I. Institution, Domicile, Composition, Secretariat and Finances

Art. 1 Mission

¹The Swiss Press Council serves the public and the media as a complaints body with regard to questions of media ethics. The activities of the Press Council should encourage reflection on fundamental media ethics problems, and thereby instigate discussion about media ethics among the public and editorial teams.

²The Swiss Press Council looks into complaints brought to it, or itself responds to questions regarding the professional ethics of journalists. The Press Council defends press freedom and the right to freedom of speech.

³Position statements issued by the Swiss Press Council are based on the “Declaration of the Duties and Rights of the Journalist” (including protocols agreed in connection with the extension of membership of the Press Council to publishers and radio/television organizations), related directives issued by the Swiss Press Council, as well as the practice of the Swiss Press Council. The Swiss Press Council can also draw on foreign and international codes of media ethics when issuing such position statements.

Art. 2 Authority

Regardless of the form of distribution, the Swiss Press Council holds authority over the editorial content of public, current affairs-related media and over journalistic content published individually.¹

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 27, 2018, in force since January 1, 2019

Art. 3 Registered office

The registered office of the Swiss Press Council is that of its Secretariat.

Art. 4 Composition

¹The Swiss Press Council consists of 21 members. Six of these members represent the general public. They are not media professionals. The other members of the Press Council are journalists or are otherwise active in a significant capacity in the journalism sector. Members of the Board of Trustees of the Swiss Press Council Foundation are not eligible.

²At least six members of the Swiss Press Council must come from French-speaking Switzerland and at least two from Italian-speaking Switzerland. Where possible the Romansh language group must also be taken into account. The President and the Vice-Presidents may not all come from the same language region.

³Each gender has at least eight seats.

⁴The Swiss Press Council meets in the three seven-person chambers presided over by the President and the two Vice-Presidents. The Presidium (the President, two Vice-Presidents and the Executive Director) determines the composition of the chambers.¹

⁵The Board of Trustees of the Swiss Press Council Foundation elects the President, Vice-Presidents and members of the Swiss Press Council for a four-year term of office. Re-election for a second and third term is possible. When elected to the Swiss Press Council Presidium for the first time, the limit on the term of office starts from the beginning.

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of December 18, 2020, in force since January 1, 2021

Art. 5 Secretariat

¹The Secretariat of the Swiss Press Council is headed by an Executive Director.

²The Executive Director is appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Swiss Press Council Foundation in consultation with the President of the Press Council.

³The duties and rights of the Executive Director are laid down in a contract.

Art. 6 Finances

¹The expenditure of the Press Council is determined by the budget set for the Swiss Press Council Foundation by the Board of Trustees.

²The Executive Director is responsible for the financial accounts.

II. Proceedings

Art. 7 Authority to bring complaints

¹There is no restriction on who can bring complaints before the Swiss Press Council.

²The Swiss Press Council may independently take up topics or cases if a majority of members are in agreement.

Art. 8 Initiating proceedings

¹Proceedings before the Swiss Press Council are opened by the submission of a complaint or by a decision by the plenary session of the Swiss Press Council.

²Complaints to the Press Council must be made with the full address and handwritten signature of the complainant, by conventional or electronic mail.

Art. 9 Substantiation

¹Complaints must be substantiated.

²The grounds for the complaint outline the material facts of the case and state why the media report at issue is in breach of individual provisions of the «Declaration of the Duties and Rights of the Journalist».

³Furthermore, it must state whether proceedings under broadcasting law or court proceedings have been initiated in connection with the subject of the complaint, or if such proceedings are planned.

⁴A copy of the media report that is the subject of the complaint is to be provided with the grounds for the complaint.

Art. 9a Inadequate and subjective submissions

¹Complaints lacking a signature or power of attorney, and submissions that are incomprehensible, inadequately substantiated or excessively long (i.e. more than ten pages) are to be corrected within a given grace period. The submission is otherwise deemed invalid. Submissions from habitual complainants, those that are evidently subjective and those that violate basic decency are also deemed invalid. These will be returned immediately.¹

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 24, 2025, in force since January 1, 2026

Art. 10 Receipt of a complaint; instruction

¹The Executive Director confirms to the complainant that the complaint has been received.

²The Executive Director instructs the complaint proceedings in consultation with the President and/or the Vice-Presidents.¹

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of December 18, 2020, in force since January 1, 2021

Art. 11 Grounds for dismissal

¹The Swiss Press Council does not consider complaints if:

–    the complaint does not come within its area of responsibility (Art. 2);

–    the complaint is clearly unfounded;

–    the complaint does not relate to questions of professional ethics;

–    the editorial team or journalist concerned has already apologized publicly and/or taken corrective action in a case of minor relevance;¹

–    the disputed media report was published more than twenty days previously, or three months previously if the complainant is personally affected;²

–    parallel proceedings have been initiated or are planned, particularly before the courts or the Independent Complaints Authority.

²If fundamental questions of professional ethics are raised, or the report that is the subject of the complaint has triggered broad public debate, the Swiss Press Council may consider complaints even if proceedings are pending before a court or under broadcasting law, the complainant instigates such proceedings such an appeal during the proceedings of the Press Council, or intends to do so.¹

³Summary grounds are given for decisions not to consider complaints. These are  communicated to the complainant. In exceptional cases, the Press Council may explain a dismissal decision in a regular position statement (Art. 17). If a complainant demands detailed grounds, they will be charged an appropriate cost per hour. Such costs are to be paid in advance.

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 27, 2018, in force since January 1, 2019

²Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 24, 2025, in force since January 1, 2026

Art. 12 Correspondence

¹If the complaint is to be considered, the Executive Director requests a response from the editorial team that or journalist who is the subject of the complaint.¹

²After receiving the response to the complaint, the Presidium decides at its own discretion about the future handling of the case. The parties concerned have no right to a second exchange of correspondence.

³The Executive Director informs the parties involved as to further steps in the proceedings and the composition of the responsible body (Art. 13).

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 27, 2018, in force since January 1, 2019

Art. 13 Authority of the Presidium, chambers and plenary session

¹The Presidium handles complaints that the Press Council does not consider (Art. 11), those in which the basic principles correspond to cases previously considered by the Press Council, and those that appear to be of secondary importance.¹

²The Presidium refers other claims to one of the three chambers.

³If a complaint raises fundamental questions of professional ethics, the Presidium or the chambers may involve the plenary session at any stage of the proceedings.

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of September 8, 2021, in force since October 1, 2021

Art. 14 Challenges

¹Substantiated objections to the composition of the responsible body are to be submitted within 10 days of notification according to Art. 12 para. 3.

²The Presidium decides on challenges. If the challenge concerns a member of the Presidium, the decision is made by the other three members.¹

³A challenge is to be admitted if the person concerned has a particularly close relationship with one of the parties or with the subject of the complaint that would appear to significantly limit their ability to take an impartial position.

⁴After a decision is taken, the Press Council does not enter into any further correspondence regarding challenges.

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of December 18, 2020, in force since January 1, 2021

Art. 15 Recusal

¹Members of the Swiss Press Council must recuse themselves voluntarily if they believe they are unable to take an impartial position with regard to a complaint.

²A particular reason for recusal would be if the complaint concerns the editorial team for which the Press Council Member works or has worked in the past three years.

Art. 16 Consultations

¹The Presidium’s consultations usually take place by means of correspondence.

²Consultations in the chambers and in the plenary session take the form of meetings and correspondence.

³The Press Council may make the consultations of its chambers public.

Art. 17 Position statements of the Press Council

¹The outcome of consultations is set out in a written position statement from the Press Council.

²In its position statements, the Press Council may make declarations and issue recommendations. It is not able to issue sanctions. As a rule, a position statement will (partially) uphold or dismiss the complaint. In its statements the Council is free to limit itself to the principal grounds for the complaint. In justified cases the Press Council may give grounds for dismissal decisions in a regular statement.¹

³With the exception of dismissal decisions, Press Council position statements are ultimately adopted by the plenary session by means of correspondence.

⁴If at least two members of the Press Council demand so within ten working days of service, the position statement must be tabled for discussion at the next plenary session. If this ten-day period passes unused the position statement is deemed to have been approved.

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 21, 2017, in force since January 1, 2018

Art. 18 Service and publication of position statements

¹The Executive Director delivers the position statement to the parties prior to its publication.

²Position statements are published on the www.presserat.ch website.

Art. 19 Final validity of position statements; correction

¹The positions statements of the Swiss Press Council are final and valid.

²The right subsequently to correct a position statement that is based on provably incorrect facts is reserved.

Art. 20 Cost of proceedings

¹The administration fee for private individuals is 100 Swiss francs. This rises to 200 Swiss francs for the second complaint within a calendar year, and to 500 francs for the third complaint within the same period. A fee of 1,000 Swiss francs is charged from the fourth complaint onwards.²

²Complainants who are represented by a lawyer, as well as organizations, firms and institutions, pay a fee of 1,000 Swiss francs. ¹

³Administration and other fees must be paid before complaint proceedings commence and are retained by the Press Council irrespective of the outcome of the proceedings.²

⁴Neither costs of proceedings nor the expenses of the parties are awarded.

¹Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 21, 2017, that is in force since January 1, 2018

²Text follows a decision of the Board of Trustees of November 24, 2025, in force since January 1, 2026

III. Reporting and executive regulations

Art. 21 Annual reporting

The President of the Swiss Press Council reports annually to the Board of Trustees of the Swiss Press Council Foundation on the Press Council’s activities.

Art. 22 Regulations

The Swiss Press Council may issue the following regulations, in particular, by means of a simple majority:

1. Directives on the «Declaration of the Duties and Rights of the Journalist»
2. Business Regulations of the Swiss Press Council.

IV. Cooperation

Art. 23 Cooperation with other institutions

The Swiss Press Council cooperates with Swiss media ombudspersons, with foreign press councils, and with other similar institutions.

V. Final provision

Art. 24 Entry into force

These Statutes entered into force as of January 1, 2026. They replace the Statutes dated October 1, 2021, last revised on September 8, 2021.