Facts
The appellant [A.] requested the Cantonal Court of Basel-Landschaft to waive the procedural costs imposed on him by decision of 5 September 2017. The Cantonal Court dismissed the request for waiver of costs on 10 September 2019, but granted [A.] a deferment of the outstanding procedural costs until 31 December 2020.
[A.] filed a criminal law appeal against the decision of the Cantonal Court. He requested that the request for waiver of costs be granted, that he be awarded compensation for the legal advice he had obtained, and that he be awarded satisfaction in the amount of 5,000 Swiss francs.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, insofar as it could be considered. It stated that according to Art. 425 of the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), the criminal authorities may defer or reduce or waive procedural costs, taking into account the financial circumstances of the person liable for the costs. There is no constitutional entitlement to a waiver of court costs.
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the lower court had not exceeded the discretion it had in assessing the request for waiver of costs, by assuming that the appellant had not sufficiently demonstrated that he would permanently be unable to pay the procedural costs. The lower court had rightly considered that the costs of…