Victims' rights - by country

Austria

Content provided by:
Austria

You are regarded as a victim of crime if you have suffered damage or your legal interests, as protected by criminal law, may have been harmed in other respects, e.g. if you have been injured or your property has been damaged or stolen and this act constitutes a crime under Austrian law. As a victim of crime, the law guarantees that you benefit from certain individual rights before, during and after the court proceedings.

In Austria, criminal proceedings begin as soon as the criminal police (Kriminalpolizei) or public prosecutor’s office (Staatsanwaltschaft) start investigations in response to an initial suspicion. Once these investigations have been concluded, the public prosecutor may decide to close the proceedings, order alternative measures to conventional criminal proceedings or bring charges before a court. Certain crimes (crimes subject to private prosecution – Privatanklagedelikte) are only prosecuted at the request of the victim, who in this case has to bring charges himself/herself. No investigation is conducted in such cases.

During the trial, the court will hold a hearing and examine the evidence. Depending on the seriousness of the crime, cases will be heard by

  • a single judge or
  • a panel of judges (Schöffensenat) consisting, depending on the crime in question, of one or two professional judges and two lay judges, who will decide on the defendant’s guilt and the level of the penalty imposed or
  • a jury court (Geschworenengericht), consisting of three professional judges and eight lay judges (jurors). The jurors decide on the defendant’s guilt, while the decision on the level of the penalty is taken jointly by the jurors and the three professional judges.

As a victim you can play a very important part in these criminal proceedings and also benefit from various rights. You can participate as a victim without a specific legal status or become a civil claimant, subsidiary prosecutor or private prosecutor and benefit from additional rights and possibilities.

Click on the following links to find the information you are looking for:

1 - My rights as a victim of crime

2 - Reporting a crime and my rights during the investigation or trial

3 - My rights after trial

4 - Compensation

5 - My rights to support and assistance

Last update: 03/02/2021

The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.