Facts
Parties: Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Uri (appellant) against X. (respondent, Slovakian citizen).
Facts: On February 3, 2011, X. was checked in Switzerland and fined CHF 1,500 by penal order of July 11, 2011, for driving an unsafe vehicle and various violations of the Ordinance on Working and Rest Time for Professional Drivers. X. filed an objection and requested legal assistance for examination in Slovakia. The Public Prosecutor's Office summoned him for examination in Altdorf instead. X. failed to appear for the examination and filed a complaint with the Higher Court of the Canton of Uri, which upheld the complaint and instructed the Public Prosecutor's Office to examine X. through legal assistance. The Public Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The previous instance did not consider the respondent's complaint to the extent that it was directed against the summons for examination in Altdorf. It considered that the accused had no obligation to comply with a summons abroad. Accordingly, summoned persons should not be subject to any legal or factual disadvantages in the requesting or requested state if they disregard the summons. The appellant argued that it had properly summoned the respondent for examination and that he was obliged to comply with the summons. The objection was deemed withdrawn pursuant to Art. 355 para. 2 CrimPC and the penal order had become final.
Pursuant to Art. 201 CrimPC, summonses are issued in writing and contain a reference to the legal consequences of unexcused absence. Pursuant to Art. 205 CrimPC, anyone who is summoned by an authority must comply with the summons. Anyone who unexcusedly fails to comply with a summons may be fined and may also be brought before the police. If a person who has filed an objection against the penal order fails to appear for an examination despite being summoned, his or her objection is deemed withdrawn pursuant to Art. 355 para. 2 CrimPC.
The Swiss authorities are limited to the territory of this state. The Swiss criminal authorities may, under the legal conditions, exercise coercion on the accused present here, but not on the accused abroad. The summons is therefore equivalent to an invitation. Coercion may not be exercised. The accused staying abroad can only be handed over to the Swiss authorities under the conditions of extradition law. Slovakia does not extradite its own citizens under the European Extradition…