Facts
The Slovak national [A.] was sentenced by the District Court of Dietikon to a custodial sentence of 36 months and a 6-year expulsion order for multiple counts of commercial theft, property damage, trespass, violations of the Narcotics Act, and theft of a vehicle. The High Court of the Canton of Zurich upheld the conviction, reduced the custodial sentence to 32 months, and also expelled [A.] from the country for 6 years. [A.] filed a complaint against the expulsion order with the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that although there was a serious case of personal hardship within the meaning of Art. 66a(2) of the Swiss Criminal Code, as the expulsion order constituted an interference with the right to respect for private and family life under Art. 8 of the ECHR, the public interests in the expulsion order outweighed the private interests of the complainant. The decisive factors were the severity and duration of the offenses, the…