Facts
On August 11, 1994, the Federal Court opened a criminal investigation against the German nationals [K.] and Dr. [S.] on suspicion of unfaithful management, active and passive bribery or acceptance of gifts, forgery of documents, and fraud. On August 30, 1994, the Federal Prosecutor ordered the arrest of [K.] and Dr. [S.] due to the risk of suppression of evidence and flight. The federal investigating judge, acting as the judge responsible for custody, placed [K.] in pre-trial detention, as he considered the strong suspicion of an offense and the risk of collusion to be given. [K.] requested the Federal Prosecutor to immediately release him from pre-trial detention, which she rejected by order of September 15, 1994.
Considerations
The Indictment Chamber of the Federal Court examines the appeal against the rejection of the request for release from custody with full cognition. This results from Art. 5 para. 4 ECHR, according to which the person arrested has the right to request a procedure in which a court quickly decides on the lawfulness of the detention. The previous case law of the Indictment Chamber, according to which it could only examine appeals against the rejection of requests for release from custody by the Federal Prosecutor's Office to a limited extent, can therefore no longer be upheld.
Furthermore, Art. 51 para. 2 CPC, according to which pre-trial detention ordered due to the risk of collusion may only be maintained for more than 14 days with the consent of the Indictment Chamber, is also applicable in the criminal investigation procedure. An interpretation…