If you refer to posting #33 according to this government site : "Although you are obliged to provide your personal details, you are not required to carry proof of ID. Under certain circumstances, a person may be requested to go to the police station to establish their identity".
happened to me, due to an over exhuberant drinking companion ... one quick call to my wife who works for the Kanton Polizei as a translator & I got the all clear ... sadly no offer of a lift home ..
It is not. Ausweispflicht exists only for activities that require an authorisation, like driving a car. To go to a public place is not subject to authorisation and does not require an identification.
If you type Ausweispflicht in a search engine all hits will be about driving a car, buying alcohol and cigs and similar matters.
As can be read here (in German, PDF), even after the implementation of the Schengen treaty next year, it will not become a law that one must carry an identification:
Edit: However I'm interested in which canton(s) these incidents happened to your brother.
Always carry your ID and Driving Licence. I was stopped in Liechtenstein last week. I was with my wife and child and I was driving. I simply forgot to bring my wallet for a short trip to the Maze Maze and the buggers tapped me up for 20f there and then which my wife had to pay.... 'The Fu****g liberty!'
I was caught in the tram without a ticket. I was new to town, only had a 100 Franc bill and didn't know how to work the ticket machines. The officer scolded me but when I showed him the big bill, he made me get off at the next stop, and break my bill, and buy a ticket. He was a little bit harsh but not excessively so. I had my Canadian passport on me, so that wasn't an issue.
In Denmark, you can be fined if you do not have your driving license with you. But for locals, there is no ID requirement. You do have to tell police your name and address, though.
It is really hard to get used to carrying something all the time, good to hear that my driving licence will do.
Swiss police are regularly mentioned by Amnesty et el - and not for the good. I could imagine that your treatment could relate the the colour of your skin - as in a lot of other places.
LOCATION: Entrance to the Parc mon repos in Geneva (on rue the lausanne)
1 towing truck
1 fiat
2 young men
5 cops
One of the young man was arguing with the towing truck and the cops.
I couldn't hear what was going on, but he had some money (a couple of 50 chf) in his right hand. After a couple of minutes of arguing, one of the cops turned him around and pushed him towards his car in order to handcuff him. He resisted just a little bit (big mistake) and then the larger cop held his neck in a vice grip, pulled him to the ground, 2 other cops held his hands and 2 others his legs. One of the cops then searched the guy and removed the car key from his pocket. Then they left him alone. He was lying on the ground, his face red with suffocation. A while later they handcuffed him and took him away.
I have no idea what transpired before and why he was detained, but the way he was tackled was really brutal. It was police might in action.
Can't say whether it was necessary or totally wrong on part of the police.
If you are a residency permit holder in ZH you are required to carry your 'Auslanderausweis' on you at all times, if you are stopped by the Stapo and you do not have they will arrest you and take you into custody so that your identity can be varifed.
Strip searching is standard procedure to ensure your safety and the safety of the officers who are doing their job. For example a person may have a object hidden on their person and could be used against another or themselves, resulting in serious injury or death.
This procedure is standard for anybody taken into custody, same worldwide also.
lived here for 4 years, never any problem with the police. They were very nice when an idiot rammed into the back of me in a tunnel a couple of years ago. The rather cute young female officer talked me step by step through the swiss road traffic accident procedure and gave me a number to call if I had any further quetions.
Having lived in 6 countries in my 38 years I have never had any problems with police despite having what some would consider "swarthy" looks.
The police have the power/right to take ANYBODY to the station if they cannot prove their identity when asked, be it in a car, public transport or walking down the road. In most cases a telephone call (place of employment, town hall, police records etc..)would be sufficent to prove that you are who you say you are but if the police are not sure then a night in the cells is a strong possibility.
Since this thread has come up again, I feel that for the the sake of completeness this rather rosey translation needs to be completed. It seems a lot of people didn't notice the parts (like the strip search) that were omitted. Anyway, here's a complete and full translation of the original article. I have not added any of my own comments or justifications to the translation, nor changed the emphasis or tone of any of the original words. I'm including the original German text again, as well:
Now with that in mind, I think a few questions pop up. Is it "routine" to strip arrested people for everybody's safety? Everywhere in the world? Even if this were true (for example in the case of drugs), were drugs involved in either of these cases?
As I've said before, a friend of mine who works for the Zurich Police proudly tells me that Amnesty International rate them particularly highly for brutality. He tells me that with a smile on his face.
I personally have not had such run-ins with the Zurich police, and I'm happy that many of you haven't either. But that isn't to say that something isn't wrong here. People who are interested can check out Amnesty's website for more information.
But the biggest question here is - if this is so normal and innocent, why is it making headlines? Why does the old man feel so strongly about it that he wants to pay for a poster advertisement to protest?
Who knows - we might be lucky and the British IT guy might own up and give us his own version of events.
Does anyone believe that these incidents will be independently investigated?
I was crossing into the Germany border when I realised I had neither my passport nor my B permit on me. Since it was such a hassle to return home and come back another time, I decided to explain the situation to the Swiss immigration officer that I truly had forgotten it, and believe it or not ... they let me out to Germany! All I had to show them was my business card, GA and tell them my date of birth.
these are interesting and sort of odd cases (perhaps), but the bottom line is this - can anyone reference any federal or cantonical legislation that requires an individual to carry or produce identification (and in the absence of such identification that and individual is subject to arrest).
i worked for canada customs for 8 years and have full knowledge of the ways and means act (meaning that those who have the badge will get what they want). in canada, if one did not have id when asked, depending on the individual law enforcement officer, they were subject to whatever (literally) and i will add that my brother is a RCMP officer. However, at the end of the day, government and their agents should not have the perception that they have the the right to act like....(totalitarians - sp?). there are limits to the power of the state - even here.