False self-accusation in the context of a criminal investigation

Facts

This decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal concerns the application of Art. 304, para. 1, no. 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) to persons who, in the context of a criminal investigation opened against them, have falsely accused themselves of having committed an offence.

The appellant contested the application of this provision to persons already being prosecuted for another offence. The Federal Tribunal rejected this argument, considering that the endangerment of the administration of justice is the same, whether the accused is already being prosecuted for another offence or not. The Tribunal also noted that Art. 304, para. 1, no. 1 SCC does not make any distinction in this regard either.

Although the Tribunal acknowledges that the accused may act out of more or less honourable motives, such as to protect relatives, it considers that the judge has means to take these mitigating circumstances into account in determining the sentence.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal ruled that the punishability of the act that the perpetrator falsely accuses himself of is a constitutive element of the offence under Art. 304, para. 1, no. 2 SCC,…