ECCHR files complaint to the Federal Tribunal
Berlin / Zürich, 9 January 2014 – The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, together with Zürich-based attorneys Marcel Bosonnet and Florian Wick, have brought the case of the murdered trade unionist Luciano Romero to the Federal Tribunal. They represent the widow of the Colombian activist who had worked for a
subsidiary of Nestlé. In December 2013, the Swiss Cantonal Court in Vaud rejected a
complaint against the closing of investigations. The Cantonal Court thereby confirmed the reasoning of the Prosecutors Office that the investigations were statute-barred. After 15 months of inactivity, the Prosecutors had decided not to initiate investigations against the managers of Nestlé or the company itself.
In doing so, the Court failed to understand the statute of limitation with respect to the
corporate liability, which does not depend on the date of the crime. The company has not undertaken any measures in order to remedy deficient organization in the company. This so-called organizational deficit, on which Nestlé’s liability is founded, cannot therefore be statute-barred. Furthermore, the Court does not take into consideration the recent legal opinion of the Swiss Federal Council, which supports the reasoning of ECCHR and the attorneys Bosonnet and Wick.