The woman was freed, convicted and freed. Police video recordings were ruled to have violated her basic rights and were inadmissible as evidence
Keystone
The Swiss Federal Court has ruled that the use of police video surveillance to gather evidence of a crime in a work space must be approved by the public prosecutor’s office and a compulsory measures court.
The ruling was based on a case in canton Solothurn where cash was repeatedly going missing from a company’s safe. Management told the cantonal police, who, with the management’s permission, set up a video camera in the office and kitchen area. This was used only by staff, was separate from the customer area and was where the safe was located, according to a court statementExternal link published on Thursday.
Based on this video evidence, the public prosecutor started proceedings against a female member of staff.
After a court of first instance acquitted her, the cantonal court found her guilty of multiple theft and fined her CHF500 ($503).
She appealed, and the Federal Court has now upheld her appeal, saying the video recordings violated the woman’s basic rights, were inadmissible as evidence and must be destroyed.
The Federal Court said the public prosecutor needed to have got the surveillance approved by a compulsory measures court. The permission of the company was not enough, it added.
The cantonal court of first instance must now consider whether the remaining evidence – time sheets and statements – are enough for a conviction.
More
More
Democracy
Do the Swiss have a weakness for surveillance?
This content was published on
On Sunday, almost two-thirds of Swiss voters approved the use of private investigators by insurance companies to catch fraudsters.
Police arrest 20 thieves and pickpockets in Swiss tourism hotspots
This content was published on
The operation was carried out in the Interlaken, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen regions, as well as at popular tourist attractions such as the Jungfraujoch.
UBS allegedly considering moving headquarters to the US
This content was published on
Rumours of UBS moving to the United States have resurfaced, just as the Swiss Senate is due to take up the issue of tightening capital requirements.
This content was published on
Two trams collided in Zurich Oerlikon on Monday afternoon. Three people suffered moderate injuries, including the two drivers.
Historic WTO fisheries agreement enters into force
This content was published on
The agreement to eliminate fisheries subsidies, concluded at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Geneva in 2022, has entered into force.
This content was published on
Some 2,844 wiretapping orders were approved last year in relation to drugs offences and 1,353 for theft compared to just 287 cases or organized crime, official statistics show. Even cases of property crime and fraud saw more surveillance than murders and human trafficking, an article in SonntagsZeitung reveals. The statistics have led some politicians to…
Intel chief: general surveillance of mosques ‘unlawful’
This content was published on
“Mosques, their imams and their supporting organisations are seldom the problem,” Markus Seiler told the Aargauer ZeitungExternal link, explaining that threats came “mostly from the environment people are in”. However, if the FIS were presented with concrete evidence of a potential threat, it could act preventatively, he said. In addition, Seiler warned against viewing recent…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.