Book One: 4 General Provisions

Part One: Felonies and Misdemeanours Title One: Scope of Application

Title Seven: Corporate Criminal Liability

Art. 102

1 If a felony or misdemeanour is committed in an undertaking in the exercise of commercial activities in accordance with the objects of the undertaking and if it is not possible to attribute this act to any specific natural person due to the inadequate organisation of the undertaking, then the felony or misdemeanour shall be attributed to the undertaking. In such cases, the undertaking shall be liable to a fine not exceeding 5 million francs.

2 If the offence committed falls under Articles 260ter, 260quinquies, 305bis, 322ter, 322quinquies or 322septies paragraph 1 or is an offence under Article 4a paragraph 1 letter a of the Federal Act of 19 Dec. 1986 on Unfair Competition, the undertaking shall be penalised irrespective of the criminal liability of any natural persons, provided the undertaking is responsible for failing to take all the reasonable organisational measures that were required in order to prevent such an offence.

3 The court shall assess the fine in particular in accordance with the seriousness of the offence, the seriousness of the organisational inadequacies and of the loss or damage caused, and based on the economic ability of the undertaking to pay the fine.

4 Undertakings within the meaning of this title are :

a. any legal entity under private law ;
b. any legal entity under public law with exception of local authorities ;
c. companies ;
d. sole proprietorships.