Facts
X. was convicted of serious commercial fraud in Austria. The Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice requested the competent Swiss authority to execute the sentence. The Federal Office of Justice accepted the request and forwarded it to the enforcement authority of the Canton of Bern. The latter requested the Appeals Chamber of the High Court of the Canton of Bern to conduct the exequatur procedure. The High Court declared the Austrian judgments enforceable.
X. filed a criminal appeal against the High Court's decision and requested to be granted the right to be heard and to have a cantonal legal remedy available in the exequatur procedure.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upholds the appeal. It finds that the lower court has violated the legal requirements for the exequatur procedure. According to Art. 106 para. 3 sentence 2 IRSG and Art. 80 para. 2 BGG, a two-tier cantonal appeal process is provided for, which the lower court did not comply with. The decision on the exequatur request should also have been issued in the form of…