Facts
The appellant X. was convicted of various criminal offences between 1997 and 1999. He later filed a request for a retrial regarding the legally binding decisions and applied for the granting of court-appointed defence for the retrial procedure. The cantonal Department of Justice and Police rejected this request, which the appellant contested before the Administrative Court of the Canton of St. Gallen. The Administrative Court dismissed the appeal.
By way of a constitutional appeal, X. requested the annulment of the Administrative Court's decision due to a violation of the right to court-appointed defence (Art. 29 para. 3 Federal Constitution and Art. 6 para. 3 lit. c ECHR). He also requested that the Administrative Court be instructed to grant him court-appointed defence for the retrial procedures.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismissed the appeal, insofar as it could be considered. It stated that the contested decision of the Administrative Court was a final cantonal interim decision that could be challenged by way of a constitutional appeal, as it could cause irreparable harm.
The Federal Court explained that in constitutional appeals due to the refusal of legal aid or defence, no exception applies to the cassatory nature of the appeal. It could therefore not instruct the cantonal authority to assign the…