Court Allows Prosecution Authorities To Copy Electronic Devices On Seizure

In a landmark decision 7B_550/2024 of 23 January 2026, the Federal Supreme Court overturned its recent case law to permit criminal prosecution authorities to make a preventive mirror copy of an electronic device (such as a smartphone) immediately after seizure. The relevant authorities can now do this without having to wait for the three-day period specified in Art. 248 para. 1 CCP to lapse, which previously gave time to a device's owner to request that it be sealed. However, there will still be a need to take certain precautions.

In summary:
The three-day time limit set out in Art. 248 para. 1 CCP aims to prevent the criminal prosecution authority from gaining premature knowledge of the data before any request for sealing. Under the old law applicable to sealings (Art. 248 and 264 aCCP), applicable until 31 December 2023, the Federal Supreme Court's case law (ATF 148 IV 221 and Federal Supreme Court decision 7B_515/2024 of 3 April 2025) held that the criminal