Crime in Switzerland: Difference between revisions
m correct date |
|||
| Line 83: | Line 83: | ||
While the crime rate among resident foreigners ([[immigrant criminality]]) is significantly higher (by a factor 3.7 counting convictions under criminal law in 2003), this is mainly due to the different demographic composition, the non-naturalized population consisting of a significantly higher ratio of young males (as of 1996).<ref>[http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/news/medienmitteilungen.Document.22935.html Swiss Federal Statistics Office]</ref> |
While the crime rate among resident foreigners ([[immigrant criminality]]) is significantly higher (by a factor 3.7 counting convictions under criminal law in 2003), this is mainly due to the different demographic composition, the non-naturalized population consisting of a significantly higher ratio of young males (as of 1996).<ref>[http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/news/medienmitteilungen.Document.22935.html Swiss Federal Statistics Office]</ref> |
||
In 1997, there were for the first time more foreigners than Swiss among the convicts under criminal law (out of a fraction of 20.6% of the total population at the time). In 1999, the [[Federal Department of Justice and Police]] ordered a study regarding delinquency and nationality (''Arbeitsgruppe "Ausländerkriminalität"''), which in its final report (2001) found that a conviction rate under criminal law about 12 times higher among asylum seekers (4%), while the conviction rate among other resident foreigners was about twice as high (0.6%) compared to Swiss citizens (0.3%).<ref>[http://bfm.mit.ch/index.php?id=184&L=3&S=1 Federal Department of Justice and Police study]</ref> |
In 1997, there were for the first time more foreigners than Swiss among the convicts under criminal law (out of a fraction of 20.6% of the total population at the time). In 1999, the [[Federal Department of Justice and Police]] ordered a study regarding delinquency and nationality (''Arbeitsgruppe "Ausländerkriminalität"''), which in its final report (2001) found that a conviction rate under criminal law about 12 times higher among asylum seekers (4%), while the conviction rate among other resident foreigners was about twice as high (0.6%) compared to Swiss citizens (0.3%).<ref>[http://bfm.mit.ch/index.php?id=184&L=3&S=1 Federal Department of Justice and Police study]</ref> |
||
On 28 November 2010, 53% of voters approved a new, tougher [[deportation]] law. This law, proposed by the [[Swiss People's Party]], called for the automatic expulsion of non-Swiss offenders convicted of a number of crimes, including murder, breaking and entry and even welfare fraud. As the proposal makes deportation mandatory, it denies judges any judicial discretion over deportation. An alternative proposal, that included case by case reviews and integration measures, was rejected by 54% of voters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Specials/Vote_2010-11-28/News/Swiss_approve_foreign_criminal_initiative.html?cid=28899524 |title= Swiss approve foreign criminal initiative |date= 30 November 2010|work= |publisher= Swissinfo |accessdate=29 November 2010}}</ref> |
|||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
Revision as of 18:49, 30 November 2010
In Switzerland, the police registered a total of 553,421 criminal offenses in 2009, including 51 killings and 185 attempted murders. There were 666 cases of rape. In the same year, 94,574 adults (85% of them male, 47.4% of them Swiss citizens) were convicted under criminal law. 57.3% of convictions were for traffic offences.[1] In the same year, 15,064 minors (78.3% of them male, 68.2% of them of Swiss nationality, 76.3% aged between 15 and 18) were convicted.[2]
Convictions for infliction of bodily harm have steadily increased throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with 23 convictions for serious injury and 831 for light injury in 1990 as opposed to 78 and 2,342, respectively, in 2005. Convictions for rape have also slightly increased, fluctuating between 61 and 100 cases per year in the period 1985 to 1995, but between 100 and 113 cases in the period 2000 to 2005. Consistent with these trends, convictions for threats or violence directed against officials has consistently risen in the same period, from 348 in 1990 to 891 in 2003.[3][4]
Types of convictions
The number of convictions in the last five years is given in the following table.[5] Each class of crime references the relevant section of the Strafgesetzbuch (abbreviated as StGB, listing the Swiss criminal laws) or the Strassenverkehrsgesetzes (abbr. SVG, Swiss traffic laws).
| Year | Total Convictions | Homicide (Art. 111,112,113,116 StGB) |
Serious Bodily Injury (Art. 122 StGB) |
Minor Bodily Injury (Art. 123 StGB) |
Sexual Contact with Children (Art. 187 StGB) |
Rape (Art. 190 StGB) |
Theft (Art. 139 StGB) |
Robbery (Art. 140 StGB) |
Receiving Stolen Goods (Art. 160 StGB) |
Embezzlement (Art. 138 StGB) |
Fraud (Art. 146 StGB) |
Narcotics Possession | Major Violation of Traffic Laws (Art. 90 SVG) |
Drunk Driving (Art. 91 Abs. 1 Satz 2 SVG) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 85,605 | 93 | 94 | 2,459 | 413 | 109 | 6,557 | 489 | 1,262 | 910 | 1,484 | 2,846 | 22,163 | 15,776 |
| 2006 | 90,592 | 95 | 105 | 2,523 | 382 | 131 | 6,569 | 553 | 1,196 | 880 | 1,521 | 2,616 | 21,599 | 18,439 |
| 2007 | 84,665 | 93 | 88 | 2,248 | 380 | 135 | 5,979 | 522 | 922 | 807 | 1,607 | 2,462 | 21,431 | 17,355 |
| 2008 | 93,024 | 95 | 133 | 2,635 | 415 | 133 | 6,345 | 522 | 905 | 848 | 1,665 | 2,606 | 25,339 | 17,836 |
| 2009 | 94,574 | 84 | 118 | 2,578 | 366 | 108 | 6,947 | 514 | 924 | 820 | 1,506 | 2,708 | 25,434 | 16,708 |
Historic conviction rates
The historic conviction rates are given in the following chart:[1]
| Year | Total Convictions | Criminal Convictions | Narcotics Convictions | Traffic Convictions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Male | Swiss | Total | Male | Swiss | Total | Male | Swiss | ||
| 1985 | 46,437 | 21,736 | 81.5% | 67.3% | 3,824 | 83.9% | 72.6% | 21,033 | 92.4% | 77.3% |
| 1990 | 54,879 | 21,167 | 80.4% | 58.2% | 4,156 | 84.9% | 63.8% | 26,471 | 91.5% | 70.4% |
| 1995 | 60,955 | 18,571 | 83.5% | 55.0% | 5,415 | 87.0% | 56.2% | 32,565 | 89.6% | 66.5% |
| 2000 | 68,526 | 21,052 | 85.6% | 49.2% | 5,661 | 87.5% | 42.4% | 38,082 | 88.1% | 63.0% |
| 2005 | 85,605 | 28,224 | 85.1% | 48.9% | 5,824 | 89.2% | 40.6% | 46,696 | 87.2% | 57.8% |
| 2006 | 90,592 | 28,656 | 85.2% | 49.5% | 5,668 | 88.4% | 42.8% | 51,326 | 87.0% | 57.2% |
| 2007 | 84,665 | 25,910 | 85.2% | 51.1% | 5,264 | 88.7% | 41.4% | 49,483 | 87.0% | 55.8% |
| 2008a | 93,024 | 28,214 | 84.8% | 50.6% | 5,621 | 89.7% | 42.0% | 54,845 | 86.4% | 54.6% |
| 2009a | 94,574 | 29,045 | 84.9% | 48.1% | 5,669 | 89.5% | 39.9% | 54,231 | 86.4% | 54.5% |
- ^a 2008 and 2009 conviction numbers may not include convictions overturned on appeal.
Age at conviction
The age of the individuals at the time of their convictions is given in this chart:[1]
| Year | 18-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-59 | 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 8.5% | 27.6% | 19.1% | 13.1% | 10.2% | 7.3% | 5.2% | 6.1% | 3.0% |
| 1990 | 7.0% | 26.1% | 20.3% | 14.4% | 9.8% | 7.5% | 5.4% | 6.2% | 3.4% |
| 1995 | 5.2% | 22.5% | 21.9% | 15.8% | 11.1% | 7.7% | 6.0% | 6.9% | 3.0% |
| 2000 | 6.3% | 20.7% | 18.0% | 16.1% | 12.2% | 9.1% | 6.5% | 7.7% | 3.3% |
| 2005 | 7.5% | 21.5% | 15.9% | 14.3% | 12.2% | 9.9% | 6.9% | 8.0% | 3.8% |
| 2006 | 7.2% | 20.9% | 15.7% | 13.8% | 12.5% | 10.3% | 7.3% | 8.4% | 3.9% |
| 2007 | 7.2% | 20.7% | 15.3% | 13.0% | 12.1% | 10.6% | 7.8% | 8.9% | 4.4% |
| 2008a | 7.6% | 20.6% | 15.0% | 12.3% | 12.2% | 10.5% | 7.8% | 9.3% | 4.6% |
| 2009a | 6.8% | 21.0% | 15.5% | 12.5% | 11.7% | 10.0% | 8.0% | 9.4% | 5.1% |
- ^a 2008 and 2009 conviction numbers may not include convictions overturned on appeal.
Prisons
At the end of 2006, 5,888 people were interned in Swiss prisons, one third of them on remand (or 79 in 100,000, comparable to the ratio in France; the USA has 740, Germany has 30 and Iceland has 29 in 100,000), 31% of them Swiss citizens, 69% resident foreigners or illegal immigrants; excluding remand: 36% Swiss or 32 in 100,000, 64% foreigners or 160 in 100,000.
Crime among citizens and foreigners
While the crime rate among resident foreigners (immigrant criminality) is significantly higher (by a factor 3.7 counting convictions under criminal law in 2003), this is mainly due to the different demographic composition, the non-naturalized population consisting of a significantly higher ratio of young males (as of 1996).[6] In 1997, there were for the first time more foreigners than Swiss among the convicts under criminal law (out of a fraction of 20.6% of the total population at the time). In 1999, the Federal Department of Justice and Police ordered a study regarding delinquency and nationality (Arbeitsgruppe "Ausländerkriminalität"), which in its final report (2001) found that a conviction rate under criminal law about 12 times higher among asylum seekers (4%), while the conviction rate among other resident foreigners was about twice as high (0.6%) compared to Swiss citizens (0.3%).[7]
On 28 November 2010, 53% of voters approved a new, tougher deportation law. This law, proposed by the Swiss People's Party, called for the automatic expulsion of non-Swiss offenders convicted of a number of crimes, including murder, breaking and entry and even welfare fraud. As the proposal makes deportation mandatory, it denies judges any judicial discretion over deportation. An alternative proposal, that included case by case reviews and integration measures, was rejected by 54% of voters.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Swiss Federal Statistical Office Verurteilungen (Erwachsene) - Daten, Indikatoren - Demographische Merkmale der Verurteilten Template:De icon accessed 14 November 2010
- ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office Jugendstrafurteile - Daten, Indikatoren Template:De icon accessed 15 November 2010
- ^ Swiss Federal Statistics Office
- ^ Swiss Federal Statistics Office
- ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office Verurteilungen für Verbrechen und Vergehen nach ausgewählten Straftaten Template:De icon accessed 15 November 2010
- ^ Swiss Federal Statistics Office
- ^ Federal Department of Justice and Police study
- ^ "Swiss approve foreign criminal initiative". Swissinfo. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.