Electronic submission by parties

In principle, parties may file electronic submissions (e.g. appeals, requests for time limit extensions, or statements with accompanying documents). The main conditions are set forth in Article 21a of the Federal Act on Administrative Procedures (APA - SR 172.021) and in the rules and procedures of the Federal Administrative Court Implementing Regulations of 16 June 2020 on Electronic Communications with Parties (EC-FAC, SR 173.320.6), and are summarised below.

Notwithstanding,  treaty law and special statutory provisions, such as Article 55 GSSLA (Federal Act of 6 October 2000 on General Aspects of Social Security Law, SR 830.1) which currently disallows electronic submissions in proceedings under the GSSLA, may apply.

The EC-FAC does not apply to lower instances. Therefore, failing a legal basis, lower instances cannot validly file their submissions electronically until further notice.

Before a party or its representative can submit a document electronically to the Court within the prescribed time limit, they must

1.    have a valid qualified electronic signature (for the list of recognised providers, see  under this link),
2.    have the necessary software for creating and signing PDF files, and 
3.    be registered with a recognised delivery platform, currently IncaMail or PrivaSphere, which they can use for the transmission of documents to the official service address of the Federal Administrative Court.

Note:  For questions or concerns relating to the purchase and use of electronic signatures, the creation of PDFs or the use of the delivery platforms, parties should contact the relevant providers.

When filing electronic submissions, parties must comply with the following procedure:

1.    All documents for electronic submission to the Court must be produced in PDF format. They must be clearly named and numbered if required (e.g. Appeal.pdf, Enclosure.pdf; Statement1.pdf, Statement2.pdf).
2.    PDF documents requiring a signature must bear the valid qualified electronic signature of the submitting party or their representative.
3.    PDF documents must be sent to the official service address of the Federal Administrative Court via Incamail or PrivaSphere within the set time limit.  Use of the eGov registered mail system is mandatory.

Note on the use of email and cloud services: electronic delivery via email or cloud services (such as Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox) does not satisfy these requirements and is invalid.

• Parties are still required to communicate their place of residence or address for service in Switzerland (postal address) to the Court. Where international law or the competent foreign authority permits the Court to serve documents directly in the relevant country, an address for service abroad is sufficient.

• Receipts serving as proof of timely transmission (Article 21a(3) APA and Article 6 EC-FAC) are only issued for certain types of transmission (eGov registered mail) by the delivery platforms.  Be sure to observe the maximum data volume allowance of the delivery platforms. For questions, parties should contact the platform providers.

• Article 52(1) APA applies with regard to the substantive requirements for appeals.

• Submissions may still be validly filed with the Federal Administrative Court, within the deadline, on paper with the accompanying documents, e.g. by post or delivery to a Swiss diplomatic or consular mission abroad in accordance with APA provisions.

• Court documents (e.g. interim orders, judgments, notifications) from the Federal Administrative Court are served on the parties in non-electronic form, usually by post.