Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH#

Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH, Austrian Supreme Court of Justice, established in Vienna in 1850 by Imperial Decree as a successor institution to the Supreme Judicial Authority as "Austrian Supreme Court of Justice and Court of Appeals". Since 1918 only function as OGH as defined in OGHG, Federal Law Gazette 1968/328 as amended). According to the Austrian constitution the OGH is the court of final appeal for civil and criminal cases. The court hears appeals against decisions issued by intermediate courts, decides in nullity actions against pending judgements both before and after the judgement has become final and (since 1993) on complaints regarding violations of fundamental rights. As a rule the OGH decides in panels (so-called "senates") of 5 judges, of which 1 heads the panel. In special cases, such as legal issues of fundamental importance decisions are reached in an enlarged "senate" (11 judges).

Literature#