Facts
The case concerns a defendant, X., convicted of attempted murder, endangering life and violating the law on weapons. The defendant appealed the judgment, requesting its annulment and the referral of the case to the lower court for a new trial. The main issue is whether the appeal court violated the right to confrontation by not conducting a new hearing of the main witness, who had not responded to the summons.
The facts of the case are as follows: X. was convicted by the court of first instance for attempted murder, endangering life and violating the law on weapons. The defendant appealed this judgment, contesting in particular the credibility of the main witness. The appeal court confirmed the judgment of the first instance without conducting a new hearing of the main witness.
Considerations
The decision of the Swiss Federal Court is based on Article 343 paragraph 3 of the Swiss Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC), which provides that evidence administered by the court of first instance must be repeated on appeal when one of the conditions of Article 389 paragraph 2 CrimPC is met. The Court considered that the appeal court had violated this right by not conducting a new hearing of the main witness, despite the request.
The Court also considered that the principle of investigation or the principle of seeking the material truth…