Austrian Civil Procedure Amendment 2023

Oct 6, 2023 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The Austrian National Council has passed the Civil Procedure Amendment 2023 (ZVN 2023). Video hearings had been introduced temporarily during the Corona pandemic and proved to be very successful. Lawyers and judges have since requested that this form of hearing be made permanent.

The core of the amendment is the new Section 132a of the Austrian Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung, hereinafter ZPO), which provides for the possibility of holding video hearings in contentious civil proceedings. It is at the discretion of the court whether to order a hearing to be held by means of video and audio transmission. The decision will depend on procedural economy and the technical requirements of the parties. The parties do not have the right to request such a hearing, however they must expressly agree to the proposed procedure or raise no objection in order for a video hearing to take place. As the judge must be present in the hearing room during video hearings, constitutional public participation is maintained.

Evidence is generally governed by Section 277 ZPO. Pursuant to Section 132a ZPO, hearings by means of video and audio transmission are only admissible in the following cases:

• the oral presentation and discussion of the opinion of a court-appointed expert; and
• the hearing of parties and informed representatives at the preparatory hearing.

Therefore, only short hearings that require little interaction between the court and the parties can be considered for video hearings.

The scope of application of Section 132a ZPO is limited by Section 460 Z 1a ZPO. In matrimonial proceedings, the possibility of a video hearing is only available to parties represented by a lawyer.

The procedure in case of technical disruptions is also regulated by the ZVN 2023. From now on, a hearing can be postponed if a party would suffer a procedural disadvantage as a result of the disruption.

In addition to the Austrian ZPO, ZVN 2023 also amended the Non-Contentious Proceedings Act (Außerstreitgesetz, AußStrG), the Accommodation Act (Unterbringungsgesetz, UbG), the Nursing Home Residence Act (Heimaufenthaltsgesetz, HeimAufG), the Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung, IO), the Execution Code (Exekutionsordnung, EO), the Court Organisation Act (Gerichtsorganisationsgesetz, GOG) and the Federal Administrative Court Act (Bundesverwaltungsgerichtsgesetz, BVwGG).

These amendments took effect 14 July 2023.

Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice, Government Bill XXVII (14 June 2023)