Recht aus den Fugen

More recently, the Federal Council and the Federal Administration have established a practice of allowing cross-border administrative and judicial assistance acts outside the legal and international legal framework in the form of an "authorization under Article271 SCC". Article 271 StGB is a prohibitive norm that penalizes encroachments on state sovereignty, for example, by failing to comply with the limits of administrative and mutual legal assistance law. How can it be that the executive branch sees this as an authorization to permit such actions? The study shows that not a penal norm, but - apart from the law of necessity - only the constitutional right to safeguard interests (Art. 184 para. 3 BV) can form a legal basis for such authorizations. The dissertation contains a comprehensive presentation of the requirements and limits for the granting of such a permit in accordance with Art. 184 para. 3 BV. Current practice does not adhere to this framework, which ultimately creates a "permanent state of emergency" in the area of international cooperation. Against this background, the author argues that the practice of granting authorizations should be brought back within the dogmatic bounds.