Received a Summary Penalty Order: The 10-Day Deadline

What a Summary Penalty Order Is

The summary penalty order is the most common way criminal proceedings are concluded in Switzerland. The public prosecutor issues it without a court hearing where the facts are considered sufficiently established and a fine, a monetary penalty of no more than 180 daily rates or a custodial sentence of no more than six months is deemed sufficient (Art. 352 Swiss Criminal Procedure Code, CrimPC). Many recipients only learn that proceedings were conducted against them at all when the order arrives – a prior interview is not required in every case.

The key point: a summary penalty order is not a mere ticket. It is a proposed judgment that becomes an enforceable judgment if you do not react.

The Deadline: Ten Days, No Extension

An objection against the order may be filed in writing within ten days (Art. 354 para. 1 CrimPC). The period starts upon service and cannot be extended. The accused does not have to give reasons for the objection (Art. 354 para. 2 CrimPC) – a short letter clearly stating that an objection is filed is sufficient to meet the deadline. Reasons can be submitted later.

Two pitfalls deserve particular attention:

1. Deemed service. If a registered letter is not collected, it is generally deemed served on the seventh day after the unsuccessful delivery attempt (Art. 85 para. 4 lit. a CrimPC) – the deadline then runs even if you never actually held the order in your hands. Anyone expecting official mail should make arrangements when absent.
2. Calculating the deadline. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline ends on the next working day (Art. 90 para. 2 CrimPC). For postal filing, the postmark of the last day is decisive.

What Happens Without an Objection

Without a valid objection, the summary penalty order becomes a final judgment (Art. 354 para. 3 CrimPC). The consequences can extend beyond the penalty itself:

• Criminal record. Convictions involving monetary penalties and custodial sentences are entered in the criminal record. An entry can affect employment, permits and residence matters.
• Administrative follow-up proceedings. In road traffic cases, the road traffic office generally relies on the final penalty order when imposing administrative measures such as licence withdrawal. Anyone wishing to contest the facts there is usually too late if the order went unchallenged.
• Costs and enforcement. The imposed procedural costs and the penalty become enforceable.

A later correction is possible only under narrow conditions, for instance by way of revision. No one should rely on that.

Procedure After an Objection

Following an objection, the public prosecutor takes the further evidence required for the assessment (Art. 355 para. 1 CrimPC). The accused is often summoned to an interview. The prosecutor then decides whether to uphold the order, discontinue the proceedings, issue a new order or bring charges before the court (Art. 355 para. 3 CrimPC).

Two points should be borne in mind:

• Duty to appear. If the person who filed the objection fails to attend an interview despite being summoned and without excuse, the objection may be deemed withdrawn (Art. 355 para. 2 CrimPC). Summonses must therefore not be ignored.
• No prohibition of harsher outcomes. If the prosecutor upholds the order and the case goes to court, the court is not bound by the original sentence. An objection can, as a result, also lead to a harsher assessment. The objection may, however, be withdrawn up to a certain stage of the proceedings.

When an Objection Can Be Worthwhile

Whether an objection makes sense can only be assessed in the individual case. Typical situations in which a review is worthwhile:

• The facts are described incorrectly or incompletely, or the evidence is thin.
• The legal assessment appears questionable – for instance the line between a simple and a serious violation of traffic rules.
• The daily rate of the monetary penalty does not reflect the actual financial circumstances.
• A criminal record entry would have severe consequences for employment, permits or residence status.
• Civil claims or follow-up proceedings (such as a licence withdrawal) depend on the outcome of the criminal case.

Conversely, there are cases in which the order correctly reflects the facts and the sanction is appropriate. That, too, is a legitimate outcome of a legal review: certainty that waiving the objection is a defensible choice.

The question of costs is part of the assessment: if the objection is unsuccessful, the accused generally bears the additional procedural costs. If, however, the proceedings end in an acquittal or a discontinuation, there is in principle a right to compensation, in particular for reasonable defence costs (Art. 429 CrimPC). These prospects and risks can usually only be weighed seriously after inspecting the files.

Practical Steps Within the Deadline

1. Note the date of service and calculate the end of the deadline
2. Read the order in full, including the facts, the sentence and the costs
3. If in doubt, obtain a legal assessment without delay – ten days pass quickly
4. To meet the deadline, an unreasoned, written and signed objection to the prosecutor named in the order is sufficient
5. Request access to the files before deciding on the next steps

You will find more about our work in criminal matters under Criminal Law – from the initial assessment through the objection to defence in court.

If you have received a summary penalty order and are unsure, please contact us promptly via our contact page. Given the short deadline, we will first establish when it expires and then calmly assess with you whether an objection makes sense in your case.