Facts
The appellant X. was convicted by the Criminal Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft on April 16, 2015 for various offenses. He was sentenced to a custodial sentence of two years, a fine, and a residential therapeutic measure for young adults was ordered. The Cantonal Court upheld the judgment on appeal.
X. filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court and requested a reduction of the procedural costs imposed on him due to a violation of the principle of expedited proceedings. The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the complaint.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court found that the principle of expedited proceedings was violated in this case, as almost four years had passed between X.'s arrest on July 8, 2010 and the filing of the indictment on May 19, 2014. The lower court had already reduced X.'s custodial sentence by six months to account for this violation.
The Federal Supreme Court explained that the consequences of a violation of the principle of expedited proceedings are usually a reduction of the sentence, a waiver of the sentence, or in extreme cases a dismissal of the proceedings. A reduction of the procedural costs is only considered if the proceedings are dismissed. Since in the present case only a reduction of the sentence was made, there was…