Dismissal of the administrative court appeal against the extradition decision to Germany

Facts

The appellant, [X.] , a German national, was being prosecuted by the German criminal justice system for tax offenses. The Bavarian State Ministry of Justice requested the arrest and extradition of the person sought. [X.] was arrested in the canton of Zug and placed in extradition custody. He opposed a simplified extradition to Germany.

The Federal Office of Justice issued an extradition decision on October 13, 2005, which approved the extradition of the person sought to Germany for the crimes underlying the extradition request. [X.] filed an administrative court appeal with the request to revoke the contested decision, refuse extradition, and obtain a statement from the Federal Tax Administration.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined the assessment of extradition requests from the Federal Republic of Germany under the European Extradition Convention (EEC) and the Second Additional Protocol to the EEC. It found that Switzerland has not accepted Chapter II of the Protocol, which regulates extradition in fiscal criminal matters.

The court found that the alleged actions, which appeared to be aimed at evading fiscal levies, were not extraditable offenses. It relied on the case law according to which extradition for evading repayment of German value-added tax can be approved if the person sought has made fraudulent claims…