Austrian Criminal Justice System: Liability for Attempted Crimes and Corporate Criminal Liability

Liability for Attempted Crimes

In Austria, the attempt to commit an offense is generally punishable, as long as at least one objective element of the offense is missing and the perpetrator has acted with full intent to commit the crime. The court must consider the fact that there was merely an attempt when imposing a penalty.

• Pursuant to Section 299 of the Austrian Criminal Code, it is a criminal offense to intentionally deprive another person who has committed a criminal offense of prosecution.
• This act is known as misprision.

Corporate Criminal Liability

Austria’s Act on Corporate Criminal Liability regulates the liability of associations (e.g., stock corporations, limited liability companies) for criminal offenses committed by their decision-makers and employees. The decisive factor is that the criminal offense can be attributed to the association. For this purpose, it is necessary that the criminal conduct has been carried out in the interest or on behalf of the association.

Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

Austrian criminal laws apply to certain offenses enumerated in the law that were committed abroad, regardless of the criminal laws of the place where the offense was committed. For acts other than those expressly designated in the law that were committed abroad, Austrian criminal laws apply under certain conditions, provided that the acts are also punishable under the laws of the place where they were committed.

• Austrian law enforcement agencies regularly cooperate with foreign law enforcement agencies within the framework of national and international regulations.

Initiation of Investigations

In Austria, most criminal offenses are official offenses. For these offenses, the public prosecutor’s office or the criminal police must act when it becomes aware of the case. In a few cases, the victim of the crime must authorize the public prosecutor’s office to prosecute or, in some cases, file a criminal complaint himself.

• Third parties may also inspect the investigation files, but this is subject to specific regulations and guidelines.
• The initial file documents are usually accessible to the public, but the detailed information on how the investigation began can only be obtained through formal requests or court proceedings.

Enforcement Limitations

The enforcement limitation period for criminal offenses depends on the threat of punishment. For example, according to Section 57 of the Criminal Code, the enforcement limitation period is one year if the threat of punishment is no more than six months, three years if the threat of punishment is no more than one year, and five years if the threat of punishment is no more than five years.

• The enforcement limitation period begins to run as soon as the criminal act is completed or the criminal conduct stops.
• If the offender commits another criminal offense during the enforcement limitation period, which is based on the same harmful tendency, the enforcement limitation period is extended.

Tolling

The enforcement limitation period shall not include a period during which prosecution may not be initiated or continued under a statutory provision (e.g., in case of diplomatic immunity). The time between the first questioning of the accused and the final termination of the proceedings shall also not be included in the enforcement limitation period.