The Federal Supreme Court has clarified the rules on whether mobile phones can be unlocked during house searches

In a recent ruling (BGE 151 IV 73), the Court clarified that requesting the access code for a mobile phone belonging to an accused person during a house search constitutes an interrogation of the accused, rather than merely an act of assistance. If this questioning takes place without prior notification of the right to remain silent and refuse to cooperate, it violates the 'nemo tenetur' principle enshrined in constitutional and convention law. Data obtained in this way on the mobile phone is therefore unusable.

This has far-reaching consequences for the use of evidence: any subsequent evidence obtained as a result of the unlawful unlocking of the mobile phone may also not be used. An exception would only be possible if the prosecuting authorities could prove that this evidence could have been obtained without knowledge of the access code. As such proof was lacking in this case, the Federal Supreme Court declared all corresponding evidence inadmissible and upheld the appeal.