Faced with the engorgement of the public prosecutor of the Confederation (MPC), Berne plans to transfer certain skills to the cantons. A solution that arouses strong reactions in a context of generalized overload of criminal justice.
Swiss criminal justice is crumbling under the files. Both at the federal and cantonal level, the courts and public ministries are struggling to deal with the influx of new cases.
It is in this tense context that the Federal Office of Justice (OFJ) is preparing – at the request of the Federal Council – A disputed project: transfer certain skills of the public prosecutor of the Confederation (MPC) to the cantonal jurisdictions.
An MPC submerged by “mass affairs”
The MPC wishes to focus on its primary mission: to fight against offenses threatening the security of the country, such as terrorism or organized crime. But it also treats a large number of offenses of little gravity. They are called “mass affairs”.
“When there is a destruction of a Bancomat, it is the MPC which is responsible under the law on explosives, explains Alexia Heine, president of the supervisory authority of the MPC. We have exactly the same problem with the drones that you can buy in the trade. When small drones fly over [illégalement] Your garden is ultimately a matter for the MPC and it can no longer be the case, “continues the federal judge in the morning of the RTS.
In 2024, the MPC recorded more than 750 new “mass affairs”. “It unnecessarily blocks the prosecution in his work,” deplores Alexia Heine. In its 2024 annual reportthe supervisory authority calls on the competent bodies to modify the penal code to unload the MPC.
Cantons already on the verge of saturation
But this project does not pass in the cantons, themselves overloaded. In Valais, the situation is “at the limit”, according to the general prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud. “The borough prosecutors have processed 607 files each in a year,” she said, noting an increase of 38% in six years.
“I do not know how I see the future with a resumption of mass files of the MPC. In the current state, it is not possible,” said Beatrice Pilloud to RTS.
In the canton of Vaud, the Attorney General Eric Kaltenrieder indicates that the Vaudois prosecutors deal with an average of “190 files at the same time”. According to him, if Vaud’s justice should regain mass affairs from the MPC, a financial consideration would need.
“It would be up to the Confederation to help the cantons financially so that we can have additional staff,” said Eric Kaltenrieder.
Marc Menichini, RTS investigation center
