Facts
On 23 September 1997, the Cantonal Court of Lucerne sentenced A. to 2 and a half years of imprisonment for several offences against the Narcotics Act, deducting 371 days of pre-trial detention. The court also ordered his expulsion from the country for 8 years, but did not impute the detention for the purpose of deportation on the custodial sentence. A. filed a nullity appeal against this decision, requesting that the detention for the purpose of deportation be imputed on his sentence.Considerations
The SCC considers that the refusal to impute the detention for the purpose of deportation on the custodial sentence violates federal law. Indeed, when the conditions for pre-trial detention are met and the detention for the purpose of deportation fulfils its function, it must in principle be imputed on the custodial sentence. This corresponds to the trend in case law to impute restrictions on liberty suffered prior to the execution of the sentence.
However, the SCC cannot decide this issue due…