Facts
The complainant [A.X.] requested the reopening of the criminal proceedings against unknown persons in connection with the death of his son [B.X.] , who died in 1998 after falling from a bridge in St. Gallen. The Investigating Magistrate's Office of St. Gallen had discontinued the proceedings in 1999, as there were no concrete indications of third-party involvement. The complainant submitted a new expert opinion from the Institute of Legal Medicine at the University of Munich, which concluded that reasonable doubts about a suicidal act were virtually ruled out. The complainant requested the hearing of a private investigator who had identified two persons who could testify that [B.X.] had been murdered.
The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of St. Gallen and the Court of Appeal of the Canton of St. Gallen dismissed the complaint. The complainant lodged a complaint with the Federal Court and requested the annulment of the decision on the complaint and the reopening of the proceedings.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the complaint and came to the conclusion that the complainant met the requirements for being entitled to lodge a complaint. The complaint was basically admissible, as the complainant stated that he intended to assert civil claims if the proceedings were reopened with a new direction.
However, the Federal Court pointed out that the reopening of discontinued proceedings is subject to less stringent requirements than the revision of a final judgment. The new indications of criminal liability must be of a certain concrete…