by Christophe Vallois

October 20, 2026

10 min read

Justitia 4.0: status in October 2026 for law firms

Justitia 4.0 and the BEKJ at a glance: timeline, cantons and obligations. What law firms need to know now, status October 2026.

Status: October 2026 · Last checked: October 2026

Summary

Justitia 4.0 is the national programme to digitalise the Swiss judiciary. Its central platform, justitia.swiss, enables secure electronic exchange between courts, public prosecutors and lawyers. The legal basis is the BEKJ: the first provisions have applied since 1 October 2025, and the remaining ones are planned to follow on 1 July 2027. Each canton decides when electronic filing becomes mandatory for lawyers. Twelve cantons have ratified the agreement, and 18 are needed along with the Confederation.

Introduction

Swiss justice is leaving paper behind. For law firms, this means that filings, service of documents and access to case files will run through a common national platform. At the same time, cantonal timelines differ, and three notions are often mixed up: ratification of the agreement, pilot operation and mandatory use.

This article sets out the situation as of October 2026, based on information from the Confederation, the cantons and the Justitia 4.0 project, and shows what law firms can prepare now. At Ketl, we support law firms and other regulated professions with digital document management, which is why we follow these developments closely.

Justitia 4.0 at a glance

Justitia 4.0 is the national programme driving the digital transformation of the Swiss judiciary. The central platform justitia.swiss enables secure electronic exchange between courts, public prosecutors, lawyers and other parties to proceedings. It is intended to replace paper processes with digital document exchange, electronic case files and online access to court files, on a shared national infrastructure.

The programme also includes the case file application (JAA in German, ADJ in French), which supports the creation, management and processing of electronic case files. The transition covers the technical infrastructure as well as judicial workflows, IT systems, workstations and courtroom equipment. The national platform is available for testing, and selected judicial authorities already use it in pilot projects.

The BEKJ: legal framework and timeline

The legal framework is set by the Federal Act on Platforms for Electronic Communication in the Judiciary (BEKJ). The timeline in five steps:

Date	Milestone
20 December 2024	The Federal Assembly adopts the BEKJ
1 October 2025	The first provisions enter into force: rules on the public-law corporation justitia.swiss (Art. 1 to 17 BEKJ) and part of the data protection provisions (Art. 27 para. 1 and 3 to 6)
Condition for founding	The Confederation and at least 18 cantons ratify the agreement, founding is expected in the first half of 2027
1 July 2027 (planned)	The remaining provisions are due to enter into force, the Federal Council decides
From that date	Voluntary electronic filings via the platform, judicial authorities receive filings electronically

The public-law corporation justitia.swiss will be jointly supported by the Confederation and the cantons and will be responsible for building, operating and developing the platform. It will be founded once the Confederation and at least 18 cantons have ratified the agreement, which the Justitia 4.0 project expects for the first half of 2027. Mandatory use follows a cantonal timetable: the obligation to file electronically applies to lawyers as soon as the canton concerned declares the procedural rules applicable. According to the Canton of Geneva, the Confederation and the cantons can introduce mandatory electronic communication at the earliest one year and at the latest five years after the BEKJ enters into force. Basel-Stadt provides for five years for professional users, and Basel-Landschaft names July 2028 as the earliest date for the obligation.

On a practical note: once the BEKJ enters into force, the obligation to use a physical or qualified electronic signature falls away for filings via the platform. A usage fee can be charged only from that point on, and during the pilot phase use remains free of charge for pilot cantons and participating lawyers.

Three stages to keep apart

The cantons' announcements show an important distinction. Three stages follow three separate timetables:

Ratification: a canton approves the founding agreement justitia.swiss.
Pilot operation: courts test the platform in real or limited proceedings.
Mandatory use: the canton sets the date from which electronic communication applies to professional users.

The federal target of 1 July 2027 applies to the BEKJ as a whole. The actual start date of the obligation depends on the federal framework, cantonal preparations and transition periods, so it is worth looking at your own canton.

Status in the cantons in October 2026

According to the justitia.swiss website, twelve cantons have ratified the founding agreement: Geneva, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Zug, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Uri, Obwalden, Neuchâtel, Basel-Landschaft, Graubünden and Thurgau. Founding the corporation requires the Confederation and at least 18 cantons.

Canton	Latest confirmed development	Status of the agreement
Geneva	Pilot operation of the case file application at the Civil Court since 17 October 2025	Ratified
Vaud	Bill for accession submitted by the State Council to the Grand Council	Approval procedure under way
Basel-Stadt	Government proposal to accede in August 2026	Grand Council approval pending
Basel-Landschaft	Accession approved by the Landrat at the end of May 2026	Ratified
Schaffhausen	Pilot operation of the platform since the end of 2025	Ratified
Graubünden	Government decides to accede in September 2026	Ratified
Neuchâtel	Accession decision of the State Council of 26 August 2026	Ratified
Schwyz	Limited pilot at the Administrative Court since July 2026	Ratified
Zurich	Government motion to the Cantonal Council in May 2026	Approval procedure under way
Bern	Procedure under way according to justitia.swiss (October 2026)	Approval procedure under way
Glarus	Procedure under way according to justitia.swiss (October 2026)	Approval procedure under way

According to justitia.swiss, approval procedures are under way in Vaud, Bern, Zurich, Glarus and Basel-Stadt. Adding these five cantons to the twelve that have ratified gives 17 cantons, while founding the corporation requires at least 18. The developments in detail:

Geneva: the Grand Council approved the investment credit for the eDossier judiciaire programme on 27 January 2023. The case file application entered pilot operation at the Civil Court on 17 October 2025.
Basel-Stadt: the government proposed accession on 18 August 2026 and relies on the common national platform rather than a solution of its own. For mandatory use by professional users, the canton provides for a five-year transition period.
Basel-Landschaft: the government had proposed accession in November 2025, and the Landrat approved it at the end of May 2026.
Schwyz: since 1 July 2026, the Administrative Court accepts electronic filings via justitia.swiss in selected administrative proceedings, including certain social insurance disputes. It is a pilot solution.
Zurich: on 6 May 2026, the Executive Council adopted the motion for an accession act addressed to the Cantonal Council.

Impact on law firms

The current state of play yields five concrete points for preparation:

Check cantonal timetables. Law firms with cases in several cantons will experience different start dates for mandatory use.
Treat filings and service of documents as electronic documents. Filing, naming, search and traceability move to the centre once paper ceases to be the medium.
Use the pilot window. Lawyers can take part in pilot projects, and use is free of charge during the pilot phase.
Plan your own case files. The platform serves the exchange with judicial authorities, and files generally remain available there for 90 days. Filing and archiving of a firm's own case files remain the firm's job, in its own system, for example Ketl.
Clarify confidentiality and data location. For documents covered by professional secrecy (Art. 321 of the Swiss Criminal Code), the operation of your own document system deserves particular attention.

Ketl and Justitia

Ketl is a sovereign, AI-powered document management system (GED/DMS) for regulated professions, including law firms, notaries, fiduciaries, banks and insurers. Hosting and AI processing run exclusively in Switzerland, in Geneva and Zurich. Ketl processes more than 46 million documents for more than 650 clients across 11 regulated sectors.

Ketl is already integrated with justitia.swiss. The principle: Justitia delivers, Ketl archives. Filings and service documents remain available on the platform for 90 days and are archived in Ketl. According to Justitia 4.0, lawyers can use the platform through the web interface or through an interface in the document management system of their software provider (Art. 19 para. 2 BEKJ). Swiss companies operate the platform's infrastructure in Swiss data centres.

You will find all the details of the integration on our Justitia page: Ketl and justitia.swiss.

FAQ

What is Justitia 4.0? Justitia 4.0 is the national programme to digitalise the Swiss judiciary. Its central platform, justitia.swiss, enables secure electronic exchange between courts, public prosecutors, lawyers and other parties to proceedings, and is intended to replace paper processes with electronic case files.

What is the BEKJ and when does it enter into force? The Federal Act on Platforms for Electronic Communication in the Judiciary (BEKJ) forms the legal basis of the platform. The Federal Assembly adopted it on 20 December 2024, and the first provisions have applied since 1 October 2025. The remaining provisions are planned to enter into force on 1 July 2027.

From when must lawyers file electronically? The obligation to file electronically applies as soon as the canton concerned declares the procedural rules applicable. Voluntary electronic filings become possible from the planned entry into force on 1 July 2027. The cantons can introduce mandatory use at the earliest one year and at the latest five years after the BEKJ enters into force.

Which cantons have ratified the justitia.swiss agreement? According to the platform's website, twelve cantons had ratified the agreement in October 2026: Geneva, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Zug, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Uri, Obwalden, Neuchâtel, Basel-Landschaft, Graubünden and Thurgau. Founding the corporation requires the Confederation and at least 18 cantons.

How much does it cost to use the platform? During the pilot phase, use is free of charge for the pilot cantons and the participating lawyers. A usage fee can be charged only once the BEKJ enters into force, and the Federal Council issues an implementing provision for it.

Is a qualified electronic signature required for filings via justitia.swiss? Once the BEKJ enters into force, the obligation to use a physical or qualified electronic signature falls away for filings via the platform.

Conclusion

Justitia 4.0 will change the work of law firms over the coming years, and the date of mandatory use depends on the canton. Firms that check the cantonal timetable now, know the pilot options and orient their own case management towards electronic documents enter the transition well prepared.

Next step: identify the cantons in which your firm conducts proceedings and note, for each, the status of ratification and pilot operation.

→ Ketl and justitia.swiss: integration details → Ketl for law firms

Sources (accessed in October 2026):