Fedlex (fedlex.admin.ch) replaced the previous publication platform in 2021 as part of the Swiss government's digital transformation program. It provides access to Swiss federal law in German, French, and Italian, including the Classified Compilation (SR/RS), the systematically organized collection of current federal legislation, and the Official Compilation (AS/RO), the chronological publication of new and amended legislation. Fedlex also publishes the Federal Gazette (BBl/FF), international treaties, and consolidated ordinances.
For legal research, Fedlex is the authoritative source for Swiss federal law. Article citations reference the SR number (e.g., SR 220 for the Code of Obligations, SR 210 for the Civil Code, SR 235.1 for the FADP). Fedlex provides the current consolidated text, historical versions with effective dates, and amendment histories showing how provisions evolved. This versioning is critical for contract interpretation: determining which version of a statute applied at the time of contract execution.
Fedlex's structured data model uses ELI (European Legislation Identifier) URIs, enabling stable linking and machine-readable access to legislative texts. This matters for document automation: citations can be validated programmatically rather than checked manually.
DocIQ Sphere integrates Fedlex as one of six legal research databases. Search Swiss federal law from within your document workspace, retrieve specific articles, and insert citations directly into your Word document. Sphere handles SR references, article numbers, and paragraph-level citations. When reviewing a contract clause referencing Art. 97 CO, retrieve the provision and relevant BGE case law in a single search, without switching to a browser or separate research tool.