TPF, 04.03.2026, RR.2025.210
Facts
On November 19, 2025, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) issued a closing decision in a mutual legal assistance proceeding with Kazakhstan.
This decision authorized the transfer of bank documents belonging to A., held by Bank B., to the Kazakh investigative authorities.
Bank B. informed A. of this decision via a letter dated November 24, 2025.
On December 15, 2025, A.'s lawyer, based in Kazakhstan, sent a letter in English to Bank B., which was received by the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court on December 22, 2025.
In this letter, the lawyer expressed the intention to challenge the closing decision and announced the future filing of a "formal appeal."
At the same time, A.'s sister contacted Swissmedic by phone on December 16, 2025, and then by email on December 17, 2025, to confirm that an appeal would be filed and that a Swiss lawyer would be retained.
Since the receipt of the letter dated December 15, 2025, no further submissions or documents have been filed with the Appeals Chamber in this matter.
Law
1. Appeal procedure in mutual legal assistance
In matters of international mutual legal assistance, the appeal procedure before the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court is primarily governed by the Federal Act on Administrative Procedure (APA), unless otherwise provided by the Federal Act on International Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (IMAC).
2. Formal requirements for an appeal
An appeal must strictly meet several formal requirements to be admissible:
- Language of the proceedings: The appeal must be written in one of the official Swiss languages (German, French, or Italian); although an authority may, as a matter of tolerance, accept a submission in another language if it understands it without difficulty, it is not under any obligation to do so.
- Content of the brief: The appeal brief must contain clear requests for relief, arguments setting out the grievances against the contested decision, and the signature of the appellant or their representative.
- Time limit for rectification: If an appeal does not meet these requirements, the authority must grant the appellant a short additional period to correct the defects.
3. Domicile for service in Switzerland
Anyone residing abroad who is a party to mutual legal assistance proceedings must designate a service address in Switzerland. Failure to do so may result in notifications being omitted, with decisions being filed ad acta (placed in the file without formal service).
4. Procedural costs
As a rule, court costs are charged to the unsuccessful party.
However, the authority may decide not to charge a fee, particularly when the work involved has been minimal.
Application to the specific case
The Complaints Chamber reviewed the letter dated December 15, 2025, in light of legal requirements and identified several serious shortcomings:
- Non-official language: The letter was written in English, which violates the requirement to use an official Swiss language.
- Lack of reasoning: The document merely announced an intention to appeal, without formulating specific requests or presenting any legal or factual arguments against the Swissmedic decision.
- It therefore contained no reasoning whatsoever.
- Failure to rectify: The Court determined that it was not necessary to grant a deadline to correct these defects.
Indeed, A.'s lawyer had himself described his letter as a mere announcement, promising the subsequent filing of a "formal appeal."
This announcement demonstrated that he was aware that his initial submission did not constitute a valid appeal.
- Expiry of the deadline: The ten-day appeal period, provided for byart. 100 para. 2 let. b LTF , had long since expired.
- As no formal appeal was filed within this period, there was no longer any reason to wait for any further submission from A.
- Lack of a service address: The appellant did not designate a service address in Switzerland, which justifies the decision being filed ad acta.
Due to these multiple formal defects and the complete lack of reasoning, the letter of December 15, 2025, could not be considered a valid appeal.
Outcome
The Complaints Chamber declared the appeal inadmissible.
Given the very limited judicial work involved, the Court has waived the court fees.
The decision was filed in the case records for the appellant, as they have no address for service in Switzerland.
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