Facts
The complainant, [X.] , was involved in a traffic accident and was fined 400 CHF by the district office of Hinwil for lack of attention while driving, as per a summary penalty order. [X.] filed an objection to this summary penalty order, whereupon the district office discontinued the proceedings, as the allegation of a traffic violation could not be substantiated. [X.] then requested compensation for the costs of her defence in the criminal proceedings, which was rejected by the High Court of the Canton of Zurich. [X.] appealed against this decision to the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that a claim for compensation of defence costs in the event of a discontinuation of proceedings or an acquittal, pursuant to Art. 429 para. 1 lit. a CPC, exists not only in cases of mandatory defence within the meaning of Art. 130 CPC, but also when the engagement of a private defence counsel appears to be a reasonable exercise of procedural rights. In addition to the seriousness of the alleged offence and the actual and legal complexity of the case, the duration of the proceedings and their impact on the personal and professional circumstances of the accused person must also be taken into account.
In the present case, the engagement of legal counsel by the complainant was to be considered a reasonable exercise of her procedural rights, given the circumstances that she was…