Facts
On 26 September 1972, the Federal Tax Administration imposed a fine of CHF 60,000 on K. for tax evasion of turnover tax, which it reduced to CHF 45,000 after his unconditional declaration of submission on 18 October 1972. After making some partial payments and conducting a fruitless debt collection, the tax administration requested on 13 August 1976 the conversion of the uncollectible part of the fine into imprisonment.
The Criminal Chamber of the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen dismissed the request for conversion of the fine on 26 June 1978, on the grounds that the enforcement of the misdemeanor penalty had become time-barred in October 1977 upon expiry of the five-year period under Art. 11 para. 4 VStrR.
The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office then filed a nullity appeal, requesting that the judgment of the Cantonal Court be set aside and the case be remanded to the lower instance for the conversion of the fine into imprisonment.
Considerations
The Federal Court held that the new statute of limitations regime of the Administrative Criminal Law (VStrR) also applies to acts committed before its entry into force. Pursuant to Art. 2 VStrR, the general provisions of the Criminal Code (StGB) also apply to criminal acts under administrative legislation, unless the VStrR or the individual administrative law provides otherwise.
Art. 11 para. 4 VStrR provides for a five-year statute of limitations for the enforcement of misdemeanor penalties. The Federal Court clarified that this is an ordinary, not an absolute, statute of limitations. Accordingly, the…