Facts
The appellant X. was convicted by a penal order dated August 5, 2013 for forgery of documents to a monetary penalty of 90 daily penalty units, as well as the procedural costs. Subsequently, in another criminal proceeding, the Police Court of Geneva acquitted X. and awarded him compensation of 13,284 francs for the expenses incurred by the reasonable exercise of his procedural rights (Art. 429 para. 1 let. a CrimPC).
When X. requested the payment of this compensation, the Financial Services of the Judiciary of Geneva (SFPJ) offset the amount against the outstanding balance owed by X. to the judiciary in the first criminal proceeding, paying him only the remaining balance of 6,704 francs.
X. contested this offsetting, arguing that it violated Art. 442 para. 4 CrimPC, which would constitute a lex specialis in relation to Art. 120 CO and would prohibit in criminal matters any other offsetting than those mentioned.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal dismisses X.'s appeal. The offsetting carried out by the SFPJ is lawful.
First, Art. 442 para. 4 CrimPC, which authorizes the criminal authority to offset certain claims, does not apply to the enforcement authority. The latter is governed by Arts. 439 et seq. CrimPC and Arts. 120 et seq. CO, which provide for a general principle of offsetting.
Furthermore, even if Art. 442 para. 4 CrimPC limited the…