Facts
The Federal Court had to rule on an appeal by [X.] and [Y.] against a decision of the High Court of the Canton of Zurich. The appellants were involved in a request for mutual assistance from the Russian Federation in a criminal proceeding for fraud, embezzlement, disloyal management, and money laundering. The Russian authorities had requested Switzerland's assistance in the form of account seizures.
The appellants claimed that they were economically entitled to the companies affected by the account seizures and were therefore entitled to challenge the mutual assistance measures. They alleged that the companies had been liquidated between April and September 1997 and were no longer capable of acting.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the appellants' right to appeal and came to the conclusion that it was not given. The appellants were not directly affected by the account seizures, but only economically entitled to the affected companies. An exception to this rule could only be made if the companies had been dissolved and the appellants had a legitimate interest in challenging the mutual assistance measures.
However, the court found that the liquidation of the companies apparently occurred for…