The political and legal back and forth regarding undercover observations conducted by insurance providers within the Social Insurance System lasted for almost three years. It all started with European Court of Human Rights’ judgment of 18 October 2016. In its judgment, the court held that there was no sufficient statutory basis for such observations in Switzerland. In the following, a referendum was held against the newly created provisions allowing the insurers to monitor claimants. The Swiss electorate voted on this amendment to the Federal Act on General Aspects of Social Security Law (ATSG) on 25 November 2018 and approved it. However, as three complaints in this matter were still pending before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the statutory basis for monitoring claimants has not yet entered into force. On 8 August 2019, the Federal Supreme Court has rejected these complaints. Therefore, the amendments to the ATSG, together with the implementing provisions of the Federal Council of 7 June 2019, will enter into force on 1 October 2019. As a result, the insurance providers will again have the right to conduct undercover observations in justified cases as of this date.
Stalking – a new offense?
The initiative is already in motion and there is a prospect that stalking could also