Counterterrorism
Since the Federal Act on Police Counterterrorism Measures came into force in 2022, the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) and the cantons have made 15 requests for measures to be carried out, five of which were submitted in 2025.
Police counterterrorism measures (CTMs) enable the police to take earlier, preventative action against terrorist threats. Measures can be requested from fedpol by both the cantons and the FIS, with the cantons responsible for implementation.
Potential measures include reporting and interview requirements, bans on contact, orders restricting movement to or from a particular area, bans on leaving the country, house arrest orders, electronic surveillance and mobile phone tracking. CTMs can be applied before criminal proceedings, after a custodial sentence has been served, during criminal proceedings (but only under certain circumstances and as a supplement to coercive measures involving deprivation of liberty) and while a custodial sentence is being served.
These statistics were first published in the 2022 Annual Report.
| Requests from the cantons and the FIS | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requests from the FIS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Requests from cantonal authorities | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Number of cases | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
CTMs* in 2025 in accordance with the Internal Security Act (ISA)
| Requests | Measures ordered | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Obligation to report and participate in interviews (Art. 23k ISA) | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Contact ban (Art. 23 ISA)** | 0 | 4 | 24 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Inclusion and exclusion (Art. 23m ISA) | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ban on leaving Switzerland (Art. 23n ISA) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| House arrest (Art. 23o and 23p ISA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electronic surveillance and mobile phone tracking (Art. 23q ISA) | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
* Multiple measures may be applied in any individual case. These figures reflect the situation as at 31 December 2025. If any requests had not been dealt with by that date, this may be due to various factors:
- the decision was still under review;
- the decision had been taken, but was not yet legally binding (as an appeal was still possible or was ongoing);
- the issuing authority had withdrawn its request;
- the ordered measure was challenged with an appeal.
** In 2024 and 2025, the number of contact bans was higher than in previous years. This is because multiple contact bans were requested for some cases. The aim of these measures is to restrict relationships that could encourage or facilitate radicalisation to the greatest extent possible.
| Implementation of measures | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appeals | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Prosecutions for breaches of measures | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Terrorist activities
The law defines terrorist activity as ‘efforts to influence or change the institutional framework that are to be achieved or facilitated by committing or threatening to commit serious criminal offences or by spreading fear and terror’ (available in German, French and Italian).
Measures for minors
Children and young people can also be susceptible to radical ideologies and become involved in terrorist activities. Figures from Switzerland and abroad show that the number of radicalised minors is growing. CTMs can be issued to children aged 12 and older, thereby also helping to protect young people. The prevention measures in the Second National Action Plan to Prevent and Counter Radicalisation and Violent Extremism provide a means of stopping radicalisation and intervening before young people commit an offence.
Conditions for measures
When it comes to prevention, other cantonal measures, whether social, integrative or therapeutic, always take precedence – as do cantonal measures for the general prevention of threats and measures based on the Criminal Procedure Code. In the case of minors, educational or child protection measures must always be taken before CTMs, which may only be ordered once these other options have been exhausted or have proven ineffective.