Facts
The case concerns father and daughter M., who were found guilty of forgery of documents under Art. 251 para. 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code by the High Court of the Canton of Zurich. The father (appellant 1) had his daughter (appellant 2) create a fictitious invoice for allegedly performed repair work on a vehicle and transmit it to an insurance company, which paid the claimed amount of 3,175 Swiss francs. The Federal Supreme Court had to decide whether a criminal forgery was present in this case.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that Art. 251 of the Swiss Criminal Code must be interpreted restrictively with regard to forgery. For a criminal forgery to be present, the content of the document must have an increased power of conviction compared to a mere written lie. This is only the case if generally valid objective guarantees ensure the truth of the statement, such as an obligation to examine or legal requirements.
In the present case, there…