Facts
The Winterthur District Prosecutor's Office conducted a criminal investigation against the persons responsible for a nursery due to commercial violations of the Narcotics Act. As part of this investigation, the District Prosecutor's Office seized approximately 15,000 hemp plants and 41,000 hemp cuttings. The plants were left in the greenhouses, and it was ordered that only the Zurich Cantonal Police have access to the hemp plantation. The watering of the plants had to be carried out in agreement with and in the presence of police officers.
The President of the Board of Directors of the nursery declared her consent to the destruction of part of the seized hemp plants and cuttings. The appeal against the seizure to the cantonally competent and last-instance Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Zurich remained unsuccessful.
Considerations
The Federal Court had to decide whether the seizure of hemp plants and cuttings by the Winterthur District Prosecutor's Office constitutes a civil dispute within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 ECHR. The appellant argued that the seizure constitutes an interference with her civil law claims and obligations, as the plants and cuttings are of essential importance for her professional activity.
The Federal Court found that the seizure can be based on § 96 para. 1 of the Zurich law on criminal procedure, as it is a provisional criminal procedural coercive measure. However, the court found that the seizure has factual effects that do not exhaust themselves in the provisional withdrawal of the right of disposal, but go beyond that and are irreversible.
The court came to the conclusion that the procedural guarantees of Art. 6…