Facts
Bernard Rappaz has been serving a sentence of five years and eight months of deprivation of liberty since March 20, 2010. From the time of his incarceration, he has begun a hunger strike in protest. On June 21, 2010, he requested that the execution of his sentence be interrupted due to the medical problems caused by his hunger strike. The Head of the Department of Security, Social Affairs and Integration of the Canton of Valais rejected this request on June 23, 2010. Bernard Rappaz appealed this decision, which the Single Judge of the Public Law Court of the Cantonal Tribunal of the Canton of Valais rejected on July 8, 2010. Bernard Rappaz then appealed to the DFC.Considerations
The DFC examines the interpretation of indeterminate legal concepts, such as the "serious reason" provided for in Art. 92 SCC, with full power of review. It only restricts its cognition when the legislator intended to leave a margin of appreciation to the executive power, which is not the case here.
The DFC considers that the deterioration of the appellant's state of health, as a result of his hunger strike, constituted a serious reason justifying an examination of whether the execution of the sentence should be interrupted. However, the cantonal authorities did not violate federal law by refusing this interruption, since it was possible to remedy the appellant's medical problem by forced feeding, a measure compatible with the continuation of the sentence execution.
Indeed, the…