Facts
On October 12, 2011, the Zurich City Magistrate's Office issued a summary penalty order against X. for exceeding the general speed limit within a built-up area by 16 km/h, committed on April 15, 2011. X. filed an objection to the summary penalty order, whereupon the City Magistrate's Office transferred the files to the Zurich District Court on November 14, 2013. On June 24, 2014, the Zurich District Court fined X. for exceeding the speed limit. X. appealed against this judgment, whereupon the Cantonal Court of Zurich discontinued the proceedings on April 15, 2015 due to the statute of limitations.
The Zurich Attorney General's Office filed a criminal appeal against the Cantonal Court's judgment with the Federal Supreme Court. It requested the annulment of the Cantonal Court's judgment and the punishment of X., or alternatively, the remand of the case to the lower instance.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that a summary penalty order against which an objection has been filed is not a first-instance judgment within the meaning of Art. 97 para. 3 of the Swiss Criminal Code, after the issuance of which the statute of limitations no longer applies. The objection leads to the summary penalty order being void and no longer constituting a judgment.
According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, in cases of administrative criminal law where the objection procedure is bypassed, it is not the penalty order, but the first judgment in the court proceedings that is…