Appeal against the orders of the Indictment Chamber in the context of a request for international judicial assistance in criminal matters

Facts

On 7 November 1994, the Indictment Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Rennes sent two letters rogatory to the Swiss authorities for the purposes of an investigation against R., for forgery, use of forgery and aggravated influence peddling. In substance, R. is accused of having received sums of money from various companies to support them with the officials responsible for awarding public contracts.

The requesting magistrate wishes to be informed, in particular, about a bank account opened in Switzerland, which received a payment of 15,000,000 FF. By order of 18 November 1994, notified to bank A, the Geneva Investigating Magistrate entered into the matter.

Bank A indicated that the payment of 15,000,000 FF had been made to a closed account in May 1989 and had been almost entirely reimbursed, by check, to an account opened with bank B. By order of 13 January 1995, the investigating magistrate invited bank B to hand over the account opening documents requested.

Company X SA, the holder of the account with bank B, appealed to the Indictment Chamber of the Canton of Geneva against the order to enter into the matter of 13 January 1995. X SA submitted to the Indictment Chamber, under sealed cover, the documents relating to its bank account, requesting that these documents be placed in a safe place, that a ruling be made on the admissibility of the search and that their return be ordered.

Considerations

The designation of the competent judicial authority in matters of seals falls under cantonal law. Neither the applicable cantonal law nor federal law opposes the fact that the investigating magistrate rules first on this issue.

Art. 9, 2nd sentence of the Federal Act on International Judicial Assistance in Criminal Matters (IMAC) provides that the principles established in Article 69 of the Federal Act on Criminal Procedure apply to the search of papers and their sealing. This means that only the principles of Art. 69 FCJA apply in matters of judicial assistance, and that the rules of competence are not directly applicable.

The Geneva law applying the criminal code provides that when measures concern the secret…