Refusal to Authorize Criminal Prosecution of a Federal Civil Servant

Facts

In this case, criminal proceedings were brought against a federal civil servant, [X.] , who was alleged to have disclosed confidential documents of the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) to third parties. The Federal Prosecutor's Office requested authorization from the FDJP to prosecute [X.] . However, the FDJP refused this request. Consequently, the Federal Prosecutor's Office filed an administrative court appeal against the refusal to grant the authorization.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the Federal Prosecutor's Office was not legitimized to file the administrative court appeal. According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, a federal administrative agency is generally not authorized to file an appeal against decisions of another federal administrative agency. While the Federal Prosecutor's Office is independent in its function as a criminal prosecution authority, it does not have its own legal…