Facts
[S.], an Italian national domiciled in the canton of Vaud, was the subject of an extradition request by the German authorities due to a conviction in 1987 by the Regional Court of Düsseldorf to 2 years and 9 months of imprisonment for receiving stolen goods. [S.] was arrested and placed in extradition detention in Switzerland on June 26, 1996. He unsuccessfully opposed his extradition, which was ordered by the Federal Office of Police on July 26, 1996. [S.] then appealed to the Federal Tribunal, requesting the annulment of this decision and the refusal of his extradition, subsidiarily that the remaining sentence be served in Switzerland.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal dismissed the appeal. It considered that extradition between Switzerland and Germany is governed by the European Convention on Extradition of 1957 and a bilateral agreement of 1969, and that Swiss domestic law, in particular Art. 37 of the Federal Act on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (IMAC), is only applicable to matters not regulated by these international treaties.
The Federal Tribunal ruled that Art. 37 IMAC, which would allow Switzerland to execute the sentence instead of Germany, is contrary to the principle of the primacy of international law over domestic law. This principle stems…