Subsequent Imposition of Detention on a Convicted Person under the Old Law

Facts

The appellant [X.] was convicted in 1993 and 1995 of murder, intentional homicide, and other offenses, and sentenced to 20 years of penitentiary. The court at the time refrained from ordering detention, as it considered the protection of society to be ensured through the execution of the long prison sentence. After serving the sentence, [X.] was taken into preventive detention.

In 2009, the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Canton of Zurich applied to the High Court for the subsequent detention of [X.] pursuant to Art. 65 para. 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code. In 2012, the Federal Supreme Court remanded the case to the lower court for re-evaluation. In 2014, the High Court ultimately ordered the subsequent detention of [X.] .

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court considers the subsequent imposition of detention to be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The cantonal procedural law applicable at the time of the offense (§ 443 no. 2 sentence 2 of the former Code of Criminal Procedure of the Canton of Zurich) would have already allowed a revision to the detriment of the convicted person based on new facts and evidence. Therefore, the subsequent detention did not impose a harsher sanction than would have been possible at the time of the offense.

The prohibition of retroactivity under Art. 7 para. 1 ECHR and Art. 15 para. 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is therefore not violated. The prohibition of…