Any individual may cite the Federal Act on Freedom of Information in the Administration (Freedom of Information Act, FoIA) and demand access to official documents without having to provide evidence of a particular interest.
It is sufficient to submit an official application to the authority that issued or received the required document. The right to access to documents is not absolute, however, and can be restricted or refused if public or private interests outweigh those of the requester.The processing of applications is in principle subject to charge. In cases where the relevant authority denies or restricts access to official documents the requester is entitled to submit a request for settlement to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. If no agreement is reached after arbitration the concerned authority will rule on the subject. Against this ruling can be appealed.
Applications to view official documents of the Swiss Federal Archives can be submitted as follows:
Swiss Federal Archives
Archivstrasse 24
CH-3003 Berne
Tel: +41 58 462 89 89
Fax: +41 58 462 78 23
info@bar.admin.ch
