Facts
The case concerns an engineer, L., who worked in the Department of Transport, Equipment and Environment of the canton of Valais. As part of his duties, he supervised reinforcement work on the Dorénaz Bridge, which required the installation of a metal palplanche in the Rhône. This palplanche was not removed after the end of the work and remained in the river until it was hit by a raft in 2001, causing the death of a young girl and serious injuries to another.
The Federal Court was seized of an appeal against the decision of the Criminal Court II of the Valais Cantonal Court, which had convicted L. of negligent homicide, serious bodily harm by negligence and obstruction of public traffic by negligence.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the constituent elements of the offense of obstruction of public traffic by negligence, which are negligence, concrete endangerment of the life or physical integrity of a person participating in public traffic and a natural and adequate causal link between the negligence and the endangerment.
The court considered that L. had created a recognizable danger to the life and physical integrity of persons navigating on the Rhône by leaving the palplanche in the river after the end of the work. It also estimated that L. had violated the duties of prudence by not taking…