Facts
The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Glarus is conducting a criminal investigation against the complainant for involvement in a burglary at a law firm, where the perpetrators stole two safes containing cash, among other things. In addition, a separate investigation for misappropriation is pending against the complainant. On February 11, 2019, he was arrested by the police. On February 13, 2019, the Public Prosecutor's Office applied to the Compulsory Measures Court of the Canton of Glarus (ZMG) for the imposition of pre-trial detention, initially for a period of three months. The ZMG dismissed the application for detention and ordered the release of the accused. The Public Prosecutor's Office then appealed to the cantonal High Court, which ordered the detention of the complainant (temporarily for a maximum of until March 25, 2019). The complainant appealed against this detention order to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first examines the legitimacy of the Public Prosecutor's Office to file the detention appeal. It finds that the Public Prosecutor's Office is generally entitled to appeal against unlawful releases from detention or non-imposition of criminal detention to the cantonal appeal instance, even if it was not personally represented at the oral detention hearing before the ZMG. The Federal Supreme Court refers to its consistent case law and the preliminary draft for a partial revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which aims to expressly anchor the Public Prosecutor's Office's legitimacy for detention appeals in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In terms of substantive law, the Federal Supreme Court examines whether the lower court rightly affirmed the urgent suspicion of the offense and the risk of collusion as grounds for detention. It concludes that the…