Authorization offense
An authorization offense is in Austria a criminal offense, the prosecutor if the person authorizes only pursued it. The counterpart to the authorizing offense is the official offense, which is prosecuted ex officio by the public prosecutor.
The formalities for this authorization are regulated in Section 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: If the relevant law requires authorization to prosecute, the criminal police or the public prosecutor's office must immediately inquire of the legally authorized person whether they will grant the authorization. If this is refused, the proceedings must be terminated. The authorization is deemed to have been refused if it is not granted within fourteen days of the request. In the special case of public insult to a constitutional representative body , the period is six weeks.
Examples of authorizing offenses are deception ( Section 108 StGB ), trespassing ( Section 109 StGB ), child abduction ( Section 195 StGB ) and various forms of insult: Is a public insult directed against the Federal President, National Council, Federal Council, a Landtag, the Federal Army or a Authority ( § 116 StGB ), the public prosecutor's office must obtain authorization from the offended person or authority. In the event of public insult to an official or pastor of a recognized religious community, authorization must also be obtained from the superior body ( Section 117 StGB ). Racially insulting a person is also an empowering offense, while "simple" insulting is a private prosecution offense.
