OpenCaseLaw — Swiss Caselaw, Statutes & Doctrine
1M+ Swiss court decisions, statutes & doctrine with citation graph (DE/FR/IT). CC0, free, 42 tools.
| Endpoint | https://mcp.opencaselaw.ch/mcp (streamable-http) |
|---|---|
| Registry version | 1.3.0 |
| Now | 42 tools · grade C (75) · pin ts_d498d15e760d90a9227a87fccc5277ea · protocol 2025-06-18 |
| First / last listed | 2026-10-31 02:56 UTC / 2026-10-31 02:56 UTC |
| Grade over time | 2026-10-31: C (75), 42 tools |
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Tools: search fetch search_decisions get_decision get_decisions list_courts get_statistics find_citations find_appeal_chain find_leading_cases analyze_legal_trend draft_mock_decision get_case_brief get_decision_structure get_erwaegung find_relevant_erwaegung get_article_purpose search_botschaft get_article_history get_regeste check_claim_support attest_response cite get_doctrine generate_exam_question get_law search_laws get_commentary search_commentaries search_scholarship get_scholarship find_scholarship_citing_statute find_scholarship_citing_decision list_scholarship_sources get_scholarship_full_text get_materialien search_materialien search_legislation get_legislation browse_legislation_changes search_practice get_practice
search | Minimal search tool following the deep-research search/fetch convention. Returns a ranked list of Swiss court decisions matching a query, each as {id, title, url, snippet}. Pair with `fetch` to retrieve a decision's full text by id. General (non-deep-research) clients should prefer `search_decisions`, which exposes filters (court, canton, date, language) and richer metadata. params: query*, limit |
fetch | Minimal fetch tool following the deep-research search/fetch convention. Fetches one Swiss decision's full text by id, returning {id, title, text, url, metadata}. The id comes from a `search` result (a decision_id like bger_6B_1234_2025; a docket number or BGE reference also resolves). General clients should prefer `get_decision`. params: id* |
search_decisions | Use this tool to find COURT DECISIONS (Rechtsprechung): 1,050,000+ Swiss federal and cantonal decisions plus ~2,800 ECtHR decisions concerning Switzerland. Full-text search with keywords, phrases (in quotes), Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), prefix matching (word*), docket lookup (6B_1234/2025) and column-scoped search (regeste:keyword). Filter by court, canton, language, date range, chamber. Res params: query, court, canton, language, date_from, date_to, published_from, published_to, chamber, marked_for_publication, limit, offset, sort, fields, include_pinpoint |
get_decision | Fetch a single court decision with full text. Look up by decision_id (e.g., bger_6B_1234_2025), docket number (e.g., 6B_1234/2025), or partial match. Full text is truncated at 200,000 characters for very long decisions. Set full_text=false to get only metadata and regeste. params: decision_id*, full_text |
get_decisions | Use this tool to fetch SEVERAL decisions at once (1-10 ids) instead of calling get_decision repeatedly. Same data per decision — canonical citation strings, Markdown link, Regeste, metadata — in ONE call. Prefer this whenever you are about to read more than one decision from a search result: it is the difference between one tool call and ten, which matters because clients cap tool calls per turn. params: decision_ids*, full_text, max_chars_per_decision |
list_courts | List all available courts with decision counts, date ranges, and language coverage. Use this to discover what data is available. params: none |
get_statistics | Get aggregate statistics about the dataset. Optionally filter by court, canton, or year. params: court, canton, year |
find_citations | Given a decision_id, show what it cites and what cites it. Uses the reference graph database with 9.65M citation edges. Returns resolved citations with confidence scores and unresolved references. params: decision_id*, direction, min_confidence, limit, offset |
find_appeal_chain | Trace the appeal chain (Instanzenzug) for a decision. Shows prior instances (lower courts) and subsequent instances (appeals to higher courts). Reconstructs the full procedural path, e.g. Bezirksgericht → Obergericht → Bundesgericht. Uses the is_prior_instance flag from decision headers. params: decision_id*, min_confidence |
find_leading_cases | Find the most-cited decisions for a topic or statute. Authority ranking based on citation graph; a free-text topic ranks decisions whose regeste carries the query terms first (`regeste_match`: share of terms found, null without a regeste). Filter by statute (law_code + article), topic query, court, and date range. Top-3 results auto-attach a `pinpoint` field {e_number, matched_sentence, confidence params: query, law_code, article, court, date_from, date_to, limit, include_pinpoint |
analyze_legal_trend | Year-by-year decision counts showing jurisprudence evolution. Use with a statute reference (law_code + article), a text query, or both. Returns yearly counts with visual bar chart. params: query, law_code, article, court, date_from, date_to |
draft_mock_decision | Build a research-only mock decision outline from user facts. Combines relevant Swiss case law retrieval with statute references. If possible, enriches statutes with Fedlex text excerpts. IMPORTANT: The tool may return clarification questions (high/medium priority). High-priority clarifications must be answered (via the clarifications parameter) before the tool will provide a conclusion. Call again params: facts*, question, preferred_language, deciding_court, statute_references, fedlex_urls, clarifications, limit |
get_case_brief | Structured case brief: regeste, Sachverhalt, key Erwägungen (first 12 only — for orientation, NOT a pinpoint ranking), Dispositiv, statutes, citation authority, related cases. Accepts BGE ref, decision_id, or docket. To pinpoint which Erwägung supports a specific claim, use find_relevant_erwaegung — never guess from key_erwaegungen alone. params: case* |
get_decision_structure | Structured decision fields: Sachverhalt (facts), Erwägungen as numbered paragraphs ('1', '1.1', '2.3'), Dispositiv (ruling), Regeste (BGE only). Federal decisions only; for cantonal use get_decision. Returns excerpts; for verbatim full text of one Erwägung, use get_erwaegung. PINPOINT POLICY: never guess. If user gave an e_number → verify with get_erwaegung. If user gave only a claim → use find_re params: decision_id* |
get_erwaegung | Verbatim text of ONE numbered Erwägung — the citable unit in Swiss practice (e.g. 'BGE 136 III 513 E. 2.3'). Use when the user already gave an e_number. If only a claim was given (no e_number): use find_relevant_erwaegung — never guess. Returns text + sibling Erwägung numbers; a parent (E. 2.2) includes its sub-Erwägungen in order, each also under `parts`. e_number: '1', '4.1', '5.2.1', … params: decision_id*, e_number* |
find_relevant_erwaegung | Find which Erwägung paragraph(s) match a legal claim. Server-side FTS5+BM25 over per-paragraph text; returns top-k with confidence labels (high/medium/low) and a highlighted_snippet wrapping the matched sentence in <mark>…</mark> (quote it verbatim). When no_match=true or confidence=low, do NOT cite any Erwägung — report no_match. Federal decisions only. Replaces the 'always-E.-3.1' guessing patte params: decision_id*, claim*, top_k |
get_article_purpose | Return verbatim text from the Federal Council Botschaft (or Erläuterungsbericht) explaining the legislative purpose of a specific article. Joins the verbatim Botschaft corpus (post-2003 BBl publications, Akoma Ntoso XML where available, PDF fallback otherwise) with the article-Botschaft link table. Returns one entry per source — original Botschaft + any amendment Botschaften. All paragraphs are ve params: sr_number*, article*, language, max_paragraphs |
search_botschaft | Retrieve and quote the VERBATIM text of federal Materialien: Federal Council Botschaften, Berichte and Stellungnahmen des Bundesrates, parliamentary committee reports, Erlassentwürfe — and the Vernehmlassung documents: Erläuternde Berichte, Vorlagen, Ergebnisberichte, Stellungnahmen (2,500+ procedures from Fedlex). Each hit is tagged `doc_type`; filter with doc_type, default all. Bundesblatt hits params: query*, language, year_min, year_max, doc_type, limit |
get_article_history | Chronological story of a single statute article: current text + every linked Botschaft (enacted + amendments) + leading court interpretations + doctrinal commentary, all ordered by date. Combines statutes.db, materialien.db, reference_graph.db, and ok_commentaries.db into one timeline. USE THIS when the user asks 'how did Art. X evolve' or 'what's the full picture on Art. X' — a single call return params: sr_number*, article*, language, leading_cases_limit |
get_regeste | Get the official Regeste (head-note) of a Swiss court decision. The Regeste is the court's own formulation of the legal rule established — for BGEs especially, this is the canonical citation target. Often references specific Erwägungen via '(E. 5.2.1)' which can then be retrieved verbatim with get_erwaegung. USE THIS when the user asks 'what does this case stand for' or 'what is the rule from this params: decision_id* |
check_claim_support | Verify whether a Swiss court decision actually supports a legal claim. Uses an independent Sonnet judge to compare the claim against verbatim text from the decision (Erwägung if pinpoint given, else Regeste, else first portion of full text). Returns {supports: yes|partial|no|contradicts|unrelated, confidence, supporting_excerpt, qualifying_excerpt, reasoning}. CALL THIS for any claim where citing params: claim*, decision_id*, pinpoint |
attest_response | MANDATORY FINAL-STEP AUDIT of your draft answer. Checks five hallucination classes: (1) every case citation (BGE/BGer/BVGer/BStGer/BPatGer/MKGE, FR/IT forms) exists and any pinpoint (E. X.Y) resolves to a real Erwägung; (2) every 'Art. X LAW' statute reference resolves; (3) quoted passages (60-400 chars) near a citation or statute reference are verbatim in that source (DE/FR/IT; audit_quotes, on b params: draft_text*, audit_grounding, audit_quotes |
cite | Get the canonical Swiss citation string for a decision reference. CALL THIS BEFORE writing any case citation in your response. Returns ready-to-embed citation_string (DE/FR/IT variants plus a canonical URL) and a verbatim rule_statement. If the reference doesn't exist, returns exists=false plus close_matches for typo-correction — DO NOT guess or construct citations yourself; if you get exists=fals params: reference*, pinpoint, language |
get_doctrine | Get statute text + leading cases + doctrinal timeline + Federal Council Botschaft (legislative intent) + scholarly commentary for a Swiss law article or legal concept. ALWAYS USE THIS for questions about the purpose, intent, or ratio legis of a provision — it returns the Botschaft (Materialien) alongside the case law. Input: statute reference ('Art. 41 OR', 'Art. 8 BV') or legal concept. Returns: params: query* |
generate_exam_question | Generate a Swiss law exam practice question (Fallbearbeitung) based on a real BGE. Returns a fact pattern (Sachverhalt) from a real court decision and a hidden analysis (applicable statutes, leading case, legal test, correct outcome). Workflow: present the fact_pattern and hint to the student, wait for their analysis, then reveal the analysis field and compare. The student can then call get_case_b params: topic*, exclude_ids |
get_law | AUTHORITATIVE LOOKUP for the text of any Swiss law article — federal OR cantonal — from two local mirrors. Federal (canton='CH', default): Fedlex mirror, all federal acts (OR, ZGB, StGB, ZPO, StPO, BV, SchKG, BGG, DBG, AIG, BVG, KVG …) in DE/FR/IT; names match in any language, case, dots or spaces (Cst, OPP2), treaties by common name (IPBPR, KRK, CISG) and former names (OG → BGG, noted; as_of give params: sr_number, systematic_number, abbreviation, article, language, canton, as_of |
search_laws | Use this tool to find STATUTE ARTICLES by topic — full-text over every locally indexed article, federal (Fedlex mirror) AND cantonal (LexFind mirror, all 26 cantons), interleaved. Not for whole laws by name (search_legislation) or court decisions (search_decisions). BM25-ranked per corpus, merged by interleaving so each response surfaces both jurisdictions. Returns ranked snippets with article num params: query*, sr_number, canton, jurisdiction, language, limit |
get_commentary | Look up a commentary on a Swiss federal law article: OnlineKommentar.ch (CC-BY-4.0; BV, OR, ZGB, StGB, StPO, ZPO, DSG, SchKG and more) and, for the BV, OpenLegalCommentary.ch (CC BY-SA 4.0; AI-generated, de/fr/it), which yields to OnlineKommentar where both exist. Without article: lists available commentaries. With article: full text, authors, citation. Cantonal: the Kommentar zur Schaffhauser Ver params: abbreviation, sr_number, article, language, canton |
search_commentaries | Use this tool ONLY for article-anchored commentary — doctrinal discussion tied to a specific statute article: OnlineKommentar.ch / OpenLegalCommentary.ch (federal law) and the Kommentar zur Schaffhauser Verwaltungsrechtspflege (Schaffhausen VRG and JG; abbreviation 'VRG SH' / 'JG SH'). For the full OA scholarship corpus (which includes all of these) use search_scholarship. Searches commentary text params: query*, abbreviation, language, limit |
search_scholarship | Use this tool for open-access SCHOLARSHIP (Lehre): OA journal articles (sui generis et al.), OA legal commentaries (OnlineKommentar, OpenLegalCommentary — this tool SUBSUMES search_commentaries), dissertations and theses from Swiss university repositories, and federal legal-policy reports. Returns ranked results with snippets, authors, DOI, and direct links. Filters by source, publication type, la params: query, source, pub_type, language, year_min, year_max, author, sort, limit |
get_scholarship | Fetch a single OA legal publication (article, dissertation, commentary, etc.) by its pub_id. Returns full metadata + abstract + full text if available + cross-citations to statutes and decisions. params: pub_id* |
find_scholarship_citing_statute | Find OA legal scholarship that cites a given Swiss statute article. Sourced from article-anchored commentaries (OnlineKommentar / OpenLegalCommentary) PLUS full-text citation extraction across the open-access journal corpus (~90k statute references resolved from 9k full-text records). params: sr_number*, article, limit |
find_scholarship_citing_decision | Find OA legal scholarship that cites a specific Swiss court decision. Reverse direction of the scholarship↔caselaw bridge: given a decision_id (e.g. 'bge_BGE_140_III_86' or 'bger_4A_571_2008'), return open-access publications that cite it in their full text. Citations are extracted deterministically by regex + lookup against the canonical decision corpus, so resolved citations are always to decisi params: decision_id*, limit |
list_scholarship_sources | List the open-access legal scholarship sources currently indexed, with publication counts by source, type, and language. Use this to discover what corpora are available before searching. params: none |
get_scholarship_full_text | Fetch the full text of an OA legal publication by pub_id, on demand. Cached after first fetch so subsequent calls are instant. License-gated: only records under CC-BY-* (except CC-BY-ND), OA-Swiss-federal, or OA-author-permitted-reuse are extracted. ND/all-rights-reserved records return the upstream URL only. Use this when search_scholarship or get_scholarship returns only abstract/title and you n params: pub_id* |
get_materialien | Look up Materialien for a Swiss federal law article. Returns: `sources` = per-article digests of legislative intent (BV and BGFA only); `botschaft_documents` = the Bundesblatt documents that concern the article (Botschaften, Berichte, Stellungnahmen, committee reports, Erlassentwürfe; tagged `doc_type`, with BBl citation, title, publication_date from Fedlex where available — `publication_date_sour params: law_code*, article, doc_type |
search_materialien | Use this tool for DIGESTED legislative history — per-article intent summaries and key arguments, not verbatim text. COVERAGE IS NARROW: BV and BGFA digests (167 articles) plus BV debate transcripts, and nothing else. For any other law this returns 0 hits, which means 'outside this index', not 'no materials exist'. Each hit names its source message (bbl_ref, title, publication_date from Fedlex wher params: query*, law_code, doc_type, limit |
search_legislation | Use this tool to find WHOLE LAWS by name or subject — 33,000+ federal and cantonal enactments from LexFind.ch; the entry point for cantonal questions ('Hundegesetz Bern', 'loi sur l'énergie Vaud'). Not for article-level topic search (search_laws) or the core federal codes (get_law is instant there). All 26 cantons + federal, DE/FR/IT. Also the entry point for municipal regulations and federal ordi params: query*, canton, active_only, search_in_content, language, limit, fetch_top_n_texts |
get_legislation | Retrieve the FULL TEXT and article list of a specific Swiss law, federal or cantonal, by LexFind ID or SR/systematic number. For federal laws in the Fedlex mirror this is instant (local SQLite). For cantonal laws, the law is downloaded from LexFind as PDF, parsed with PyMuPDF, and segmented into articles (cached 30 days). Returns: title, entity, articles (article_num, heading, text), full_text, ar params: lexfind_id, systematic_number, canton, include_versions, language |
browse_legislation_changes | Browse recent legislation changes for a canton or federal level. Shows new laws, amendments, and abrogations with dates. params: canton, language |
search_practice | Use this tool for federal ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE (Verwaltungspraxis): Wegleitungen, Kreisschreiben, Weisungen, Rundschreiben — agency guidance, not court decisions. 9,900+ documents: BSV (AHV/IV/EL/EO/FamZ/BVG Wegleitungen, Kreisschreiben, Mitteilungen, every version), OAK BV (BVG Weisungen, Mitteilungen), WEKO (Bekanntmachungen, Erläuterungen), SECO (ArG commentary, AVIG-Praxis), BAG (KVG), SEM params: query*, source, issuing_authority, doc_type, include_superseded, language, limit |
get_practice | Retrieve a single federal administrative-practice document by its doc_id (e.g. 'estv_ks_ks_nr_28', 'sem_weisungen_weisungen-aug-d', 'bsv_weisungen_6930_v20_de', 'seco_alv_avig_ale_de', 'un_uhri_3f3a9db7-5e9a-416f-ad28-8c8f97a8322c_en'). Returns full body text, title, date, issuing authority, and PDF URL. Use search_practice first to discover the doc_id. params: doc_id* |
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