Facts
The Federal Court had to rule on an appeal by [A.] against the decision of the Indictment Chamber of the Canton of St. Gallen of 8 January 2020. The Indictment Chamber had dismissed [A.] 's appeal against the decision of the District Court of St. Gallen of 16 October 2019, in which the District Court had dismissed [A.] 's requests for a complete and partial exclusion of the public from the upcoming main hearing.
[A.] was charged with negligent homicide and failure to provide assistance. He requested that the public be excluded from the upcoming first-instance court hearing and the announcement of the judgment, and that any court reporters be subject to effective conditions regarding his anonymity.
The Indictment Chamber, the District Court, and the Investigation Office of St. Gallen waived their right to comment, while the respondents 1-3 and respondent 4 requested that the appeal be dismissed.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the lower court had rightly denied the exclusion of the public from the hearing. It found that the lower court did not consider the conditions for excluding the public to be met and therefore had no reason to comment on the scope of the exclusion.
The Federal Court stated that the principle of public access to justice is of central importance to the rule of law and democracy, and that it allows the public to gain insight into the administration of justice and ensures transparency in court proceedings. It found that the lower court carefully weighed the interests of the appellant and the interests of the public, and that the lower court rightly found that the interest in realizing the principle of public access to justice outweighed the private interests of the appellant.
The…