is not as simple.

Let’s say that you disregard the rule limiting get-togethers to five people and invite a larger group to your apartment. Let’s further assume that your neighbours get wind of your infraction and call the police.

What could happen?

By law, the Swiss police can’t enter your home without a search warrant, except in life-threatening emergencies.

“If the residents refuse to open the door, that is their right. They don't have to let law enforcement in”, Florence Frei, communications officer at the Vaud cantonal police, said in an interview with Le Matin newspaper.

“Pandemic rules don’t give authorities more power”, Frei noted.

She added that “we don’t usually carry out spontaneous checks in the private sphere. While unusual behaviour, increased noise, or other factors may cause us to verify that the restrictions are being observed, entry into the home is only by mutual agreement”.

But that doesn’t mean that the resident will prevail.

Frei said that if the police find on the spot that rules have been broken, they will report the offending person to judicial authorities.

This happened to a man in Clarens, Vaud, who was fined 2,000 francs for organising a party for 70 guests in his apartment in December.

And a woman in Grenchen, canton Solothurn, was fined 1,900 francs for ending her quarantine four days early.

“Fortunately, refusals to cooperate rarely occur”, Frei said.

What are the penalties for breaching coronavirus measures?

They can be steep.

In December, the Swiss Conference of Prosecutors adopted a uniform set of sanctions for non-compliance with the country's Covid-19 restrictions.

These are the recommended penalties for individual offenders:

Avoiding quarantine or isolation: 1,000 to 1,500 francs
Not wearing a mask where it is compulsory to do so: 250 francs
Gatherings of more than 15 people in public: 100 francs
Avoiding medical supervision: 800 to 1,000 francs

For restaurant owners and organisers of events, the fines are as follows:

Serving food and drinks to people not seated at a table: 500 francs
Not having a health protection plan in place: 2,000 francs
Insufficient protection plan: 500 to 1,000 francs
Non-compliance with official health rules: 500 francs
Gatherings of more than 50 people: 2,000 francs

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A Swiss appeals court confirmed Monday the acquittal of six police officers over the death of a Nigerian man, in a case that drew comparisons to George Floyd’s killing in the United States.

As with the lower court verdict a year ago acquitting the officers of negligent homicide in the case of Mike Ben Peter, Monday’s ruling sparked immediate protests and chants of “Shame!” outside the courthouse.

Around 80 people crowded outside the court, shouting: “Black lives matter!”, “Justice for Mike”, and “Police kill, the judiciary acquits!”

The 39-year-old Nigerian died following a violent arrest after he refused a police drug search in Lausanne in western Switzerland in early 2018.

In the encounter with the six police officers, he was pinned to the ground on his stomach. He died in hospital a few hours later after suffering a heart attack.

His death initially received little attention, but the global outcry over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020 placed a bigger spotlight on the Swiss case.

During the first trial in June last year, a court in Lausanne ruled that the six officers involved in the incident could not be found guilty of negligent homicide.

The public prosecutor’s office also decided to drop the charges, referring in particular to forensic analyses that were unable to state with certainty that Ben Peter died due to the police intervention.

After three days of hearings last week at the appeals court in Renens, near Lausanne, the three judges confirmed the lower court ruling, acquitting the officers of negligent homicide.

They also acquitted them on an additional charge of abusing their authority, brought by the lawyer of Ben Peter’s family, Simon Ntah.

As with during the first trial, the judges relied heavily on forensic expert testimony to reach their conclusion.

The experts testified that it was impossible to say for certain that Ben Peter died due to the police intervention.