Decision of the Criminal Cassation Court on the binding nature of its instructions to the cantonal authority

Facts

This decision concerns an appeal for nullity filed against a judgment rendered by the cantonal authority following the referral of the case by the Criminal Cassation Court. The Criminal Cassation Court ruled that the instructions it gave to the cantonal authority in its referral judgment bind not only the latter, but also the Criminal Cassation Court itself. Thus, the Criminal Cassation Court can no longer go back on these instructions, even if its case law has evolved in the meantime.

Considerations

According to Art. 277ter para. 2 CrimPC, the cantonal authority to which the Criminal Cassation Court refers the case following an appeal for nullity must base its new judgment on the legal grounds set out in the quashing judgment. The decision of the Federal Tribunal acquires the force of res judicata at the time it is rendered, and the instructions given to the cantonal authority in this judgment also participate in this force of res judicata.

As a result, these instructions bind not only the cantonal authority, but also the Criminal Cassation Court itself. Thus, when a new appeal for nullity is filed against the judgment rendered by the cantonal authority, the Criminal Cassation Court can no longer go back on the instructions it had previously given. It must limit itself to verifying whether the new cantonal judgment respects the framework of these instructions.

This solution applies even if, in the meantime, the Federal Tribunal has modified its case law on the…