Key legal question
Whether the authorities could reduce compensation for official counsel to the necessary work actually deemed required.
Extracted holding
Yes. Only necessary expenses for the mandate must be compensated; the canton may disregard excessive or unnecessary work.
Extracted reasoning
The Federal Court held that official counsel performs a state function under cantonal public law, and compensation may be limited to work reasonably necessary in the case. There was no arbitrariness in relying on the authorities' file-based assessment of necessity.