Facts
The SCC has rendered a judgment in a case where the defendant, X., was convicted of several offenses, including the offense of producing a false certificate. The defendant filed a motion to quash with the SCC, challenging the decision of the cantonal court that had convicted him of an offense committed on January 1, 1996.
The facts of the case are as follows: the defendant committed several offenses, including the production of false certificates, customs violations, and tax evasion. The cantonal court sentenced the defendant to a fine of 23,000 Swiss francs. However, the court considered that three of the offenses were time-barred and did not rule on these points.
The defendant filed a motion to quash with the SCC, challenging the decision of the cantonal court that had convicted him of the offense committed on January 1, 1996. The defendant argued that this offense was time-barred, as the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings was governed by the old law, which provided for a limitation period of seven and a half years.
Considerations
The SCC examined the question of whether the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings had ceased to run when the first-instance judgment was rendered, or whether it had continued to run until the judgment was notified. The SCC considered that the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings ceases to run when the first-instance judgment is rendered, and not when it is notified.
The SCC also examined the question of whether the new law on the statute of limitations, which came into force on October 1, 2002, applied to the case. The SCC considered that the new law applied, as it was more favorable to…