Facts
The complainant, X., was a victim of an attempted homicide on May 9, 1994, and suffered an injury to his left elbow. X. is a waiter by profession, married, and the father of four children. His wife and children returned to Bosnia in August 2001. X. applied for victim assistance on April 10, 1996, and claimed damages of at least CHF 100,000. The government council rejected the application for compensation, and X. appealed to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Schwyz.
The Administrative Court partially upheld the appeal and referred the matter back for further clarification of the facts and reassessment of the claim for damages. X. filed an administrative appeal with the Federal Supreme Court against the decision of the Administrative Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court had to decide whether the complainant's residual work capacity should be taken into account when calculating the income relevant to the amount of any potential victim assistance compensation. The court found that the residual work capacity must be taken into account, as this is related to the victim's obligation to minimize damage.
The Federal Supreme Court also decided that the normative household damage falls under the concept of damage in the victim assistance law and is to be compensated according to Art. 12 para. 1 and Art. 13 para. 1 VSA. The court found that the compensation for normative household damage does not contradict the historical-teleological…