Strafprozess#

Criminal Trial, procedure in court during which it is decided whether the accused has committed a crime and if so, what the sentence should be. Austria applies the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1975 which goes back to the year 1873 and is currently under revision. The criminal trial is characterised by the opposition between the state´s call for punishment, represented by the public prosecutor, on the one hand and the presumption of innocence and the regard for fundamental rights and freedoms on the other. In Austria criminal procedure knows two instances. The district judge decides on offences punishable by up to 1 year´s imprisonment; offences punishable by up to 5 years are decided on by judges sitting alone at a provincial court (Landesgericht). The Schoeffengericht deals with severe offences; cases of political offences and particularly serious offences (those punishable by more than 5 years imprisonment as the lower limit and more than 10 years as the upper limit) are decided by the Geschworenengericht. Decisions of district and provincial court judges sitting alone can be appealed against on issues of fact. Such appeals lie to the competent Landesgericht (Regional Court) or Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court). This is not possible with judgments passed by a court of lay assessors (Schoeffengericht) or in a jury trial (Geschworenengericht). In such cases the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) can review the sentence appealed against and the Supreme Court of Justice reviews issues of law brought before it by a nullity appeal (Nichtigkeitsbeschwerde).

Literature#