Facts
The applicant X. was placed in pre-trial detention and then in detention for security reasons at the Champ-Dollon prison starting on May 8, 2013. He was then sentenced on February 4, 2014 to 4 years of deprivation of liberty, with a deduction of 274 days of pre-trial detention. After the criminal judgment took effect on September 17, 2014, X. complained about his detention conditions since May 2013 and concluded that the unlawfulness of his detention should be established and that his sentence should be reduced.
The Enforcement of Sentences and Measures Court (TAPEM) found that the detention conditions had not complied with the legal requirements for 103 days before the judgment took effect. However, the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Geneva Cantonal Court dismissed X.'s appeal against this decision.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal examined whether X. could claim a reduction of his sentence as compensation for the detention conditions deemed unlawful. It recalled that, according to case law, when irregularities have affected the pre-trial detention procedure, they can be remedied by a declaratory decision. The sentencing authority must then examine the possible consequences of these violations, in particular through compensation or a reduction of the sentence.
However, the Federal Tribunal considered that, after the criminal judgment takes effect, the applicant's claim for restitution in the form of a reduction in the duration of his deprivation of liberty conflicts with the res judicata of the criminal judgment. Swiss law does not have a…