Facts
The case concerns a Swiss national, B., accused of having killed her four-year-old son in Austria. The B. family resided in Gais, in the canton of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, in Switzerland. After the commission of the offense, the mother was placed in a psychiatric hospital in Austria. The Austrian authorities requested Switzerland to take charge of the criminal proceedings against B.
The Staatsanwaltschaft of the canton of Zurich requested the Indictment Chamber of the Federal Court to determine the competence for the proceedings, considering that the authorities of the canton of Zurich were probably not competent. The Verhöramt of the canton of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes rejected a request to take charge of the proceedings, arguing that the defendant had changed her residence and that the canton of Zurich was now competent.
Considerations
The Indictment Chamber examined the provisions of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) relating to competence for offenses committed abroad by Swiss nationals against Swiss nationals. It considered that articles 5 and 6 SCC were applicable, as the offense had been committed abroad by a Swiss national against a Swiss national, and that Switzerland had competence to prosecute the offense under article 6 SCC.
The Indictment Chamber also examined the question of the defendant's residence within the meaning of article 348 SCC, which determines territorial competence. It considered that the defendant's residence was in Gais, in the canton of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, where she had lived with her family for nearly seven years, and that the authorities of this…