Facts
On November 11, 2018, [A.] attached a firework rocket to a speed monitoring radar system and ignited it. The detonation caused property damage of CHF 11,200.80. The Criminal Court of Basel-Landschaft convicted [A.] of qualified property damage, but acquitted him of the charge of endangerment through explosives and toxic gases with criminal intent. The Public Prosecutor's Office appealed against this judgment.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the previous jurisprudence followed the individual theory, according to which the realization of the elements of the offense under Art. 224 para. 1 of the Swiss Criminal Code (StGB) requires the concrete endangerment of a specific person or specific foreign property, without a common danger being required. The Federal Supreme Court now changes its jurisprudence and instead follows the representation theory.
According to the representation theory, the endangerment does not have to affect a majority of persons or things, but the endangered persons or things must be determined by chance and appear as representatives of the general public. The particular…