Switzerland’s courts handed out a record 105,678 sentences last year for offences and crimes, up 9.8% on 2011. This was largely due to convictions for crimes against property, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
Over half of all the sentences handed down involved offences against road laws, but these only increased by 3.7%. More than a third of the convictions were related to the penal code (+16.6%), 15.9% against the foreign nationals act (+17.5%) and 5.5% against the narcotics legislation (+20.7%).
Sentencing in half of cases involving the penal code – more than 37,000 – were related to offences against property. These offences increased more than 20% in 2012, and considerably influenced the rise in the number of convictions, according to the statistics office.
Theft was the biggest driver of this increase, with 30% more sentences handed down over the previous year. A knock-on effect was the rise of convictions for breaking and entering as well as receiving stolen goods and obstructing criminal proceedings.
The number of sentences for offences related to drugs, while increasing to 5,848, remained beneath the record level of 2010. But the number of convictions for offences against the foreign nationals act continues to grow, reaching 6,849 last year.
No permit
Fresh data shows that over 40% of foreigners convicted for offences against property did not have a resident permit allowing them to stay in Switzerland, a figure that grew by nearly half over the previous year.
The same category of foreigners accounts for 44.7% of sentences related to drug trafficking, an increase of over 40%.
The statistics office said that the increase in convictions also influenced sentencing practices. While 85.6% of those sentenced (90,454 cases) were given fines, the growth (+8.1%) seen was less than the overall average.
Sentences involving community service fell 10% to 2,865.
Unconditional jail terms rose by over a third, with short-term custodial sentences (up to one month) rising nearly 70% to 2,421. The statistics office said this last result could not be explained by the higher number of convictions alone, since this type of sentencing also rose in 2011 despite fewer convictions.