Facts
The complainant, [X.] , suffered head, knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries in a traffic accident on March 5, 2009. The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft discontinued the criminal proceedings against the truck driver by decision of January 6, 2010, due to lack of criminal offense. The criminal investigation opened against [X.] was also discontinued by the Public Prosecutor's Office on December 28, 2009. [X.] lodged a complaint against this discontinuation, which the Criminal Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft rejected by decision of July 5, 2010.
[X.] appealed to the Federal Court with a complaint of January 5, 2011, and requested the annulment of the contested decision or a decision with reasoning that explicitly denied any criminal liability on her part. The Public Prosecutor's Office and the Criminal Court each requested the dismissal of the complaint.
Considerations
The Federal Court had to examine whether the complainant was entitled to lodge a complaint. The right to lodge a complaint requires, in particular, that the person seeking justice has a legally protected interest in the annulment or amendment of the contested decision (Art. 81 para. 1 lit. b FSCA). The complainant argues that the discontinuation should be confirmed, but based on the grounds that she did not commit any criminal offense.
The Federal Court concluded that the complainant is not entitled to challenge a definitive discontinuation of proceedings in her favor by means of a complaint in criminal matters, with the sole aim of obtaining a different legal reasoning for the discontinuation decision. Definitive discontinuations of proceedings have the legal effects of an acquittal under Swiss…