Facts

This decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal concerns the victim status of the parents of a person who died following an incident that occurred in a public hospital. The facts are as follows:

  • On August 4, 2014, [C.], the daughter of the appellants, was brought to the psychiatric emergency department of the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) following a violent crisis. She was admitted to a specialized unit, but on August 6, she managed to escape and threw herself into the void, dying from her injuries.
  • The Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation and ordered the dismissal of the proceedings. The parents of [C.] appealed against this decision, but their appeal was declared inadmissible by the Geneva Court of Justice.
  • The parents then appealed to the Federal Tribunal, challenging the decision of the cantonal court that had denied them victim status.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal upheld the parents' appeal. It considered that, as heirs of their deceased daughter, they were entitled to constitute themselves as private prosecutors during the preliminary proceedings under Art. 121 para. 1 CCP. Consequently, they had a legally protected interest within the meaning of Art. 382 para. 1 CCP to appeal against the dismissal order, without having to justify a distinct personal interest.

The Federal Tribunal rejected the argument of the cantonal court that the…