Facts
In this case, the Federal Court decided on the jurisdiction of the Swiss authorities in cross-border crimes and the admissibility of adhesion claims in criminal proceedings. The appellant, an Austrian citizen with a residence in Lithuania, was convicted by the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen for misappropriation and commercial fraud. He then filed a constitutional appeal and a nullity appeal against the judgment. Regarding the conviction for commercial fraud in the case of J. Inc./K., the Federal Court overturned the judgment, as the Cantonal Court had wrongly rejected the examination of K. as a witness. This constituted a violation of the right to be heard. However, with regard to the convictions for commercial fraud to the detriment of the group around N. and to the detriment of D., the Federal Court concluded that the Swiss authorities were not competent. While in the case of commercially committed offences, Swiss jurisdiction can already be affirmed if one of the criminal acts was committed in Switzerland, it is nevertheless necessary at the international level to examine independently for each individual act whether the place of action or result according to Art. 7 fSCC is in Switzerland. Since in these cases neither the actions nor the result occurred in Switzerland, there was insufficient connection to Switzerland. Finally, the Federal Court dealt with the issue of jurisdiction for the adhesion claims. It concluded that the lack of an express regulation of the adhesion process in the PILA is not to be understood as an exclusion of the assertion of civil claims in the forum of the criminal court. Rather, the civil claim in such cases is to be regarded as an accessory to the criminal claim, so that the accused cannot invoke the guarantee of the judge of the place of residence. Therefore, the District Court of Alttoggenburg-Wil had rightly affirmed its jurisdiction to assess the civil claims.Considerations
In its reasoning, the Federal Court stated the following: 1. On the issue of jurisdiction in cross-border crimes: - In the case of commercially committed offences, it is not sufficient that one of the criminal acts was committed in Switzerland in order to affirm Swiss jurisdiction. Rather, it must be examined independently for each individual act whether the place of action or result according to Art. 7 fSCC is in Switzerland. - In the present…