Facts
Parties: X. (complainant), Y. (defendant), Public Prosecution Office of the Canton of Vaud (Ministère public central du canton de Vaud).
Facts: Following a dispute between X. and Y. on July 1, 2009, the Public Prosecution Office convicted Y. of assault and insult, and X. of assault by a penal order dated May 10, 2011. X. appealed both judgments, arguing that the concussion he suffered did not constitute simple assault. The Public Prosecution Office filed charges against X. before the police court on September 26, 2011, while declaring the penal order against Y. enforceable, as he had not appealed. X. requested the transfer of the case to the police court, which the latter refused by decision of October 19, 2011, as the decision of the Public Prosecution Office of October 19, 2011 constituted an implicit dismissal of the charges for simple assault, which could be challenged by complaint and not by appeal.
Remedies: X. filed a complaint against the cantonal decision of November 24, 2011, which was dismissed by the cantonal appellate court on December 15, 2011. X. then filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court found that the dismissal of criminal proceedings must be made by a formal, appealable dismissal order. If the prosecution only sanctions part of the alleged offenses by penal order, it must issue both a penal order and a dismissal order. In this case, the Public Prosecution Office had issued a penal order containing an implicit dismissal, which does not meet the legal…