Facts
The appellant [A.] was convicted on 1 September 2014 by the Criminal Court of the Canton of Basel-Stadt for multiple counts of breach of trust, forgery of documents, and tax offenses, and received a suspended fine. He appealed the conviction to the Appellate Court of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. On 19 December 2016, the Appellate Court summoned [A.] and his two co-defendants to the main hearing on 8 May 2017. [A.] filed a criminal appeal with the FSCA. He requested a stay of the appeal proceedings until the enactment of a court regulation on the appointment of the panels, the disclosure of the assignment of judges at the FSCA through a reasoned decision, a waiver of a cost deposit, and a declaration of nullity of the first-instance judgment. He also requested the recusal of four FSCA judges.Considerations
The FSCA dismissed the appeal to the extent that it was admissible:Recusal Motions against FSCA Judges: The FSCA did not enter into the recusal request against FSCA Judge Merkli due to lack of reasoning. The recusal motions against the other three FSCA judges were dismissed as unfounded. A judge is not biased solely because they were involved in previous proceedings of the appellant.
Composition of the Panel: The FSCA found that the composition of the Appellate Court panel was in accordance with the applicable transitional provisions and met the constitutional and convention-law requirements. The appellant's concerns…