Facts
The applicant H. filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons and against company [R. AG] for defamation and injury to honour following the publication of a sexual advertisement concerning him in a magazine. The proceedings were transferred from the canton of Basel-City to the canton of Solothurn, the latter having recognized its jurisdiction on the grounds that the place of submission of the advertisement and the domicile of the complainant were located in the canton of Solothurn.
The applicant has brought the matter before the Indictment Chamber of the SCC to establish that the authorities of the canton of Basel-City were competent to prosecute company [R. AG] for press offences. The Prosecutor of the canton of Solothurn supported the application, while the Prosecutor of the canton of Basel-City concluded that it should be dismissed.
Considerations
According to Art. 347 SCC, in the case of offences committed in Switzerland by means of the press, only the authorities of the place where the written material was published are competent, unless the author is known, in which case the authorities of his domicile are also competent. In the present case, the company [R. AG], the publisher of the magazine, has its registered office in Basel, so the authorities of the canton of Basel-City are competent.
The cantons may only derogate from the legal forum for important reasons, which is not the case here. Neither the place of submission of the advertisement nor the domicile of the complainant in Solothurn justify a different forum, as the injury to…