BFG: COVID-19 no justification for unpaid parking ticket

Apr 14, 2021 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The plaintiff was accused of having negligently shortened the Vienna parking meter fee several times, as she had parked a multi-lane motor vehicle in a short-stay parking zone for which a fee had to be paid on several days, but without marking it with a valid parking ticket.

In the appeals, she in no way contested the established facts, but requested that instead of imposing a fine, she be merely given a warning. In this case, according to the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzgericht, BFG), she was only contesting the amount of the fine, which for this reason became the subject of the appeal proceedings. In this context, Austrian Supreme Court case law holds that guilty verdicts become final and the question of criminal liability may no longer be answered due to partial res judicata if imposed fines are only contested in terms of amount. Furthermore, the plaintiff stated that she had only travelled by private car in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in crowds of people, as she could not keep the protective distance in public transport and there had been no obligation to wear a mask there. Similarly, someone who actively prevented the risk of infection should not be punished by paying parking tickets and fines.

A reduction of the fine (Sec. 34 (1) (11) Criminal Code, Strafgesetzbuch) would be possible if a justification existed. Such a reason is "an emergency situation directly threatening life, which can only be averted by committing the offence". According to the BFG, this was not the case at all. According to the Vienna Parking Meter Tax Regulation (Parkometerabgabenverordnung), the tax must be paid when the vehicle is parked, i.e. when the vehicle is parked in the short-stay parking zone. Accordingly, the Covid-19 induced emergency situation should have existed after the plaintiff had parked and before she got out of the vehicle. However, the interior of the vehicle was considered a Covid-19 free space. The plaintiff had therefore never had to avert a Covid-19-related danger by not depositing a parking ticket before she got out.

BFG GZ. RV/7500608/2020 (18 November 2020)