Our location in Zurich, at Greifenseestrasse 29, can be reached by public transport from Oerlikon railway station within 9 minutes, on foot within 15 minutes.
Our contact details in Zurich are:
Swiss Law Solutions KLG, Ghaemmaghami Law Firm
Greifenseestrasse 29
8050 Zurich
Phone +41 (0)44 252 93 33
Cell +41 (0)78 694 82 17
For a more detailed overview of Swiss legal system, see the page about our location in Zug.
In the Canton of Zurich, jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters is governed by the Court Organization Act (GOG). See https://www.zh.ch/de/politik-staat/gesetze-beschluesse/gesetzessammlung/zhlex-ls/erlass-211_1-2010_05_10-2011_01_01-126.html.
According to Art. 197 ff. ZPO, the cantons must provide conciliation authorities in civil law disputes, i.e., authorities that endeavor to resolve conflicts between parties through mediation and negotiation before legal proceedings are initiated. For most legal disputes, this conciliation procedure must be completed before a court can be petitioned.
In the canton of Zurich, justices of the peace are appointed as ordinary conciliation authorities at the municipal level. A list of the various justices of the peace offices can be found here: https://www.vfzh.ch/recht-finden/aemterverzeichnis. There are special conciliation authorities for rental and lease matters. The competent special conciliation authority can be found here: https://www.gerichte-zh.ch/themen/miete/hilfen/schlichtungsbehoerden.html.
Each of Zurich's 12 districts has a district court, which acts as the court of first instance. An overview of the various district courts with a geographical guide can be found here: https://www.gerichte-zh.ch/organisation/bezirksgerichte/.
The High Court of the Canton of Zurich is the court of appeal for appeals and complaints against decisions of the district courts and conciliation authorities. In certain matters, it also acts as the sole instance (e.g., in actions against the federal government). For further information on the High Court see: https://www.gerichte-zh.ch/organisation/obergericht.html
The Canton of Zurich has a commercial court (one of four commercial courts in Switzerland, alongside the commercial courts in Bern, St. Gallen, and Aargau) for the adjudication of commercial disputes in accordance with Art. 6 of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (ZPO) and certain matters for which federal law provides for adjudication by a single cantonal court in accordance with Art. 5 ZPO. See https://www.gerichte-zh.ch/organisation/handelsgericht.html. The purpose of the Commercial Court is to provide a specialized and expert judicial authority for commercial matters. A characteristic feature of the Commercial Court is that it is also staffed by specialized judges, i.e., judges who have special expertise and experience in the relevant field of law or economic sector.
The court of last instance is the Federal Supreme Court. For more information on the Federal Supreme Court, see https://www.bger.ch/home.html. However, the Federal Supreme Court cannot be called upon in all cases. For example, in financial matters, the value in dispute must generally exceed CHF 30,000 (Art. 74 para. 1 lit. b BGG).
In the canton of Zurich, there are five regional public prosecutors' offices in the area of criminal law enforcement, which have general jurisdiction as investigating and prosecuting authorities. For information on the organization of the public prosecutor's office, see: https://www.zh.ch/de/direktion-der-justiz-und-des-innern/staatsanwaltschaft.html#-2048817171. In addition, there are three cantonal public prosecutor's offices (Public Prosecutor's Office I, II, and III), which specialize in specific types of offenses (Public Prosecutor's Office I in serious violent crime, Public Prosecutor's Office II in organized crime and cybercrime, and Public Prosecutor's Office III in the prosecution of white-collar crime). These specialized public prosecutors' offices are responsible for the entire cantonal territory.
In the canton of Zurich, the district-based magistrates' offices are responsible for infractions, while in the municipalities of Zurich and Winterthur, the city courts offices are responsible. Infractions in Swiss Law are offenses that are only punishable by a fine. An overview of the twelve district magistrates' offices in the canton of Zurich can be found here: https://www.zh.ch/de/direktion-der-justiz-und-des-innern/statthalteraemter-bezirksratskanzleien.html
The public prosecutor's offices are managed and supervised by the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor (see https://www.zh.ch/de/direktion-der-justiz-und-des-innern/staatsanwaltschaft/Oberstaatsanwaltschaft-des-Kantons-Zuerich.html).
The court of appeal is the High Court, which also hears complaints regarding procedural acts and decisions of the courts of first instance, criminal prosecution authorities, and the coercive measures court that are not subject to appeal.
The court of appeal is the High Court, which also hears objections against procedural actions and decisions not subject to appeal by the courts of first instance, prosecuting authorities, and the coercive measures court. (There are various procedural differences between the two legal remedies of appeal and objection. The most significant difference is that in the case of objections, the court's scope for review is much more limited than in the case of appeals.)
The highest and final court of appeal is again the Federal Supreme Court.
A good overview of the procedure and responsibilities in criminal proceedings in the canton of Zurich can be found here: https://www.zh.ch/de/sicherheit-justiz/strafverfahren.html
In administrative justice, disputes are generally subject to a two-tier system of appeal, whereby appeals against decisions of the administrative authority are decided by the higher administrative authority. The second instance is usually the Administrative Court (see https://www.zh.ch/de/gerichte-notariate/verwaltungsgericht.html), or the Social Insurance Court (see https://www.sozialversicherungsgericht.zh.ch) for matters relating to social insurance law
The organization and procedure of administrative justice in the Canton of Zurich are governed by the Administrative Justice Act of May 24, 1959 (see http://www.zhlex.zh.ch/Erlass.html?Open&Ordnr=175.2).
An interesting innovation in this law is that, with effect from January 1, 2026, administrative proceedings in the Canton of Zurich can be conducted entirely electronically. File management and file access for the involved procedure parties will also be electronic as a matter of principle. For more information on this, see: https://www.zh.ch/de/politik-staat/kanton/kantonale-verwaltung/digitale-verwaltung/aenderungen-am-vrg.html#1315524504
The final instance in the field of administrative justice is generally the Federal Supreme Court.
