Federal Court Criminal orders that are not legally binding are not freely accessible
Interested persons are not allowed to view penalty orders that are not legally binding. The Federal Supreme Court has upheld the appeal of a woman who was convicted by summary penalty order in Geneva.
20.10.2025, 12:00
SDA
The woman was found guilty by the Geneva public prosecutor's office by means of a penalty order. She lodged an appeal against this. Following the opening of the summary penalty order, she unsuccessfully applied for the summary penalty order not to be made accessible to third parties.
The Federal Supreme Court has now upheld an appeal by the person concerned. Article 69 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC) sets out the principle of public access to justice. This means that interested parties can view judgments and penalty orders if the parties have waived the public pronouncement of judgment or a penalty order has been issued.
In the case of non-final penalty orders, the provision on the inspection of criminal files comes into play. This means that third parties can inspect files if they can assert an interest worthy of protection.
