Facts
The complainant, a Yugoslavian national, was taken into pre-trial detention on suspicion of having attempted to kill his divorced wife. The detention was extended several times and requests for release from detention were rejected. The complainant appealed the rejection of a request for release from detention by the public prosecutor's office to the High Court of the Canton of Lucerne and demanded his release from detention. The High Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the suspicion of a criminal act and the risk of recidivism as a special ground for detention. The complainant filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Court due to a violation of Art. 4 Cst. and Art. 5 ECHR.
The main parties to the proceedings are the complainant, the public prosecutor's office, and the High Court of the Canton of Lucerne. The High Court's decision was made on April 2, 1998. The complainant was arrested on June 18, 1998, and the pre-trial detention was extended until the issuance of the contested decision on August 25, 1998.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the continuation of pre-trial detention due to the risk of recidivism was constitutionally permissible. It found that the High Court had rightly confirmed the suspicion of a criminal act and the risk of recidivism. The Federal Court pointed out that the risk of recidivism can only be assumed under very restrictive conditions and that the purely hypothetical possibility of committing further crimes and the probability that only minor crimes would be committed are not sufficient to justify preventive detention.
The Federal Court also examined whether the rejection of the complainant's requests for evidence by the High Court was constitutionally permissible. It found that the High Court had rejected the…