# Christian Schwarzenegger

Christian Michael Schwarzenegger (born 11 November 1959) is a Swiss academic lawyer and professor of criminal law, criminal procedure and criminology at the University of Zurich. He is known for his academic work in the field of cybercrime, criminal legal issues relating to the beginning and end of life, crime prevention and victimology, as well as his contributions to the promotion of academic exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and Switzerland.

## Early life and education

Schwarzenegger was born 11 November 1959 in Zürich, Switzerland to Austrian-born Franz Schwarzenegger (1931-2016), a toolmaker and musician who later turned engineer and Hilde Schwarzenegger, born Weitzer (1935-2015).
He studied law at the University of Zurich, where he graduated with a licentiate degree (lic.iur.). He then obtained his doctorate in 1992 with a dissertation on public attitudes to crime and crime control under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Günther Kaiser and was admitted to the bar of the Canton of Schaffhausen in 1993. He completed his habilitation in 2008 in the fields of criminal law, criminal procedural law and criminology.

## Career

From 1994 to 1999, he was Assistant Professor of European Law, Comparative Law, Criminal Law and Criminology at Niigata University and Aichi University in Japan. He was then appointed assistant professor with tenure track at the University of Zurich. Since 2010 he is full professor of criminal law, criminal procedure and criminology at the University of Zurich. From 2012 to 2014 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Law, and since 2014 he has been Vice President and member of the Executive Board of the University of Zurich. He is currently in charge of Faculty Affairs and Scientific Information. From 2014 to 2020, he was responsible for the University's international relations, for which he implemented the first internationalisation strategy and established strategic partnerships with Kyoto University and the University of Queensland.
Schwarzenegger's fields of research include crime prevention, family violence, cybercrime, homicide, abortion and end-of-life decisions (i.e. assisted suicide). He served as an expert for Swiss Television (SRF) in more than fifty crime documentaries.

## Honours and awards

On 3 November 2024, the Government of Japan conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon to Schwarzenegger for his contributions to the academic exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and Switzerland.

## Trivia

Schwarzenegger is cousin once removed of Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2018 they signed an agreement to build a coalition to promote sustainable finance between the USC Schwarzenegger Institute and the Regions of Climate Action R20 (now: Catalytic) and University of Zurich. The partners aim at transforming global markets in line with the Paris Climate Agreement based on scientific evidence.

## Literature on Christian Schwarzenegger

Gian Ege, Stefan Heimgartner, Marcel Alexander Niggli (eds.): Festgabe für Christian Schwarzenegger zu seinem 60. Geburtstag, ContraLegem, Sondernummer, 2/2019

## Selected publications in English

Susanne Fischer, Carola A . Huber, Matthias Furter, Lorenz Imhof, Romy Mahrer Imhof, Christian Schwarzenegger, Stephen J. Ziegler, Georg Bosshard: Reasons why people in Switzerland seek assisted suicide: the view of patients and physicians. Swiss Medical Weekly 139 (2009), 333-338
Schwarzenegger Christian, Manzoni Patrik, Studer David, Leanza Catia: Attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide in Switzerland - Results of a national study, in: André Kuhn et al. (eds.), Kriminologie, Kriminalpolitik und Strafrecht aus internationaler Perspektive, Festschrift für Martin Killias zum 65. Geburtstag, Bern: Stämpfli Verlag, 425-446
Sarah Summers, Christian Schwarzenegger, Gian Ege, Finlay Young: The Emergence of EU Criminal Law. Cyber Crime and the Regulation of the Information Society. Oxford: Hart Publishing 2014
Patrik Manzoni, Christian Schwarzenegger: The influence of earlier parental violence on juvenile delinquency: The role of social bonds, self-control, delinquent peer association and moral values as mediators. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 2018, 1-15
Gian Ege, Andreas Schloenhardt, Christian Schwarzenegger (eds.): Wildlife Trafficking: The illicit Trade in Wildlife, Animal Parts, and Derivatives. Berlin/Bern Carl Grossmann Verlag 2020
Gian Ege, Sena Hangartner, Christian Schwarzenegger, Kanako Takayama (eds.): Legal responses to doping. Zurich: Dike/Nomos Verlag 2023