Top court ruling overturns long-standing Swiss practice on prisoner remand.

Switzerland holds suspects in remand longer than many other countries. Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella

Public prosecutors can no longer appeal remand decisions by competent courts, according to a Federal Court decision on Tuesday.

This decision changes a long-standing legal practice in Switzerland based on a judicial grey area. The Criminal Code does not expressly provide that public prosecutors can appeal remand decisions, but they had been granted that right for the last ten years.

The Federal Court ruling came on the case of a man detained in a homicide case since February 2022 in the northern town of Spreitenbach. A court had accepted an application for his release, but this decision was overturned following an appeal by the public prosecutor’s office.

A study released in January 2022 found that suspected criminals are held in pre-trial detention in Switzerland more often than in other countries, despite them being more likely than other prisoners to commit suicide.