The Supreme Court of Justice ( German : Oberster Gerichtshof or OGH ) is the final court of appeal of Austria in civil and criminal matters. Along with the Supreme Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court , it is one of Austria's three apex courts .
118-579: Wiener Zeitung ( German pronunciation: [ˈviːnɐ ˈtsaɪtʊŋ] ) is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the Wiennerisches Diarium in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world . Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria for legally-required announcements, such as company registrations and was also the official publishing body for laws and executive orders until 2004. Considered
236-596: A Greater Austria or just the German Confederation without Austria at all. As Austria was not willing to relinquish its German-speaking territories to what would become the German Empire of 1848 , the crown of the newly formed empire was offered to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV . In 1864, Austria and Prussia fought together against Denmark and secured the independence from Denmark of
354-706: A chancellor as head of government and chief executive. Austria has the 13th highest nominal GDP per capita with high standards of living. The country has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 and of the European Union since 1995. It hosts the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is a founding member of
472-483: A newspaper of record , as of 2002, Wiener Zeitung was among the four Austrian daily quality newspapers beside the right-liberal Die Presse , the left-liberal Der Standard and the Christian-liberal and conservative Salzburger Nachrichten . The newspaper ended its daily print edition on 30 June 2023, becoming an online publication. The launch of the digital platform won the 2023 European Publishing Award for
590-729: A democratic republic and part of the new German republic. The constitution, renaming the Staatsrat as Bundesregierung (federal government) and Nationalversammlung as Nationalrat (national council) was passed on 10 November 1920. The Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 (for Hungary the Treaty of Trianon of 1920) confirmed and consolidated the new order of Central Europe which to a great extent had been established in November 1918, creating new states and altering others. The German-speaking parts of Austria which had been part of Austria-Hungary were reduced to
708-555: A government, called Staatsrat . This new government was invited by the Emperor to take part in the decision on the planned armistice with Italy but refrained from this business. This left the responsibility for the end of the war, on 3 November 1918, solely to the emperor and his government. On 11 November, the emperor, advised by ministers of the old and the new governments, declared he would not take part in state business any more; on 12 November, German-Austria, by law, declared itself to be
826-509: A law that would no longer require companies to pay to publish public announcements and changes to commercial registry in the paper's print edition, citing rules from the European Union that allowed such corporate information to be published digitally. The advertisements comprised the majority of the newspaper's revenue. A decision of the European Court of Justice is pending. Walter Hämmerle [ de ] resigned as editor-in-chief,
944-504: A local (Bavarian) dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976. The word "Austria" is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. At the time, the Danube basin of Austria ( Upper and Lower Austria ) was the easternmost extent of Bavaria. The area that is now Austria was settled in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, having been the core of
1062-568: A media hub, a content agency and a training centre for journalists. At this time, the paper had a 20,000 weekday circulation, with about twice as much on weekends. Almost half of the newspaper's over 200 employees, 40 of whom are journalists, could be laid off due to the change, according to its trade union. After the announcement, several hundred people took to the streets in Vienna to protest the government's move. On 30 June 2023, it ceased its daily printing. Wiener Zeitung intends to continue online with
1180-431: A monthly print run and an editorial staff of 20 employees. Katharina Schmidt, formerly product development for Wiener Zeitung , and Sebastian Pumberger, previously working on the digital form of Profil , were announced as interim editors-in-chief the same day. At the end of its daily printing, Wiener Zeitung described itself as "the world's longest-running daily newspaper still in print". Gazzetta di Mantova (1664)
1298-514: A plenary session is mainly required to authorize the yearly activity report. The president of the Supreme Court is the head and chief administrator of the Court. The president leads the judicial administration ( Justizverwaltung ), which also comprises the two vice presidents as well as the chief of staff ( Präsidialrichter ). The Judicial Administration includes affairs related to the personnel,
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#17328518254081416-638: A population of around 9 million. The area of today's Austria has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic period . Around 400 BC, it was inhabited by the Celts and then annexed by the Romans in the late 1st century BC. Christianization in the region began in the 4th and 5th centuries, during the late Roman period , followed by the arrival of numerous Germanic tribes during the Migration Period . Austria, as
1534-414: A position he held since 2018, at the end of 2022 when he felt it became clear that the newspaper would be restructured. Judith Belfkih [ de ] and Thomas Seifert [ de ] became editors-in-chief on 1 January 2023. Hämmerle remained as a journalist, but he announced on 21 April 2023 that he and the newspaper mutually terminated his contract, beginning 1 May 2023. "Some fear that
1652-701: A referendum which confirmed the union with Germany in April 1938. Parliamentary elections were held in Germany (including recently annexed Austria) on 10 April 1938. They were the final elections to the Reichstag during Nazi rule, and they took the form of a single-question referendum asking whether voters approved of a single Nazi-party list for the 813-member Reichstag, as well as the recent annexation of Austria (the Anschluss ). Jews, Roma and Sinti were not allowed to vote. Turnout in
1770-464: A result, Ottokar II of Bohemia effectively assumed control of the duchies of Austria, Styria, and Carinthia . His reign came to an end with his defeat at Dürnkrut at the hands of Rudolph I of Germany in 1278. Thereafter, until World War I, Austria's history was largely that of its ruling dynasty, the Habsburgs . In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in
1888-543: A routine part of the legislative process; neither the Cabinet nor the legislature are required to defer to any of them. The Court maintains the Central Library ( Zentralbibliothek ), Austria's official public law library. As of September 2023, the Supreme Court of Justice consists of a president, two vice presidents, thirteen presiding justices ( Senatspräsident ) and forty-four regular justices ( Hofrat ). Since
2006-417: A rump state named the Republic of German-Austria (German: Republik Deutschösterreich ), though excluding the predominantly German-speaking South Tyrol . The desire for the annexation of Austria to Germany was a popular opinion shared by all social circles in both Austria and Germany. On 12 November, German-Austria was declared a republic, and named Social Democrat Karl Renner as provisional chancellor. On
2124-461: A shortlist of three candidates in the event of a vacancy. In theory, the minister may appoint any Austrian legally qualified to sit on the bench (and not excluded by the constitution's rudimentary incompatibility provisions). In practice, the minister dependably picks one of the three candidates nominated by the Court. For the purpose of actually trying cases, the Court is partitioned into 18 panels ( Senate ) of five members each. As everywhere in
2242-601: A shortlist of three nominees provided by the Court itself. The Supreme Court of Justice convenes in the Palace of Justice in Vienna . The Supreme Court of Justice has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all civil and criminal court cases in Austria and is the highest body within the general court system ( ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit ). Any party to a general court case can file an appeal on points of fact and law ( Berufung ). If
2360-413: A specialized final exam ( Richteramtsprüfung ). Supreme Court justices cannot be members of a cabinet or legislative body. The responsibility for appointing justices is vested in the president of Austria , but the president can and usually does delegate this power to the minister of justice . The Court maintains a specialized personnel committee ( Personalsenat ) that provides the minister with
2478-621: A unified state, emerged from the remnants of the Eastern and Hungarian March at the end of the first millennium , first as a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire , it then developed into a duchy in 1156, and was made an Archduchy in 1453. Being the heartland of the Habsburg monarchy since the late 13th century, Austria was a major imperial power in Central Europe for centuries and from
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#17328518254082596-603: A vehement opponent of the Nazis, the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, an honorary citizen of hundreds of places in Austria and partly envisaged by Schuschnigg as a monarchical option, was in Belgium at the time. He spoke out against the Anschluss and was then wanted by the Nazi regime and his property would have been expropriated and he would have been shot immediately if he were caught. In 1938,
2714-431: A “Launch or Relaunch” of a publication in digital form. Johann Baptist Schönwetter received a privilegium impressorium for a weekly newspaper on 10 January 1702. Launched as Wiennerisches Diarium , the newspaper's first issue was published on 8 August 1703. The title page described the paper as "contain[ing] everything notable which occurs from day to day in this town of Vienna , as well as in other places all over
2832-420: Is a parliamentary democracy in which most bills originate not from individual lawmakers but from the Cabinet; the country has had strong consociationalist tendencies historically and remains highly consensus-oriented to this day. Formal expert opinions on draft bills offered by political lobbying groups, professional associations, churches, regional governments, and various arms of the federal bureaucracy are
2950-446: Is also attributed as the oldest daily newspaper still in print; Wiener Zeitung stated in its final daily issue that the title would be taken up by Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung (1705). It was also described by others as "the world's oldest national newspaper" and as "one of the world's oldest newspapers". The title of world's oldest newspaper still in print is also attributed to Gazzetta di Mantova , The London Gazette (1665),
3068-541: Is now Austria's National Day , a public holiday. The status of Tyrol was a lingering problem between Austria and Italy . To this day, there are 20 different squares in Austrian cities called "Südtiroler Platz" (South Tyrolean Square) in memory of the supposed loss of the Austrian territories. Terrorist acts by the South Tyrolean independence movement have been documented in the 1950s and 1960s. A great degree of autonomy
3186-585: Is virtually identical to the contemporary system. A statute enacted in August 1850 established the panel system and otherwise detailed Supreme Court organization and procedure. Effective 1852, Franz Joseph rescinded the March Constitution, attempting to reestablish himself as an absolute monarch . A complete rewrite of the Penal Procedure Code in 1853 eliminated judicial independence and, partially,
3304-702: The Reichsgericht in Leipzig ; there was no strong reason for an extra appeals court intermediating between the Reichsgericht and the paltry 3 higher regional courts of the Reich's new territorial addition, the State of Austria ( Land Österreich ). For another thing, the Nazis were already planning to dissolve the State of Austria into a number of unlinked provinces ( Reichsgaue ) in
3422-702: The Ausgleich , provided for a dual sovereignty, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary , under Franz Joseph I . The Austrian-Hungarian rule of this diverse empire included various groups, including Germans , Hungarians , Croats, Czechs, Poles , Rusyns , Serbs, Slovaks, Slovenes, and Ukrainians, as well as large Italian and Romanian communities. As a result, ruling Austria-Hungary became increasingly difficult in an age of emerging nationalist movements, requiring considerable reliance on an expanded secret police. Yet,
3540-507: The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 . The collapse of the empire at the end of World War I and the Austrian rump state's subsequent transition from monarchy to democratic republic necessitated a number of changes to Austria's system of courts of public law. The system of general courts, on the other hand, remained largely unaffected, except of course for its drastic decrease in geographic reach. A pair of laws enacted by
3658-594: The Austrofascists imposed a new constitution ("Maiverfassung") which cemented Dollfuss's power, but on 25 July he was assassinated in an Austrian Nazi coup attempt . His successor Kurt Schuschnigg acknowledged the fact that Austria was a "German state" and he also believed that Austrians were "better Germans" but he wished that Austria would remain independent. He announced a referendum on 9 March 1938, to be held on 13 March, concerning Austria's independence from Germany. On 12 March 1938, Austrian Nazis took over
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3776-564: The Eastern Alps . It is a federation of nine states , one of which is the capital, Vienna , the most populous city and state. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The landlocked country occupies an area of 83,879 km (32,386 sq mi) and has
3894-516: The Federal Constitutional Law of 1920, which had been terminated by dictator Dollfuss on 1 May 1934, was declared valid again. The total number of Austrian military deaths from 1939 to 1945 was 260,000. The total number of Jewish Austrian Holocaust victims was 65,000. About 140,000 Jewish Austrians had fled from the country in 1938–39. Thousands of Austrians had taken part in serious Nazi crimes (hundreds of thousands of people died in
4012-582: The Hallstatt culture by the 6th century BC . The city of Hallstatt , in fact, has the oldest archaeological evidence of the Celts in Europe. The Celtic Kingdom of Noricum that included most of modern Austria and parts of modern Slovenia was conquered by the Roman Empire in 16 BC and made a province called Noricum which lasted until the year of 476. The regions of today's Austria which were not located within
4130-632: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was settled with the Carinthian Plebiscite in October 1920 and allocated the major part of the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Crownland of Carinthia to Austria. This set the border on the Karavanke mountain range, with many Slovenes remaining in Austria. After the war, inflation began to devalue the Krone, which was still Austria's currency. In the autumn of 1922, Austria
4248-627: The March Constitution , elaborating on a number of the provisions of the Pillersdorf Constitution. In particular, the March Constitution confirmed that the judicial powers and responsibilities of landlords, cities, and ecclesiastical corporations were abolished. All disputes were to be settled by the State, in courts explicitly created by statutory law and according to procedure explicitly set forth in statutory law. The new constitution also expressly established judicial independence and
4366-752: The Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp alone), a fact which was officially acknowledged by Chancellor Franz Vranitzky in 1992. Allied-occupied Austria was after World War II divided into military occupation zones. Austria was governed by the Allied Commission for Austria . As stipulated in the Moscow Declaration of 1943 a subtle difference was seen in the treatment of Austria by the Allies. The Austrian government, consisting of Social Democrats, Conservatives, and Communists resided in Vienna , which
4484-682: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Interpol . It also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The native name for Austria, Österreich , derives from the Old High German Ostarrîchi , which meant "eastern realm" and which first appeared in the "Ostarrîchi document" of 996. This word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into
4602-633: The Ostrogothic Kingdom . Following the Kingdom's fall the area was invaded by the Alemanni , Baiuvarii , Slavs , and Avars . Charlemagne , King of the Franks , conquered the area in 788, encouraged colonisation, and introduced Christianity. As part of Eastern Francia , the core areas that now encompass Austria were bequeathed to the house of Babenberg . The area was known as the marchia Orientalis and
4720-521: The Ottoman Empire , Austria-Hungary took the opportunity to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip was used by leading Austrian politicians and generals to persuade the emperor to declare war on Serbia, thereby risking and prompting the outbreak of World War I, which eventually led to the dissolution of
4838-599: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph declared war on Serbia , which ultimately escalated into World War I . The empire's defeat and subsequent collapse led to the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria in 1918 and the First Austrian Republic in 1919. During the interwar period , anti-parliamentarian sentiments culminated in the formation of an Austrofascist dictatorship under Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934. A year before
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4956-642: The fall of the Roman Empire , the area was first invaded by the Germanic Rugii which made this region part of their " Rugiland ". In 487, most of modern Austria was conquered by Odoacer , a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube , which incorporated most of today's Austria in his Kingdom of Italy . By 493, it was conquered by the Germanic Ostrogoths which created their own kingdom,
5074-595: The separation of powers of judiciary and executive. Subsequent legislation pursuant to the March Constitution created a system of general courts that also survived, with a few significant but narrow alterations, to this day. Most notably, the Constitution of the Courts ( Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz or GVG ) of June 1849 and the Penal Procedure Code ( Strafprozessordnung or StPO ) of January 1850 implemented an empire-wide hierarchy of trial and appellate courts that
5192-472: The 16th century, Vienna was also serving as the Holy Roman Empire's administrative capital. Before the dissolution of the empire two years later, in 1804, Austria established its own empire , which became a great power and one of the largest states in Europe. The empire's defeat in wars and the loss of territories in the 1860s paved the way for the establishment of Austria-Hungary in 1867. After
5310-593: The Americans, planned for the supposed "Alpine Fortress Operation" of a national redoubt, that was largely to have taken place on Austrian soil in the mountains of the Eastern Alps . However, it never materialised because of the rapid collapse of the Reich. Karl Renner and Adolf Schärf (Socialist Party of Austria [Social Democrats and Revolutionary Socialists]), Leopold Kunschak (Austria's People's Party [former Christian Social People's Party]), and Johann Koplenig (Communist Party of Austria) declared Austria's secession from
5428-434: The Austrian court system, panels are subject to a fixed and specific apportionment of responsibilities ( feste Geschäftseinteilung ). The fixed apportionment is meant to prevent the Cabinet from influencing outcomes by hand-picking a panel sympathetic to its perspective. One panel exclusively deals with appeals decisions reached by arbitration tribunals; another panel hears appeals against antitrust verdicts handed down by
5546-648: The Austro-Hungarian Empire. Over one million Austro-Hungarian soldiers died in World War I. On 21 October 1918, the elected German members of the Reichsrat (parliament of Imperial Austria) met in Vienna as the Provisional National Assembly for German Austria ( Provisorische Nationalversammlung für Deutschösterreich ). On 30 October the assembly founded the Republic of German-Austria by appointing
5664-488: The Court also deals with some intra-judicial disputes. It hears, as court of first instance, complaints lodged by judges against the public administration and disciplinary complaints against justices of the Supreme Court and higher regional courts and attorneys of the Supreme Prosecutorial Service and the higher regional prosecution services ( Oberstaatsanwaltschaft ). The first disciplinary committee of
5782-631: The Court deals with the Court's own justices and personnel. In contrast, the second disciplinary committee deals with the judges, attorneys and other personnel of the aforementioned inferior institutions. It also has appellate jurisdiction in disciplinary proceedings against lower-ranking judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and notaries. Decisions handed down by the Court are final. Although the Supreme Court has disciplinary authority ( Disziplinargewalt ) over lower-ranking judicial bodies, it does not have operational authority ( Dienstaufsicht ) over them. The Ministry of Justice has operational authority over
5900-418: The Court is charged with publishing appraisals of draft legislation presented to the National Council by the Cabinet ; the Court is required to evaluate a Cabinet bill if asked to do so by the president of the Court or the minister of justice . The Court does not have the authority to actually veto legislation, however, and neither does it have the soft power to make draft bills politically untenable. Austria
6018-461: The Court unaltered. The absorption of Austria into the German Reich in March 1938 made the Supreme Court superfluous and, in fact, inconvenient; for one thing, the German judiciary used the same four-tier hierarchy as its Austrian counterpart. The judicial districts served by German and Austrian local, regional, and higher regional courts, respectively, were roughly comparable in size. Decisions of Germany's 28 higher regional courts were appealed to
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#17328518254086136-438: The Court. The paper was published bi-weekly, usually running around eight pages in length. Supplements and other extensive reports were published during war time, mainly about Austria, the Franco-Austrian Alliance , and their mutual enemy Prussia . Field journals and diaries from the Austrian army were the main sources used by the paper, reporting on officer promotions, troop deployments and other public announcements pertaining to
6254-578: The German Austrians and the other ethnic groups. Many Austrians, especially those involved with the pan-German movements, desired a reinforcement of an ethnic German identity and hoped that the empire would collapse, which would allow an annexation of Austria by Germany . A lot of Austrian pan-German nationalists protested passionately against minister-president Kasimir Count Badeni 's language decree of 1897, which made German and Czech co-official languages in Bohemia and required new government officials to be fluent in both languages. This meant in practice that
6372-468: The German national colours (black, red, and yellow), although they were both temporarily banned in Austrian schools, as a way to show discontent towards the multi-ethnic empire. Austria's exclusion from Germany caused many Austrians a problem with their national identity and prompted the Social Democratic Leader Otto Bauer to state that it was "the conflict between our Austrian and German character". The Austro-Hungarian Empire caused ethnic tension between
6490-458: The Nazis renamed Austria the " Ostmark ", a name which it had until 1942, when it was renamed the "Alpine and Danubian Gaue" (Alpen-und Donau-Reichsgaue). Though Austrians made up only 8% of the population of the Third Reich, some of the most prominent Nazis were native Austrians, including Adolf Hitler , Ernst Kaltenbrunner , Arthur Seyss-Inquart , Franz Stangl , Alois Brunner , Friedrich Rainer , and Odilo Globocnik , as were over 13% of
6608-420: The Social Democrats and the Conservatives, had paramilitary armies; the Social Democrats' Republikanischer Schutzbund was now declared illegal, but was still operative as the 12–15 February 1934 Austrian Civil War broke out. In February 1934, several members of the Schutzbund were executed, the Social Democratic party was outlawed, and many of its members were imprisoned or emigrated. On 1 May 1934,
6726-1407: The Supreme Prosecutorial Service ( Generalprokuratur ), a unique specialised judicial body with the power to review the compliance of lower court verdicts with statutory and constitutional law; as its nature and purpose is different from all other prosecution services, the Supreme Prosecutorial Service cannot file criminal charges and does not have operational authority over lower prosecution services, though it may handle certain demarcation conflicts between them. Civil cases include regular civil trials ( Zivilprozess ) as well as so-called "non-adversary proceedings" ( Außerstreitverfahren ), enforcement proceedings ( Exekutionsverfahren ) and insolvency proceedings ( Insolvenzverfahren ). Non-adversary proceedings in turn include matters related to property ( Grundbuchssachen ), incorporation ( Firmenbuchssachen ), guardianship ( Obsorge ), inheritance ( Verlassenschaftsverfahren ), child support ( Unterhaltsverfahren ), preliminary lawsuits ( Mahnverfahren ), adoption ( Adoption ), involuntary hospitalization ( Unterbringung ), declarations of death ( Todeserklärung ) and various other things; they are primarily adjudicated by judicial magistrates ( Rechtspfleger ). It hears "appeals-at-law" against decisions of appellate courts . A successful appeal-at-law not only overturns but utterly erases
6844-407: The Third Reich by the Declaration of Independence on 27 April 1945 and set up a provisional government in Vienna under state Chancellor Renner the same day, with the approval of the victorious Red Army and backed by Joseph Stalin . (The date is officially named the birthday of the second republic.) At the end of April, most of western and southern Austria were still under Nazi rule. On 1 May 1945,
6962-420: The Vienna higher regional court, which has specialist exclusive jurisdiction over all Austrian antitrust cases. A third panel handles disciplinary proceedings and other disputes internal to the judiciary. Of the remaining fifteen panels, ten deal with regular civil cases and five with criminal trials. Every panel is presided over by a chairperson . Though it is common for the president, the vice presidents and
7080-429: The beginning, with successive defeats at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte , meaning the end of the old Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Two years earlier, the Empire of Austria was founded. From 1792 to 1801, the Austrians had suffered 754,700 casualties. In 1814, Austria was part of the Allied forces that invaded France and brought to an end the Napoleonic Wars . It emerged from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as one of
7198-595: The case is a civil case, the appellate court will examine whether the trial court has made any procedural errors: if yes, it orders a retrial, sending the case back to the trial court; if no, or if the case is criminal, the appellate court conducts what is essentially a retrial itself. An appellate trial does not merely review points of law but also points of fact, assessing evidence and questioning witnesses again. While an appeal-at-law in civil matters ( Revision ) can be filed by any party, appeals-at-law in criminal matters ( Nichtigkeitsbeschwerde ) can only be filed by
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#17328518254087316-429: The civil service would almost exclusively hire Czechs because most middle-class Czechs spoke German but not the other way around. The support of ultramontane Catholic politicians and clergy for this reform triggered the launch of the Away from Rome movement, which was initiated by supporters of Schönerer and called on "German" Christians to leave the Roman Catholic Church. As the Second Constitutional Era began in
7434-469: The constitutionality of statutes or the legality of ordinances, hears election complaints, and hears complaints regarding the conduct of sitting elected officials and political appointees. While the general courts deal with all civil and criminal cases. Within the general court system, all trial court cases are adjudicated either by district courts ( Bezirksgericht ) or regional courts ( Landesgericht ); decisions of district courts can be appealed to
7552-421: The continent's four dominant powers and a recognised great power . The same year, the German Confederation ( Deutscher Bund ) was founded under the presidency of Austria. Because of unsolved social, political, and national conflicts, the German lands were shaken by the 1848 revolutions aiming to create a unified Germany. The various different possibilities for a united Germany were: a Greater Germany , or
7670-409: The courthouse, the physical inventory, the budget, collaboration programs with universities, foreign countries, the press, the internal rules as well as the presidium, the secretariat, the bureau of evidence and the library and recruiting commissions. The president also presides over the personnel and second disciplinary committees. Like any other court president, the president of the Supreme Court has
7788-408: The duchies of Schleswig and Holstein . As they could not agree on how the two duchies should be administered, though, they fought the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Defeated by Prussia in the Battle of Königgrätz , Austria had to leave the German Confederation and no longer took part in German politics. After the defeated Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 ,
7906-415: The early 21st century, the Supreme Court typically has fifty to sixty members but Court and Cabinet may appoint as many justices as they deem necessary and appropriate. As with any other general court, Supreme Court justices are professional judges; they have graduated from law school , done four years of internship-type practical work ( richterlicher Vorbereitungsdienst ) in actual courthouses and passed
8024-458: The election was officially 99.5%, with 98.9% voting "yes". In the case of Austria, Adolf Hitler's native soil, 99.71% of an electorate of 4,484,475 officially went to the ballots, with a positive tally of 99.73 percent. Although most Austrians favored the Anschluss , in certain parts of Austria, the German soldiers were not always welcomed with flowers and joy, especially in Vienna, which had Austria's largest Jewish population. Nevertheless, despite
8142-416: The emerging republic's provisional government in late 1918 and early 1919 confirmed the Supreme Court in its existence. The only thing the transition really changed was the name: the Supreme Court of Cassation ( Oberster Gerichts- und Kassationshof ) became the Supreme Court of Justice ( Oberster Gerichtshof ). Both the Kelsen Constitution of 1920 and the Austrofascist Federal State of 1934 retained
8260-448: The empire made in the previous years. He enjoyed the imminent extinction of the House of Habsburg . Charles VI was willing to offer concrete advantages in territory and authority in exchange for recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 . Therefore, his daughter Maria Theresa was recognized as his heir. With the rise of Prussia , the Austria–Prussia rivalry began in Germany. Austria participated, together with Prussia and Russia, in
8378-426: The executive and legislative branches of government. One of its limbs, the administrative court system, reviews the legality of administrative acts. Its other limb, the Constitutional Court , adjudicates on liability claims against Austria, its states and its municipalities , handles demarcation conflicts between courts of law, or between courts and members of the public administration ; hears complaints regarding
8496-490: The first Austrian Republic . Over three million German-speaking Austrians found themselves living outside the new Austrian Republic as minorities in the newly formed or enlarged states of Czechoslovakia , Yugoslavia , Hungary , and Italy. These included the provinces of South Tyrol , and German Bohemia . The status of German Bohemia and Sudetenland later played a role in World War II. The border between Austria and
8614-399: The first and the third of the three Partitions of Poland in 1772 and 1795 respectively. From that time, Austria became the birthplace of classical music and played host to different composers including Joseph Haydn , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Ludwig van Beethoven , and Franz Schubert . Austria later became engaged in a war with Revolutionary France , which was highly unsuccessful in
8732-520: The government just wants to keep the Wiener Zeitung brand with its 320-year-old history, while nobody knows what the future publication will look like — whether it will still be serious journalism." Mathias Ziegler, vice managing editor On 27 April 2023, Wiener Zeitung announced an end to its daily print run. Going forward, the paper will be printed a minimum 10 times a year depending on available funds. The paper also announced plans to establish
8850-508: The government of Austria tried its best to be accommodating in some respects: for example, the Reichsgesetzblatt , publishing the laws and ordinances of Cisleithania , was issued in eight languages; and all national groups were entitled to schools in their own language and to the use of their mother tongue at state offices. Many Austrians of all different social circles such as Georg Ritter von Schönerer promoted strong pan-Germanism in
8968-496: The government, while German troops occupied the country, which prevented Schuschnigg's referendum from taking place. On 13 March 1938, the Anschluss ( lit. ' joining ' or ' connection ' ) of Austria was officially declared. Two days later, Austrian-born Adolf Hitler announced what he called the "reunification" of his home country with the "rest of the German Reich " on Vienna's Heldenplatz . He established
9086-798: The heiress Maria of Burgundy , thus acquiring most of the Netherlands for the family. In 1496, his son Philip the Fair married Joanna the Mad , the heiress of Castile and Aragon , thus acquiring Spain and its Italian, African, Asian , and New World appendages for the Habsburgs. In 1526, following the Battle of Mohács , Bohemia and the part of Hungary not occupied by the Ottomans came under Austrian rule. Ottoman expansion into Hungary led to frequent conflicts between
9204-468: The higher regional courts, the higher regional courts over the regional courts and the regional courts over the district courts; operational authority does not confer the right to meddle with judicial independence ( richterliche Unabhängigkeit ). The higher regional courts are also responsible for the general management ( Geschäftsführung ) of all courts within their circuit ( Oberlandesgerichtssprengel ). In addition to its adjudicative functions,
9322-532: The hope of reinforcing an ethnic German identity and the annexation of Austria to Germany. Some Austrians such as Karl Lueger also used pan-Germanism as a form of populism to further their own political goals. Although Bismarck's policies excluded Austria and the German Austrians from Germany, many Austrian pan-Germans idolised him and wore blue cornflowers, known to be the favourite flower of German Emperor William I , in their buttonholes, along with cockades in
9440-481: The law, and the abolition of outdated remnants of the feudal system, finally forced the Habsburgs to take drastic action. The first milestone was the Pillersdorf Constitution enacted by Emperor Ferdinand in April 1848. The constitution promised increased civil liberties, provided for a limited form of democratic participation in government, and stipulated that from now on all jurisprudence would be within
9558-554: The long reign of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor following the successful defence of Vienna against the Turks in 1683, under the command of the King of Poland John III Sobieski , the Great Turkish War resulted in most of Hungary being controlled by Austria. This arrangement was formalized in the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor relinquished many of the gains
9676-506: The matter is ambiguous or inconsistent, the panel has to add an additional six members, for a total of eleven. A case that raises a question of law of wider importance also requires a panel of eleven ( verstärkter Senat ) if the verdict is going to overturn a large body of existing Supreme Court case law ( ein Abgehen von der ständigen Rechtsprechung ) or a verdict handed down by another panel of eleven. The Court only rarely meets in plenum;
9794-548: The members of the SS and 40% of the staff at the Nazi extermination camps . In the Reichsgau , besides the main camp KZ-Mauthausen , there were numerous sub-camps in all provinces where Jews and other prisoners were killed, tortured and exploited. At this time, because the territory was outside the operational radius of Allied aircraft, the armaments industry was greatly expanded through the forced labor of concentration camp prisoners, this
9912-454: The members of the panel is appointed case manager ( Berichterstatter ). The case manager directs the preliminary research. An office staffed with about 30 to 40 researchers and other assistants is attached to the Court to aid case managers in this task. Once the preliminary investigation is complete, the panel convenes, hears the official presentation of case and research by the case manager, deliberates, and votes. The case manager votes first,
10030-453: The newspaper is financed through these mandatory fees. The Austrian Supreme Court dismissed claims on this matter. The issue is even more controversial since today the only authentic source of Austrian statutory law is the Internet, whereas business publications also have to be announced through Wiener Zeitung . In March 2021, the Austrian government led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz proposed
10148-421: The official version of newly passed Austrian laws. Today the governmental version of newly passed statutes and treaties are officially published in the Internet, the law gazette thus is not available in a printed version anymore. Until 2009 Wiener Zeitung ' s editor-in-chief was Andreas Unterberger , before being replaced by Reinhard Göweil. While Unterberger hired mostly outspoken conservative columnists,
10266-406: The other hand, had been allowed to lag. Civil and criminal procedure as well as the criminal code proper had made great strides forward during the reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph II in the late 18th century, a period of rapid and profound reform. In the early 19th century, Emperor Francis II had revolutionized the civil code. In terms of its organizational structure, however, the Court system
10384-428: The outbreak of World War II , Austria was annexed into Nazi Germany by Adolf Hitler , and it became a sub-national division . After its liberation in 1945 and a decade of Allied occupation , the country regained its sovereignty and declared its perpetual neutrality in 1955. Austria is a federal parliamentary republic and representative democracy with a popularly elected president as head of state and
10502-595: The paper and it was printed until 1997 by the Austrian State Printing Office. The newspaper was closed by the Nazis after the Anschluss : in February 1939 the editorial part was removed, and in February 1940 the remaining official journal closed entirely. The first edition after World War II appeared on 21 September 1945. The number of copies sold has grown from 4,500 in 1855 to an estimated 24,000 today. In 1998
10620-549: The paper returned to its liberal position under Reinhard Göweil . The Austrian government is widely criticized among entrepreneurs because they are legally required to publish certain legal announcements, such as shareholder meeting conventions and changes of the commercial register in the Wiener Zeitung and therefore have to pay certain fees, although publications are also done through the Internet. Entrepreneurs and private newspapers argue, alleging anti-competitive measures, that
10738-612: The paper was transferred to a GmbH (Limited Liability Company), which is owned by the Austrian Government. Wiener Zeitung is also the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for formal announcements. Such announcements, for example, civil service vacancies and changes in the commercial register , are printed in the Official Journal insert of Wiener Zeitung . Until 2004 it also used to publish
10856-590: The power to indefinitely suspend any justice from duty; a suspension automatically triggers a disciplinary proceeding again that justice. The following is a list of presidents: Between shortly after 1300 and shortly before 1800, the Habsburgs had gradually transformed their empire from a personal union of numerous independent realms and territories into a highly centralized unitary state . Feudal structures had been replaced with rules-based bureaucracies, hereditary local potentates with professional civil servants. The consolidation and modernization of jurisprudence, on
10974-428: The presiding justice votes last; other members vote in order of decreasing seniority. In cases that are trivial or routine, the panel is permitted to meet as a panel of just three ( Dreiersenat ). If a panel of five ( einfacher Senat ) suspects that a case currently before it may raise a question of law of wider importance ( Rechtsfrage von grundsätzlicher Bedeutung ) and that existing Supreme Court case law in
11092-409: The presiding justices of the Court to chair a panel, it is not a legal necessity. For example, the 18th panel of the Court is chaired by a vice president and includes a presiding justice as ordinary member; conversely, the 11th panel was chaired by a presiding justice and included a vice president as ordinary member. A new case that comes before the Court is first assigned to the relevant panel. One of
11210-497: The propaganda and the manipulation and rigging which surrounded the ballot box result, there was massive genuine support for Hitler for fulfilling the Anschluss , since many Germans from both Austria and Germany saw it as completing the long overdue unification of all Germans into one state. On 13 March 1938, Austria was annexed by the Third Reich and ceased to exist as an independent country (the Anschluss ). The Aryanisation of
11328-533: The province of Noricum were divided between the Roman provinces of Pannonia , which encompassed parts of eastern Austria, and Raetia , which encompassed the areas of present-day Vorarlberg and Tyrol . Present-day Petronell- Carnuntum in eastern Austria was an important army camp turned capital city in what became known as the Pannonia Superior . Carnuntum was home to 50,000 people for nearly 400 years. After
11446-535: The purview of the emperor, implicitly promising and end to Austria's jumbled mess of landlord, estate, and ecclesiastical courts. Another milestone was an edict issued on August 21 abolishing the Supreme Judicial Office and creating the Supreme Court of Cassation ( Oberster Gerichts- und Kassationshof ). When Ferdinand's concessions failed to appease the revolutionaries and Ferdinand was forced to abdicate, his successor, Emperor Franz Joseph , promulgated
11564-510: The respective regional court, regional court verdicts can be appealed to a higher regional court ( Oberlandesgericht ). The four higher regional courts and the Supreme Court of Justice do not have original jurisdiction and are limited to hearing appeals. To guarantee a consistent, nationwide interpretation and application of the law, some verdicts may be appealed to the Supreme Court directly, especially verdicts citing past and potentially outdated Supreme Court decisions. In addition to that,
11682-576: The ruling of the appellate court, sending the case down the ladder again. Decisions of trial courts − although not of appellate courts − that result from a trial court's invocation of an unconstitutional statute or ordinance can be challenged in the Constitutional Court by filing an "extraordinary appeal-at-law". The Austrian judiciary is organized into general courts ( ordentliche Gerichte ) and courts of public law ( Gerichte öffentlichen Rechts ). The courts of public law are responsible for
11800-419: The same day it drafted a provisional constitution that stated that "German-Austria is a democratic republic" (Article 1) and "German-Austria is an integral part of the German reich" (Article 2). The Treaty of Saint Germain and the Treaty of Versailles explicitly forbade union between Austria and Germany. The treaties also forced German-Austria to rename itself as "Republic of Austria" which consequently led to
11918-497: The separation of powers. The hierarchy of trial and appellate courts in general and the Supreme Court of Cassation at its top in particular, however, survived. The Court then also survived the gradual return to constitutional rule between 1860 and 1868, although it lost jurisdiction over the eastern half of the empire when the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen gained legal independence ensuing
12036-524: The two empires, particularly evident in the Long War of 1593 to 1606. The Turks made incursions into Styria nearly 20 times, of which some are cited as "burning, pillaging, and taking thousands of slaves". In late September 1529, Suleiman the Magnificent launched the first siege of Vienna , which unsuccessfully ended, according to Ottoman historians, with the snowfalls of an early beginning winter. During
12154-491: The vicinity of the Duchy of Austria. In 1438, Duke Albert V of Austria was chosen as the successor to his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund . Although Albert himself only reigned for a year, henceforth every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was a Habsburg, with only one exception. The Habsburgs began also to accumulate territory far from the hereditary lands. In 1477, Archduke Maximilian , only son of Emperor Frederick III , married
12272-455: The war, mostly of local interest. Around 15 per cent of reports were about battles and armed conflicts while 3 per cent were about war crimes committed by Prussian troops. Since 1780, the paper was known as Wiener Zeitung (meaning Viennese newspaper in English) and in 1810 it became the official government newspaper. On 1 October 1813, it began publishing daily. In 1857 the government acquired
12390-725: The wealth of Jewish Austrians started immediately in mid-March, with a so-called "wild" (i.e. extra-legal) phase, but it was soon structured legally and bureaucratically so the assets which Jewish citizens possessed could be stripped from them. At that time, Adolf Eichmann , who grew up in Austria, was transferred to Vienna and ordered to persecute the Jews. During the November pogrom in 1938 ("Reichskristallnacht"), Jews and Jewish institutions such as synagogues were subjected to violent attacks in Vienna, Klagenfurt, Linz, Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck and several cities in Lower Austria. Otto von Habsburg ,
12508-586: The weekly Berrow's Worcester Journal (1690), and Haarlems Dagblad (1883), through its forcible merger with the Weeckelycke Courante van Europa (1656). Austria – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [ Legend ] Austria , formally the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe , lying in
12626-458: The world", including death notices in the city and aristocratic births, marriages, and visits to and departures from Vienna. Schönwetter owned the newspaper and was its editor-in-chief and printer until 1722, when he was succeeded by Johann Peter van Ghelen . It became considered the official mouthpiece of the Imperial Court due to its being supplied information directly and exclusively by
12744-420: Was able to send the Allies information about armaments factories where V-1 flying bombs , V-2 rockets , Tiger tanks , and aircraft ( Messerschmitt Bf 109 , Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet , etc.) were manufactured, information which was important to the success of Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra , both of which were preliminary missions before the launch of Operation Overlord . This resistance group, which
12862-566: Was especially the case with regard to the manufacture of fighter planes, tanks and missiles. Most of the resistance groups were soon crushed by the Gestapo . While the plans of the group around Karl Burian to blow up the Gestapo's headquarters in Vienna were uncovered, the important group around the later executed priest Heinrich Maier managed to contact the Allies . This so-called Maier-Messner group
12980-592: Was given to Leopold of Babenberg in 976. The first record showing the name Austria is from 996, where it is written as Ostarrîchi , referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. In 1156, the Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of Styria . With the death of Frederick II in 1246, the line of the Babenbergs was extinguished. As
13098-559: Was granted an international loan supervised by the League of Nations . The purpose of the loan was to avert bankruptcy, stabilise the currency, and improve Austria's general economic condition. The loan meant that Austria passed from an independent state to the control exercised by the League of Nations. In 1925, the Austrian schilling was introduced, replacing the Krone at a rate of 10,000:1. Later, it
13216-498: Was granted to Tyrol by the Italian national government. Austrian Supreme Court The Court does not have a fixed number of members. As of the early 21st century, there are typically between fifty and sixty justices on the Court. The responsibility for appointing Supreme Court justices is vested in the president of Austria , but the president can and usually does delegate this task to the minister of justice . The minister picks from
13334-601: Was in contact with the American secret service ( OSS ), soon provided information about mass executions and concentration camps such as Auschwitz . The group's aim was to cause Nazi Germany to lose the war as quickly as possible and re-establish an independent Austria. Vienna fell on 13 April 1945, during the Soviet Vienna offensive , just before the total collapse of the Third Reich. The invading Allied powers, in particular
13452-401: Was nicknamed the "Alpine dollar" due to its stability. From 1925 to 1929 the economy enjoyed a short high before nearly crashing after Black Tuesday . The First Austrian Republic lasted until 1933, when Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss , using what he called "self-switch-off of Parliament" , established an autocratic regime tending towards Italian fascism . The two big parties at this time,
13570-446: Was no systematic separation of powers between judiciary and administration. The State as such mostly only exercised a limited amount of appellate jurisdiction. The Supreme Judicial Office ( Oberste Justizstelle ) in Vienna , created by Maria Theresa in 1749, functioned both as a token court of last appeal and as a rudimentary ministry of justice. The Revolutions of 1848 , whose goals included constitutional rule , equality before
13688-579: Was responsible for directing the nationalized industries under the directorship of Minister Peter Krauland (party ÖVP). On 15 May 1955, after talks which lasted for years and were influenced by the Cold War Austria regained full independence by concluding the Austrian State Treaty with the allies of World War II. On 26 October 1955, all occupation troops had left and Austria declared its permanent neutrality by an act of parliament. This day
13806-504: Was still essentially medieval. Original jurisdiction over most civil and criminal matters resided with local princes ( Landesfürsten ) in some regions, with the estates of the realm ( Landstände ) in others, with petty landlords in parts of the countryside, and with proto-democratic municipal governments in certain cities. Clergy, aristocracy, transients, or members of guilds could be subject to claims of jurisdiction based not on locale or subject matter but purely on social class. There
13924-586: Was surrounded by the Soviet zone. This Austrian government was recognised by the allies of World War II in October 1945 despite concerns that Karl Renner could be Stalin's puppet. On 26 July 1946 the Austrian Parliament passed its first nationalization law and approximately 70 mining and manufacturing companies were seized by the Austrian state. The Ministry of Property Protection and Economic Planning ( Ministerium für Vermögenssicherung und Wirtschaftsplanung )
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