Legal wrangling about: Stapo Zurich must name the origin of the perpetrators

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An intense conflict has been raging between the city and the canton of Zurich for six years. Namely the question of whether the nationality of suspects and victims should be stated in police reports. The controversies divide the political camps.

Leftists argue that mentioning nationality promotes resentment toward foreigners and is therefore irrelevant. The bourgeois parties, especially the SVP, fight this: they emphasize the importance of origins and socialization and demand transparency.

It is now clear: the Zurich city police must in future mention the nationality of suspects and victims in press releases. An amended directive from the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office has settled the six-year dispute between the city and the canton, as the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” writes.

Regulations are complicated

To understand the fundamental change in this conflict, it is necessary to look back to the referendum in March 2021. At that time, voting citizens rejected a corresponding initiative of the SVP, but supported the counter-proposal of the government council.

This introduced Article 51a into the Zurich Police Act, which required the origin of perpetrators to be stated. All’s well that ends well? Not at all.

After the vote, a young lawyer from the GLP filed a complaint against this article of law with the Federal Court. The complaint was indeed rejected. And yet the court came to a surprising verdict: the newly introduced article in the Police Act does not actually regulate what was actually intended.

Surprising change around New Year’s Eve

The law at the cantonal level can only provide police with guidelines on how to inform the public in the event of accidents or reports of missing persons. However, when reporting to the police, the National Code of Criminal Procedure applies. This does not contain any provisions that oblige the police to mention nationalities.

The Zurich city police ignored the verdict and relied on an instruction from the public prosecutor’s office, which continued to require the indication of nationality. A postulate from the SP, Greens, GLP and AL then called on the city police not to provide information about the origin. Although the city council supported this, the crucial question remained open as to whether the directive only applied to the public prosecutor’s office.

The surprising turnaround came with a change in the Public Prosecution Service’s instructions around New Year’s Eve 2024 – these were amended. It has now been made clear on the first page that the parts marked with a double line in the right margin are addressed to both the Public Prosecution Service and the police.

SVP happy, GLP finds it “very problematic”

The disputed section now also has a double line in the edge. This means that the city police are also instructed to “publicize the nationality of perpetrators, suspects and victims in addition to their age and gender in general.”

The SVP welcomed the decision. Opponents, especially the GLP, describe the government’s approach as highly problematic. The city police and municipal council accept the change and the long-standing dispute appears to have finally been resolved. (oko)

Source:Blick