Facts
The Republic of the Philippines requested Switzerland's mutual assistance in connection with the return of assets allegedly unlawfully acquired by Ferdinand Marcos and his relatives. The request also concerned B., who was accused of having embezzled public funds. The Swiss authorities ordered the freezing of accounts and requested the banks to hand over the account documents. The applicants, C. and the A. Foundation, requested the cancellation of the account freezes and the discontinuation of the mutual assistance proceedings due to the expiration of the absolute statute of limitations.
The Federal Court dismissed the administrative appeal and decided that the account freezes can be maintained until a final and enforceable decision of the requesting state is available or the confiscation can no longer be carried out under the law of the requesting state.
Considerations
The Federal Court justified its decision by stating that Art. 5 para. 1 lit. c IMAC only prohibits the coercive obtaining of evidence after the expiration of the absolute statute of limitations under Swiss law, but not the use of such evidence in mutual assistance proceedings. The handing over of bank documents per se does not constitute a coercive measure, whereas a coercive measure exists when the mutual assistance authority must obtain the documents coercively.
The court further decided that maintaining the account freezes beyond the absolute statute of limitations is permissible if the seizure was ordered before the expiration of the absolute statute of limitations under Swiss law. Art. 33a IMAO regulates the duration of the seizure of…