Notification of a Fine Needs an Addressee

Jun 27, 2025 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

According to the established case law of the Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH), a decision is only legally effective if, among other things, it names a clearly defined addressee. If this is missing, there is no notification, with the consequence that no legal force can arise.

In the case at hand, a vehicle driver had been found guilty of an administrative offense in violation of the Oö. Parkgebührengesetz 1988 (Upper Austrian Parking Fee Act). However, the original official decision of 1 February 2021 contained placeholders in the relevant sections, including the address field (‘recipient’s address’) and the amount of the fine, as well as the legal reason for the fine. The text was therefore an edited version of a decision that could not be assigned to a specific person, and which did not contain a specified fine. The court therefore dismissed the appeal as unfounded.

Although the letter was delivered electronically to a personal mailbox, the Provincial Administrative Court of Upper Austria considered it to be a legally binding conviction and discontinued a later, substantively complete conviction with reference to the already decided case in accordance with Section 45 (1) no. 3 of the Austrian VStG.

Nevertheless, the defendant argued in the subsequent proceedings that the decision of 1 February 2021 was a final and absolute judgment in which the penalty had simply been set at EUR 0. A repeat fine should therefore be inadmissible.

The VwGH rejected this argument. A notification that does not name an addressee and contains empty placeholders does not constitute a notification at all. The mere fact that the recipient’s first name, email address etc. were stored internally in the IT system and used for electronic delivery does not replace the required naming in the notification itself.

In addition, the VwGH expressly clarified that a conviction with a fine of EUR 0 does not exist in Austrian administrative criminal law: According to Section13 of the VStG, the fine may not fall below a minimum amount stipulated by law. A decision without a specific penalty amount or with an amount of EUR 0 is therefore inadmissible and not legally effective.

Since the 1 February 2021 decision was invalid, it could not become legally binding. Therefore, the subsequent criminal conviction was admissible, and the Provincial Administrative Court should not have discontinued the proceedings. The court annulled its decision due to its unlawful content, per Section 42(2) no. 1 VwGG.

VwGH Ra 2022/16/0118 (9 May 2025)