Facts
The appellant, A., was arrested on 13 February 2011 in the context of a criminal investigation for a serious offense under the federal law on narcotics. He was apprehended at 11:00 by the cantonal police of Zurich and heard at 14:13. The next day, he arrived in the canton of Vaud at 14:30 and the Public Prosecutor of the Eastern Vaud district proceeded with the arrest hearing on 15 February 2011 at 10:23. On the same day, the prosecutor seized the Tribunal of coercive measures with a request for provisional detention due to the risks of flight and collusion.
The Tribunal of coercive measures ordered provisional detention on 17 February 2011, but the appellant contested this decision before the Penal Appeals Chamber of the Cantonal Court, which rejected the appeal on 4 March 2011. The appellant then filed a criminal appeal with the Federal Court, requesting the reform of the judgment and his immediate release due to the violation of the time limits provided for in art. 219 al. 4 and 224 al. 2 CrimPC.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the time limits provided for in art. 219 al. 4 and 224 al. 2 CrimPC, which concretize the procedural guarantees of art. 31 Const. and 5 par. 3 ECHR. It found that non-compliance with these time limits does not necessarily render the detention illegal, but that only the time elapsed between the arrest and the decision of the tribunal of coercive measures is determining for the defendant.
The Federal Court also emphasized that the principle of celerity is of particular importance in matters of provisional detention and that the maximum time limits provided for in the CrimPC must in principle be respected. However, it found that non-compliance with the time limits in question did not justify the immediate…