Agricultural Authority
The agricultural authorities in Austria are responsible for the implementation of all land reform matters. They are set up as special authorities alongside the general state administration authorities. Nevertheless, they are administrative authorities, even if in certain cases they decide on matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts outside of the agricultural authority procedures .
Constitutional foundations
On January 1, 2020, land reform matters were transferred to the legislative competence of the states, the basic laws ceased to be in force and the state parliaments were free to shape them.
In matters of land reform was until December 31, 2019 according to Article 12 paragraph 1 number 3 of the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law
- Federal matter: the basic legislation,
- State matter: the implementing legislation and enforcement.
This means: The federal legislature establishes principles that are to be elaborated in more detail by the state legislature ( state parliament ) in the respective federal state . The federal legislature (Nationalrat & Bundesrat) therefore enacts a so-called "basic law", upon which the individual state parliaments must enact so-called "implementing laws".
Execution is also a matter of the state. That means: The respective implementing laws are applied by state authorities.
In these implementing laws, of course, the prescribed principles must be observed. On the other hand, the state parliaments are free, for example, to choose from several options provided by the Basic Law, or to regulate matters within the framework of the given principles in a way that appears most favorable for their own state.
Agricultural authorities
The federal states have regulated the authority structure for their area with the respective state laws as follows:
- Burgenland : Office of the state government as an agricultural authority (Landesgesetzblatt (LGBl.) No. 10/1949, in the version (as amended) LGBl. No. 79/2013), seat in Eisenstadt
- Carinthia : Office of the state government as an agricultural authority (LGBl. No. 3/2011, as amended by LGBl. No. 106/2019), seat in Klagenfurt
- Lower Austria : Agricultural district authority (LGBl. 6075, as amended LGBl. No. 4/2020), seat in St. Pölten , branches in Baden and Hollabrunn
- Upper Austria : Office of the provincial government as an agricultural authority (LGBl. No. 40/2018), seat in Linz
- Salzburg : Office of the state government as an agricultural authority (LGBl. No. 75/1986, as amended LGBl. No. 106/2013), seat in Salzburg
- Styria : Agricultural district authority (LGBl. No. 10/2003, as amended LGBl. No. 63/2019), seat in Graz , office in Stainach-Pürgg , service point in Leoben
- Tyrol : Office of the state government as an agricultural authority (LGBl. No. 74/1996, as amended by LGBl. No. 138/2019), seat in Innsbruck
- Vorarlberg : State government as agricultural authority (LGBl. No. 2/2017), seat in Bregenz
- Vienna : Office of the state government as an agricultural authority (LGBl. No. 6/1971, as amended by LGBl. No. 34/2013)
Appeal
The respective regional administrative courts decide on legal remedies ("complaints") against notices from the agricultural authorities .
Web links
- Office of the Burgenland provincial government as the agricultural authority of the first instance
- Office of the Carinthian provincial government as the agricultural authority of the first instance
- Lower Austrian agricultural district authority
- Agricultural district authority for Upper Austria
- Agricultural authority for Salzburg
- Agricultural district authority for Styria
- Agricultural Authority for Vienna (Municipal Authority of the City of Vienna, Municipal Department 58)