Rejection of a Third Party's Request for Access to Files in Criminal Proceedings

Facts

The Federal Supreme Court decided on the appeal of a third party ([A.] ) against the rejection of his request for access to files in a criminal case against [B.] and [C.] . The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Fribourg had initiated criminal proceedings in 2016 for theft, forgery of documents, and breach of trust. [A.] had requested access to the files as the original complainant, which the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Cantonal Court of Fribourg had rejected. [A.] then filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court stated that according to Art. 101 para. 3 CrimPC, third parties can only be granted access to files if they assert a scientific or other legitimate interest and if there are no overriding public or private interests against the access. Such a legitimate interest is not present here. While [A.] is a one-third shareholder in the injured company and could therefore bring a liability claim as a party to the proceedings under Art. 756 CO, he must first…