Appeal against the refusal to appoint a court-appointed defender

Facts

The appellant, A., objected to a penal order condemning him to a custodial sentence. He requested the appointment of a court-appointed defender, but the President of the Police Court refused this request. The Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Cantonal Court declared the appeal inadmissible, considering that the ruling refusing the appointment of a court-appointed defender could only be challenged with the final decision.

A. appealed to the Federal Court, which appointed a court-appointed lawyer for him. The appellant seeks to reform the cantonal judgment and requests that his cantonal appeal be admitted.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the appeal against the refusal to appoint a court-appointed defender. According to art. 393 para. 1 let. b CrimPC, the appeal is admissible against orders, decisions, and procedural acts of the first-instance courts, except against those of the direction of the proceedings.

However, doctrine and jurisprudence have specified that certain decisions related to the conduct of the proceedings taken during the phase preceding the debates may nonetheless be the subject of an appeal under the CrimPC. In this case, the direction of the proceedings of the first-instance criminal court refused to appoint a court-appointed defender for the appellant, which is likely to cause him irreparable harm.

The Federal Court therefore admitted the appeal…