Facts
The Military Prosecutor's Office of the Moscow Military District is investigating T.S. and her brother M.X. for embezzlement ("appropriation or misappropriation") under Article 160 Part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code in connection with tobacco and alcohol purchases by the Trade Administration of the Soviet Troops stationed in Germany. Both accused persons are Belarusians.
The Russian Federation submitted a request for legal assistance to Switzerland to seize and transmit account records of M.X. and his wife I.X. The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office fully complied with the request. M.X. and I.X. filed an administrative court appeal against this to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court examined to what extent and according to what standards the requested state (Switzerland) must or may review the international jurisdiction of the requesting state (Russia) to prosecute the criminal offense described in the request.
The court stated that the granting of legal assistance in criminal matters generally requires that the requesting state is competent to conduct criminal proceedings. The decision on the limits of its own criminal jurisdiction generally rests with each state, provided that it does not violate certain limits set by international law.
The European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (ECMACM) does not contain an express provision for reviewing the criminal jurisdiction of the requesting state. As a rule, it is sufficient that criminal proceedings have been initiated in the requesting state…