In short. In Geneva, as elsewhere in Switzerland, the police can summon you without formalities or notice during their investigation. A summons from the Public Prosecutor is in writing, and attending is compulsory. First ask in what capacity you will be heard, because your rights depend on it. An accused person may remain silent and be assisted by a lawyer, but cannot demand that the interview be postponed to wait for the lawyer. Call one as soon as the summons arrives. Read the record and have it corrected before signing. If the police take your phone and it holds protected exchanges, request sealing on the spot.
A letter from the police, or a call from an inspector inviting you to “come in for a chat” on Thursday at 9 am. Nothing more. You do not know whether you are suspected or simply wanted as a witness, and it is tempting to go alone and clear up what looks like a misunderstanding.
That “chat” is an interview. What you say is written into the record and stays on the file for the rest of the proceedings. What follows applies throughout Switzerland, as the Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC) is federal. The authorities named are those of Geneva.
What to do, step by step
- As soon as you receive it, call the number given, ask what the interview is about and in what capacity you are summoned, and note the officer’s name.
- Then call a lawyer, without waiting until the day before. The law does not let you demand a postponement for the lawyer, but in practice the date can often be agreed with them.
- Before the interview, agree a line together. An accused person may answer, answer in part or remain silent. A witness must give evidence, unless entitled to refuse. Decide too which documents to produce, and when.
- At the start of the interview, ask in what capacity you are being heard, and ask again if the questions change direction.
- At the end, read the record page by page and have anything that does not match what you said corrected before signing.
- If the police take your phone and it holds protected exchanges, request sealing on the spot and have the request recorded. The legal deadline is three days.
Do you have to go when the police summon you?
During their investigation, the police may summon a person without formalities or specific time limits to question them or establish their identity (art. 206 para. 1 CrimPC). If you do not attend, the Public Prosecutor may order that you be brought in, provided you were warned of this in writing (art. 206 para. 2 CrimPC). Ignoring the summons does not make the matter go away. It comes back through the prosecutor, on worse terms.
You cannot demand that the interview be postponed to wait for your lawyer. You can, however, ask the officer for another date if the one proposed does not suit you, and your lawyer can arrange the interview with them.
Summoned by the Public Prosecutor: what changes?
A summons from the Public Prosecutor’s Office is a formal document. It is in writing, states in what capacity you are summoned and must in principle be served at least three days before the hearing, unless the matter is urgent or you agree (art. 201 to 203 CrimPC). The authority takes appropriate account of the availability of the persons summoned (art. 202 para. 3 CrimPC), and if you already have a lawyer, a copy of the summons is sent to them (art. 87 para. 4 CrimPC). Attending is compulsory, and if you fail to attend without a valid excuse you may be fined and brought in by the police (art. 205 para. 1 and 4 CrimPC). If you cannot attend, inform the authority without delay and provide supporting documents.
Three differences matter. Before the prosecutor, you may be heard as a witness, bound to tell the truth (art. 163 para. 2 CrimPC). The parties may attend the taking of evidence and ask questions (art. 147 CrimPC), including when the police question people on the prosecutor’s instructions (art. 312 para. 2 CrimPC). Finally, the parties may inspect the file at the latest after the accused’s first examination and the gathering of the main evidence by the Public Prosecutor, subject to the restrictions of art. 108 CrimPC (art. 101 para. 1 CrimPC). That is often when you first see what the investigation contains.
For the accused person, everything else stays the same. You may remain silent, be assisted by a lawyer and have the record corrected, and here too you cannot demand a postponement to wait for your lawyer (art. 147 para. 2 CrimPC).
Accused person or witness: in what capacity are you heard?
This is the first question to ask. The police in principle hear two categories of people, accused persons and persons providing information (art. 142 para. 2 and 179 CrimPC). In Geneva, they may also hear a witness, but only on the instructions of the Public Prosecutor (art. 23 of the Geneva Act implementing the Swiss Criminal Code).
You are an accused person
Proceedings have been opened against you. At the start of the first interview, you must be told which offences are involved and that you may refuse to make a statement and to cooperate, appoint a lawyer or request a legal aid lawyer, and ask for an interpreter. An interview conducted without this information cannot be used as evidence (art. 158 CrimPC).
You are a person providing information
You are not an accused person, which does not rule out questions about your own role (art. 178 let. d CrimPC). You are not obliged to make a statement, and the rules on questioning accused persons apply to you by analogy (art. 180 para. 1 CrimPC). You may be assisted by a legal adviser (art. 127 para. 1 CrimPC). A private claimant is the exception and must give evidence before the Public Prosecutor and the courts, and before the police when they act on the prosecutor’s instructions (art. 180 para. 2 CrimPC).
You are heard as a witness
A witness must tell the truth and must be warned of this, and of the penalties for false testimony, at the start of the interview (art. 163 para. 2 and 177 para. 1 CrimPC). A witness may nevertheless refuse to testify where the answers could incriminate them (art. 169 para. 1 CrimPC).
When your status changes during the interview
Someone heard as a mere source of information may, question after question, become the target of the investigation. Statements obtained from a person already suspected, and acts they are made to perform to gather evidence, before they were informed of their rights as an accused person, cannot be used. Informing them afterwards does not cure the defect. The Federal Supreme Court confirmed this in November 2025 in the case of a driver who was already suspected and whom officers asked to take part in a brief reconstruction before informing him of his rights (Federal Supreme Court 7B_1387/2024 of 7 November 2025, consid. 2.4.1). If the tone changes, ask whether you are now an accused person and have the answer recorded.
Do you need a lawyer, and when should you call one?
An accused person is entitled to have their lawyer present and asking questions (art. 159 para. 1 CrimPC). The code adds, however, that a person who exercises this right may not demand that the interview be postponed (art. 159 para. 3 CrimPC). The police do not have to wait for a lawyer called that same morning, which is why you should call one as soon as the summons arrives.
A meeting beforehand helps you understand what the police are probably looking for, decide on a line and choose which documents to produce. During the interview, the lawyer also watches how the record is worded.
In serious cases, defence is mandatory, in particular where the accused faces a custodial sentence of more than one year (art. 130 CrimPC). A lawyer must then be in place before the first examination conducted by the Public Prosecutor or, on its behalf, by the police, failing which evidence taken too early may only be used if the accused waives having it taken again (art. 131 para. 2 and 3 CrimPC). If you cannot afford a lawyer, you may ask for a legal aid lawyer where the case is not trivial and you cannot defend yourself alone (art. 132 CrimPC). In Geneva, the Bar Association runs a first-hour lawyer service that allows the police or the Public Prosecutor to have a lawyer attend within the hour to assist an accused person at their interview.
Should you remain silent or talk?
An accused person is not obliged to incriminate themselves (art. 113 para. 1 CrimPC). You may remain silent on everything, or on some questions only.
Each choice carries its own risks. Silence is not a confession and is not in itself evidence of guilt. The Federal Supreme Court nevertheless accepts that a judge may take it into account where other direct evidence has already shed light on the facts, in situations that clearly call for an explanation (Federal Supreme Court 6B_579/2025 of 17 September 2025, consid. 2.4). Conversely, a statement made without knowing the file is hard to take back, and that is usually the position at the police station, since the file only opens later (art. 101 para. 1 CrimPC).
At the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the first statement is the document everyone rereads. It is set against every later statement, against messages, bank records and witness accounts. The Public Prosecutor investigates incriminating and exculpatory circumstances with equal care (art. 6 para. 2 CrimPC), but a loose answer given to get things over with can become, six months later, a contradiction you have to explain. Whether to talk or remain silent is therefore decided before the interview, with a lawyer, in light of what the police probably already know, and the answer differs from case to case.
If you choose to remain silent, one sentence is enough, for example “I am exercising my right to remain silent” or “I will make a statement once I have had access to the file”. Have it recorded word for word.
The record: what to check before you sign
Everything. Questions and answers that matter must be recorded verbatim (art. 78 para. 3 CrimPC). At the end, the record is read to you or handed to you to read, then you sign it and initial every page. If you refuse to sign, the refusal and your reasons are recorded (art. 78 para. 5 CrimPC).
A sentence summarised by the officer is not always the one you said. Saying “I suspected” rather than “I knew” can change how your statement is assessed. Ask for corrections before signing. An error you notice later should be reported promptly, in writing, identifying the passage (art. 79 CrimPC).
Before the Public Prosecutor, the prosecutor usually dictates your answers to the clerk as the hearing goes on. That is when your lawyer has a wording corrected, more usefully than at the final reading.
Phone, documents, DNA: what can the police take?
An accused person may remain silent but must submit to the coercive measures provided by law (art. 113 para. 1 CrimPC). In urgent cases, the police may secure a phone for the Public Prosecutor (art. 263 para. 3 CrimPC). They may also order a non-invasive sample, in practice a cheek swab (art. 255 para. 2 CrimPC).
Your phone deserves particular care. If it holds exchanges with a lawyer, or personal documents whose protection outweighs the interest of the investigation (art. 264 CrimPC), ask for it to be sealed, which means it is provisionally withheld from examination. It is best to do so at the very moment the phone is secured and to have the request recorded. The law allows three days for the request, and during that period nothing may be examined (art. 248 para. 1 CrimPC). Sealing only protects provisionally. If the authority applies to unseal within 20 days, the Compulsory Measures Court decides, and only if no such application is made is the item returned (art. 248 and 248a CrimPC). Your lawyer handles these steps.
Otherwise, an accused person is not obliged to hand over objects or documents themselves (art. 265 para. 2 let. a CrimPC). Witnesses and other holders, on the other hand, remain obliged to hand over what is to be seized (art. 265 para. 1 CrimPC). Nothing should be destroyed or altered, and tampering with evidence is one of the grounds for pre-trial detention (art. 221 para. 1 let. b CrimPC). Which documents to produce, and when, is decided with your lawyer.
After the interview: what can happen?
The Public Prosecutor may close the case, issue a penalty order, against which you will have ten days to object (art. 354 CrimPC), summon you to a further hearing or, if the legal conditions are met, apply to the Compulsory Measures Court for pre-trial detention (art. 221 and 224 CrimPC). The prosecutor is only required to hear you before issuing a penalty order if it is likely to result in a custodial sentence to be served (art. 352a CrimPC). The police interview may therefore be your only chance to explain yourself before the decision.
Once the file can be inspected, your lawyer rereads the police record in light of everything else. If the case ends in an acquittal or a dismissal, you are entitled to compensation, set by the lawyers’ tariff, for the costs of reasonably exercising your procedural rights (art. 429 para. 1 let. a CrimPC), and it is paid directly to your chosen lawyer, who then settles accounts with you (art. 429 para. 3 CrimPC). For more detail, see who pays your lawyer if the case is dropped.
If you live outside Switzerland
Interviews in Geneva are conducted in French. You are entitled to an interpreter (art. 68 CrimPC), and you should not sign a record you have not understood. A trip planned around the interview does not change the rule that you cannot demand a postponement to wait for your lawyer, so call one as soon as the summons reaches you, wherever you are. A Swiss lawyer can contact the officer in charge, clarify your status and arrange the date. If you were stopped while driving, see also DUI and speeding in Geneva.
Common mistakes
Going alone to clear up a misunderstanding, without knowing in what capacity you are heard. Waiting until the day before, or the morning itself, to call a lawyer. Signing a record you have not read. Handing over your phone or documents of your own accord without speaking to your lawyer. Letting the three-day sealing deadline pass. Ignoring the summons in the hope that it will be forgotten exposes you to being brought in by the police (art. 205 para. 4 and 206 para. 2 CrimPC).
Deadlines at a glance
- No minimum notice for a police summons during the police investigation (art. 206 para. 1 CrimPC).
- 3 days at least, in principle, between service of a Public Prosecutor’s summons and the hearing, unless urgent or agreed (art. 202 and 203 CrimPC).
- 24 hours at most for a person provisionally arrested by the police to be released or brought before the Public Prosecutor (art. 219 para. 4 CrimPC).
- 48 hours at most after the arrest for the Public Prosecutor to apply to the Compulsory Measures Court for pre-trial detention (art. 224 para. 2 CrimPC).
- 3 days to request sealing after a phone or documents have been secured (art. 248 para. 1 CrimPC).
- 20 days for the authority to apply to unseal, failing which the item is returned (art. 248 para. 3 CrimPC).
- 10 days to object to a penalty order (art. 354 para. 1 CrimPC).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a police summons and a summons from the Public Prosecutor?
During their investigation, the police may summon you without formalities or notice (art. 206 para. 1 CrimPC). A summons from the Public Prosecutor is in writing, states your capacity and must in principle be served at least three days before the hearing, unless urgent or agreed (art. 201 to 203 CrimPC). Failing to attend without an excuse may lead to a fine and to being brought in by the police (art. 205 para. 4 CrimPC).
Do I have to go to the police in Switzerland if I am summoned?
If you do not attend, the Public Prosecutor may order that you be brought in, provided you were warned in writing (art. 206 para. 2 CrimPC). You cannot demand a postponement to wait for your lawyer, but you can ask the officer for another date, and your lawyer can arrange the interview with them.
Can my lawyer attend the police interview?
Yes. An accused person is entitled to have their lawyer present and asking questions (art. 159 para. 1 CrimPC). You cannot, however, demand that the interview be postponed to wait for the lawyer (art. 159 para. 3 CrimPC), subject to mandatory defence. That is why you should call one as soon as the summons arrives. A person providing information may also be assisted by a legal adviser.
Can I be arrested after the interview?
It can happen, within strict limits. The police may provisionally arrest a person suspected, on the basis of reliable information, of having committed a felony or misdemeanour (art. 217 para. 2 CrimPC). They must release that person or bring them before the Public Prosecutor within 24 hours at most (art. 219 para. 4 CrimPC). To obtain pre-trial detention, the prosecutor must apply to the Compulsory Measures Court within 48 hours of the arrest (art. 224 para. 2 CrimPC).
Can my silence be used against me?
If you are an accused person, you may remain silent (art. 113 para. 1 CrimPC). Silence is not a confession and is not in itself evidence of guilt. The Federal Supreme Court nevertheless accepts that a judge may take it into account where other direct evidence has shed light on the facts and the situation clearly calls for an explanation (6B_579/2025, consid. 2.4).
Do I have to sign the police record?
The law provides that you read it, or have it read to you, then sign it and initial every page (art. 78 para. 5 CrimPC). Have anything that does not match what you said corrected before signing. If you refuse to sign, the refusal and your reasons are recorded. An error found later can still be the subject of a request for correction (art. 79 CrimPC).
Can the Swiss police take my phone?
Yes. In urgent cases, they may secure it for the Public Prosecutor (art. 263 para. 3 CrimPC). If it holds exchanges with your lawyer, or personal documents whose protection outweighs the interest of the investigation, request sealing, on the spot if possible and within three days at the latest (art. 248 CrimPC). Sealing, however, only protects provisionally.
I have been summoned as a witness. Should I worry?
Not necessarily. The police in principle hear anyone who is not an accused person as a person providing information (art. 179 para. 1 CrimPC). On the instructions of the Public Prosecutor, they may hear you as a witness, bound to tell the truth, unless you have a right to refuse, in particular so as not to incriminate yourself (art. 169 CrimPC). If you become a suspect, your rights as an accused person must be read to you. If in doubt about your role, speak to a lawyer before the interview.
Legal basis and case law
Swiss Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC): art. 6, 68, 78, 79, 87, 101, 108, 113, 127, 130, 131, 132, 142, 147, 158, 159, 163, 169, 177, 178, 179, 180, 201, 202, 203, 205, 206, 217, 219, 221, 224, 248, 248a, 255, 263, 264, 265, 312, 352a, 354 and 429. Geneva Act implementing the Swiss Criminal Code (LaCP, E 4 10): art. 23. Federal Supreme Court 6B_579/2025 of 17 September 2025, consid. 2.4 (silence of the accused). Federal Supreme Court 7B_1387/2024 of 7 November 2025, consid. 2.4.1 (evidence obtained before the accused was informed of their rights).
Sources: Criminal Procedure Code on Fedlex (French text, the English version being unofficial). Geneva Act on silgeneve.ch (in French). Federal Supreme Court judgments 6B_579/2025 and 7B_1387/2024 (in French). Geneva Bar Association, first-hour lawyer guide (August 2023, in French).
About these cases
A first meeting before the interview clarifies your status, what the police are probably looking for, the line to take and which documents to produce. Matthias Traussnig worked for three years at the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Canton of Geneva. If your interview is in the coming days, mention the date when you call +41 22 512 76 00 or in the contact form.
For criminal defence in general, see our page criminal defence lawyer in Geneva. Where an investigation targets a company director, see Executive under criminal investigation in Geneva. See also Criminal procedure in Switzerland, the stages, Swiss penalty order, you have ten days and Pre-trial detention in Geneva.