Dismissal of the administrative appeals against the decisions of the Federal Office of Justice not to take action in an international legal assistance procedure with the USA

Facts

The appellant [X.] is accused in a criminal proceeding in the USA of fraud, money laundering, and other offenses. The US authorities requested legal assistance from Switzerland, whereupon the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) approved the legal assistance and ordered the edition of files. The appellant lodged an objection to the legal assistance decision, which, however, was submitted late. The FOJ did not take action on the objection, and the appellant lodged an administrative appeal with the Federal Court.

The appellant also requested access to the files and service of the legal assistance decision, which, however, were rejected by the FOJ. The appellant also lodged an administrative appeal against this decision with the Federal Court.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined the administrative appeals and came to the conclusion that the appellant's objection to the legal assistance decision had been lodged late. The FOJ had served the legal assistance decision on the appellant through the bank holding the account, and the appellant had not provided a personal address for service in Switzerland.

The Federal Court found that the legal assistance decision of 15 February 2002 had become final and that the appellant had no current…