Facts
The case concerns an individual, T., who recorded a conversation with police officers during an investigation for a traffic offense. The police officers asked T. to stop the recording, but he refused. T. was charged with illicit recording of conversations under Article 179ter of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC). The court of first instance convicted T. to a fine, but the cantonal court overturned this decision, considering that the recording of a police conversation did not fall under the protection of Article 179ter SCC.
The key facts are as follows
- On March 14, 1981, T. was questioned by a police officer in Andeer as part of an investigation for a traffic offense.
- T. recorded the conversation despite the police officer's request to stop the recording.
- The police officers filed a complaint against T. for illicit recording of conversations.
- The court of first instance convicted T. to a fine, but the cantonal court overturned this decision.
Considerations
The federal court examined the question of whether the recording of a police conversation fell under the protection of Article 179ter SCC. The court considered that Article 179ter SCC only protected private conversations and not official conversations, such as police interrogations.
The court also examined the question of whether the recording of a police conversation could be considered an invasion of the police officers' privacy. The court considered that police officers, as public agents, did not benefit from the same protection of…