Facts
The appellant [X.] was stopped by the traffic police of the canton of Thurgau on 27 June 2013 with a mobile laser measuring device during a speed check on the main road Hefenhausen in the direction of Müllheim. The measurement revealed a speed of 113 km/h, which corresponds to an excess of 33 km/h over the signalled maximum speed of 80 km/h. During the measurement, the vehicle was also recorded with a video device attached to the laser measuring device. The appellant was found guilty of qualified violation of traffic rules (Art. 90 para. 2 RTA) and sentenced to a conditionally enforceable fine of 26 daily rates of CHF 2,500 and a fine of CHF 10,000.
The appellant lodged a criminal appeal and requested that the video recording of the traffic police of the canton of Thurgau be declared inadmissible and that he be acquitted of guilt and punishment. He argued that the video recording was made without sufficient suspicion of a criminal offence and thus constituted an inadmissible interference with his right to informational self-determination.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the conviction and sanctions. It justified its decision by stating that the traffic police of the canton of Thurgau had acted in the performance of their traffic police duties when conducting the speed check and creating the video recording, and not in their function as judicial police securing evidence.
The court stated that the CrimPC regulates police investigative activity only in the context of criminal prosecution, but not other police duties, to which police legislation applies. The boundary between police and criminal procedural activity is fluid in practice and a clear separation is not always possible.
The court concluded that the creation of…