Facts
On 9 April 2020, the District Court of Horgen convicted the Lithuanian national [A.] of commercial and organized theft, multiple acts of property damage, multiple trespassing, and serious money laundering, and sentenced him to 4 years' imprisonment and a fine. [A.] appealed. On 24 September 2020, he filed a complaint of denial of justice or undue delay with the High Court of the Canton of Zurich, as the District Court had only served the written judgment on 2 November 2020. The High Court dismissed the complaint, as it did not see a violation of the principle of expedited proceedings. [A.] then filed a criminal law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court finds that the District Court of Horgen violated the principle of expedited proceedings. Although the appellant was in custody and the proceedings should therefore have been handled with particular expedition, the District Court took almost seven months to serve the written judgment. This significantly exceeds the deadlines of 60 or 90 days specified in Art. 84 para. 4 CrimPC. Even though the judgment was comparatively extensive…