Facts
The appellant [X.] was found guilty by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Basel-Stadt by a criminal penalty order dated November 20, 2018 for driving without a vehicle license or registration plates, driving without liability insurance, as well as misuse of identification documents and/or registration plates. The criminal penalty order was served on him by registered mail, but was not collected within the collection period until November 28, 2018. On February 5, 2019, [X.] filed an objection to the criminal penalty order. However, the Criminal Court and the Court of Appeal of the Canton of Basel-Stadt did not consider the objection, as they considered the presumption of service under Art. 85 para. 4 lit. a CrimPC to be fulfilled.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal and remanded the case for a new assessment to the lower instance. It concluded that the presumption of service does not apply in the present case. Although the appellant was informed by the police on December 18, 2017 about the allegations made against him, which generally establishes a procedural legal relationship. However, almost a year passed before the criminal penalty order was issued, without any further contacts between the authorities and the appellant. The Federal Supreme Court considered a period of attention of about half a year to be appropriate, but not almost a year. Since the appellant was not present at the place of service, the presumed service cannot be held against him.
The Federal Supreme Court states that the rules on the…