Facts
On May 27, 1964, Attorney Benno Schmid filed a criminal complaint with the court of inquiry of Basel-City against Werner Cermak and Friedrich Schertenleib for fraud, usury, forgery, and disloyal management. The defendants, Dr. Geiger, Cermak, and Schertenleib, brought a defamation action against Maissen and Attorney Schmid before the Zurich 1 peace court and filed bills of indictment with the Zurich district court on August 8, 1966.
The Zurich district court dismissed the defamation actions for statute of limitations on February 10 and 24, 1967. The Zurich cantonal court dismissed the plaintiffs' appeals on September 4, 1967.
The plaintiffs filed a nullity appeal against this decision, requesting the annulment of the decision and permission to pursue the defamation actions.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the criminal complaint filed on May 27, 1964, constituted a continuous or successive offense. According to Article 178 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, the statute of limitations for offenses against honor is two years.
The court considered that the planning of the slander does not make it a continuous or successive offense. The statute of limitations begins to run from the last tortious act, even if the acts are not planned.
The court also considered that procedural acts aimed at…