Mr Ludwig Lüdi, a Swiss national, resides at Röschenz in the Canton of Berne. In 1983, while in Germany, he was charged with trafficking in drugs. On 30 November 1983 the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Stuttgart Regional Court ordered the proceedings to be discontinued as a result of various procedural problems, including the intervention of a German undercover agent (V-Mann).
On appeal by the public prosecutor’s office, the Federal Court (Bundesgerichtshof) set the order aside on 23 May 1984 and remitted the case to the Stuttgart Regional Court. That court adjourned the case sine die on the grounds that the applicant and his co-defendant, who had been at liberty since 2 September 1983, had returned to Switzerland.
Mr Lüdi applied to the Commission on 30 September 1986. He complained of the interception of his telephone conversations combined with his manipulation by an undercover agent; he claimed that this had infringed his right to respect for his private life (Article 8) (art. 8). He also maintained that his conviction had been based solely on the reports drawn up by the said agent, who had not been summoned to appear as a witness; he alleged that his right to a fair trial (Article 6 para. 1) (art. 6-1) had been infringed, and also his right to examine or have examined witnesses against him (Article 6 para. 3 (d)) (art. 6-3-d).
Citation: Lüdi v Switzerland (App no 12433/86) ECHR 15 June 1992
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)