Facts
On May 31, 1994 at 11:20 pm, [B.] as the driver of a passenger vehicle disregarded a traffic signal that had been red for 26 seconds at the Limmat/Fabrikstrasse intersection in Zurich. The violation was detected by an automatic traffic monitoring device and documented photographically. The Zurich City Police informed [B.] that the established violation could no longer be settled through the summary fine procedure and filed a complaint against him.
On July 12, 1994, the Police Magistrate's Office of the City of Zurich fined B. CHF 200 for "Disregarding a Traffic Signal (Red Light); Increased Abstract Traffic Endangerment" in application of Art. 90 para. 1 RTA and imposed the costs on him.
In response to B.'s objection, the Single Judge of the District of Zurich concluded on January 12, 1995 that the disregard of the red light was not associated with an increased abstract endangerment, and therefore [B.] was entitled to the imposition of a summary fine, amounting to CHF 80. However, his conduct had culpably and causally led to the investigation regarding a serious traffic violation or increased abstract endangerment, for which reason he had to bear all the costs of the administrative and court proceedings and was not entitled to any procedural compensation.
The High Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed B.'s cantonal nullity appeal against this on August 16, 1995.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal. It states that the federal legal principle of cost-free proceedings applies to the summary fine procedure, but not to the ordinary procedure. If the ordinary procedure is carried out, the imposition of costs is determined by the applicable cantonal law.
In the present case, the police…