Irmgard Griss

Irmgard Griss

Irmgard Griss (informally also as Irmgard Griss-Reiterer; born  October 13, 1946 in Bösenbach , a district of Deutschlandsberg in Styria as Irmgard Reiterer ) is an Austrian politician ( NEOS ), lawyer and former President of the Supreme Court .

In the 2016 federal presidential election in Austria , Griss ran as an independent candidate. In the 2017 National Council election , she ran for the NEOS party in second place on the list. From November 9, 2017 to October 22, 2019, she was a member of the Austrian National Council .

Life

Origin and education

Griss was the second of three children of the Reiterer family on the farm vlg. Ponigl born. After primary and secondary school in Deutschlandsberg, she attended the commercial school and commercial academy in Graz as a so-called "driving student" and graduated there in 1965. In the same year she enrolled at the University of Graz political science and made up for the Latinum. She was unable to achieve her actual professional goal of being a teacher “because of vocal deficits”. That is why she started studying law at the University of Graz in 1966, because it “seemed like the more comprehensive course” to her. During her studies she spent a semester in Paris and was an au pair girl in London for one summer . From 1969 to 1974 Griss worked as a freelancer in the Styrian regional studio of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF).

1970 it concluded with a doctorate to the Dr. iur. completed her studies and worked from 1971 to 1975 as an assistant at the Institute for Civil Court Proceedings at the University of Graz. During these years she applied for a "Frank Boas Scholarship" in the United States , which she then received. In the academic year 1974/75 she studied postgraduate at the Harvard Law School International Legal Studies, which she graduated with a Master of Laws (LL.M.).

Career as a lawyer

Irmgard Griss as a substitute member of the VfGH (2015)

Back in Graz, Griss completed the judicial year and took leave of absence from the university in order to work as a trainee ( trainee lawyer) in Vienna from 1976 . In 1978 she passed the bar exam. Then she decided to work as a judge for the time being: "Because I wanted to learn how a judge thinks in order to later be successful as a lawyer in court."

From February 1979 to 1980 she was first judge at the District Court for Commercial Matters Vienna and from 1981 to 1987 at the Commercial Court Vienna, which she described as the best time of her professional career.

In 1987, Griss was appointed to the Vienna Higher Regional Court, where she worked as an appeal judge until 1992. In 1993 she was appointed judge at the Supreme Court (OGH). At the beginning of 2007 she was appointed President of the Supreme Court, in which position she worked until her retirement at the end of 2011. From 2008 until her constitutional resignation on December 31, 2016, she was a substitute member of the Constitutional Court (VfGH) through unanimous nomination by the Federal Council .

From 1993 to the end of 2013, Griss was a member of the Supreme Patent and Trademark Senate, and from the beginning of 2010 she was its President. In 2010 and 2011 she was President of the Network of Supreme Court Presidents of the European Union . She is a member and spokeswoman for the Senate of the European Law Institute .

In May 2013, after her retirement (2011), she became the paid head of the arbitration board for consumer transactions, which was then a pilot project of the Ministry of Social Affairs . In January 2015 she was appointed international judge at the newly established Singapore International Commercial Court , with which Singapore would like to "offer Asian companies in particular an alternative to international arbitration courts".

University offices

Griss is authorized to teach civil and commercial law as an honorary professor at the University of Graz . She practiced this alongside her work as a judge: for several years she taught civil law as well as commercial and economic law, both at the Vienna University of Economics and later in Graz.

From 2003 to 2013 she was a member of the University Council for the University of Graz , from 2005 to 2010 its chairwoman. Since 2006 she has been the chairwoman of the arbitration commission under Section 13a of the University Act .

Head of the Hypo investigation committee

In March 2014, the then Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger ( ÖVP ) commissioned Griss as a second choice to head the investigative commission into the Hypo Alpe Adria case (investigative commission for the transparent clarification of incidents around the Hypo Group Alpe-Adria.) . Even though Spindelegger had assured her that he would be able to work “without guidelines”, Griss made it clear in advance: “I stop immediately if I am disabled.” Werner Zinkl, President of the Judges' Association, did not see an empty threat: “She should have the feeling of being blocked, 'draw the consequences'. "

The Commission's final report was presented in December 2014. On December 17, it became known that all the minutes of the meetings accumulated during the course of the commission had been destroyed.

Election of the Federal President in 2016

From consideration to candidacy

At the end of 2014, Griss “did not completely rule out” a candidacy for the 2016 federal presidential election . She would "think about it" if the SPÖ and ÖVP agreed on her as an independent candidate, but that would be "beyond any probability."

In January 2015, she explains, “I would think about running as a joint candidate for the SPÖ and ÖVP if this 'eighth wonder of the world' occurs. I wanted to express that all speculations that I could run for the federal presidential election are completely outside the realm of reality. ”In the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten on January 16, 2015 this was“ finally […] as a rejection ”.

On September 21, 2015, she said of speculation about her candidacy: "I am honored, but I have not given it serious thought."

On October 19, 2015, Griss said “I'm ready” on ORF radio. She thought about it for a long time and was ready for the race for the Hofburg next year. When asked whether she would also accept Heinz-Christian Strache as Federal Chancellor, she replied: “If a certain party that is able to appoint the Federal Chancellor finds a majority and trust in parliament, I don't see how which can be prevented by acting in accordance with the constitution. "

On December 17, 2015, Griss finally announced via Facebook and YouTube video that she was seeking an independent candidacy.

Content orientation

Irmgard Griss presented her election platform on April 1, 2016, in which she called for the expansion of all-day schools, an inheritance tax and the abolition of official secrecy. In further statements she indicated that she could look back on the black-blue coalition of ÖVP and FPÖ (later BZÖ) between 2000 and 2007 as positive in many respects. When it comes to the issue of refugee policy, Griss accuses the Austrian government of breaking the law because it has not registered asylum seekers passing through. Griss assessed a court of arbitration proposed by the EU Commission within the framework of TTIP as positive. The political scientists Peter Hajek and Wolfgang Bachmayer locate Griss as politically "right of center."

Campaign donations and support

By the end of March, Griss received the most campaign donations of all candidates, the highest of which came from representatives from the financial and industrial sectors .

On April 14, 2016, the personal support of the NEOS party and club chairman Matthias Strolz and the former ÖVP party chairman and Vice Chancellor Erhard Busek became public. This brought the latter - also because of his criticism of the age of all candidates (including the candidate from his own party, Andreas Khol ) - violent criticism from his own ranks, as well as calls for his exclusion from the party. The NEOS declared their support for Griss in March 2016.

One day later, Herbert Kohlmaier , a member of the National Council, joined forces . D., ex-general secretary of the ÖVP and ex-federal chairman of the ÖVP workers wing ÖAAB , another ÖVP veteran of the (in the meantime relativized) recommendation by Busek to elect Griss.

griss2016.at

At the beginning of 2015, a musician from Graz had registered the internet domain griss2016.at on himself. He is politically interested, curious and he wanted to see what happens. In mid-October 2015, Johannes Griss, Irmgard Griss's eldest son, asked the musician whether the domain was still available and needed for the election campaign. The two agreed and the domain was easily transferred to Griss without any financial gain.

Election result

With 18.9% of the votes, Griss achieved the third-best result in the first round of the federal presidential election in Austria in 2016 and missed the runoff by less than 3 percentage points. In the second ballot that followed, she supported the former Green Chairman Alexander Van der Bellen , who stood as an independent candidate , in order to avoid a federal presidency of FPÖ politician Norbert Hofer .

Member of the National Council & "Alliance partner" of NEOS

In the 2017 National Council election , she ran - as " alliance partner " of NEOS - behind Matthias Strolz in second place on the NEOS federal list and then moved into the National Council as the oldest member (at the age of 70). In June 2019, she announced that she would no longer run for the next National Council election in 2019 . However, she will support NEOS in the election campaign. In several interviews, she announced that she could well imagine taking over a ministerial office if NEOS came into the government.

Private life

Irmgard Griss has been married to lawyer Gunter Griss since 1986; it was their second marriage. The two met in Paris in 1969 , when Gunter, who was doing postgraduate studies there, was asked by his sister by telephone to pick up two friends who wanted to work as au pairs in Paris from the train station and look after them take care of. On the platform he met his future wife Irmgard.

The family lives in Graz. According to her own information on ORF , Griss has an apartment in the inner city of Vienna , which she would have continued to use as her residence even as Federal President.

As a former single parent , Griss brought her one and a half year old son Johannes from her first marriage, at whose birth she was already 38 years old, into the new marriage with Gunter Griss, who was also a lawyer for the Thomas Bernhard Foundation. At the time of the marriage, Gunter Griss had three children aged 15, 14 and 13 years. He was one of the few single fathers for eight years in the 1970s after divorcing his first wife. The two of them have their son Rudolf.

Johannes Griss , Irmgard Griss' older biological son, is an assistant doctor at the “Clinical Department for Immunodermatology and Infectious Skin Diseases” at Med-Uni Vienna and a researching doctor with several independent publications. The youngest son of Irmgard and Gunter Griss, Rudolf Griss, studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich , then moved to Lausanne and founded a start-up company for biomedicine there . Irmgard Griss' oldest stepson Peter is also a lawyer and continues to run his father's law firm.

Together with her husband Gunter, Irmgard Griss runs the Dr. Griss GmbH, of which she has been the managing majority shareholder (75%) since October 2014. The company was founded in December 1991 as Dr. Gunter Griss GmbH, the “rendering of services” is registered as the company's purpose.

TV moderation

In spring 2017, Griss appeared in three TV shows "In the Name of the People" on Puls 4 . She plays a judge. In the first broadcast in April, a headscarf ban in schools was discussed. 500 citizens selected by the opinion research institute OGM were surveyed during the broadcast and 80% of them vote in favor of the headscarf ban. The other two programs were about the legalization of cannabis and whether the federal states have too much power.

Assessments about Griss

Hypo-investigation

In connection with her appointment as head of the Hypo Investigation Commission, the following statements about Irmgard Griss were handed down (here quoted from Kurier in March 2014; similar in other sources):

“'She can do that. She is an independent, honest and knowledgeable personality,' said Federal President Heinz Fischer . 'She is an excellent lawyer', recognized everywhere, says the president of the judges' association, Werner Zinkl. Griss is consistent and assertive. Another from court circles describes them as' unswerving from outside influences. It bounces off her like a rock. ' As one lawyer puts it: 'She's a stubborn head. She doesn't compromise. '"

Political awareness

Griss' statements about the time of National Socialism sparked irritation . In an interview conducted as an "alternative test" in the weekly newspaper Falter, for example, she answered a question about her historical awareness: "It wasn't that the Nazis only showed an evil face from the start."

In the press , the journalist Anneliese Rohrer dealt with Griss' statement in her column Quergeschritten and used this criticism of the system to practice: "If such thoughts were made public today by the much more cautious FPÖ politicians, would the devil be like in the 1990s? Or are we dulled there too? ”[…]“ Do you see where that has brought us? In a system that is deeply rejected by many ":

“Griss' statement in the interview sparked a fan in social media, neither shit nor storm . By and large, it was simply ignored. She herself only made things worse with her attempts to explain in ' ZiB 2 ': The people had been seduced. What did we do with Jörg Haider when he carried out such a political soul massage for potential voters by confirming the victim lie. It wasn't all bad. Many still like to hear that now. A certain DNA message in Austria.

[...]

[W] e [should] put the words of a high judge, who should actually be used to paying attention to their effect and consistency, on the gold scales: So what does 'from the beginning' mean? Just the time in Austria from the Anschluss in March 1938 to the 'Reichskristallnacht' in November of that year? Was that enough 'beginning'? Or the events in Germany from 1933? Did they show the friendly face of the Nazis ? ' Mein Kampf ' was a bestseller in 1932 - a feel-good book? According to Griss, the Austrians didn't notice anything at first and were later seduced. "

In conclusion, Rohrer attested to Griss, who appeared as an “anti-politician”, that she “unfortunately had no keen sense of the political nature of her statements”.

Awards

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• 2010: Admission as an honorary member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences .
• 2011: Large gold medal on ribbon for services to the Republic of Austria , personally presented by the Federal President on December 23, 2011 on the occasion of Griss' retirement as President of the Supreme Court.
• 2016: Great Golden Decoration of the State of Styria

Works

• Reform of tort law. LexisNexis ARD ORAC, 2007. ISBN 978-3-7007-3792-6 .
• Chapter twenty-first - From the loan agreement . In a short commentary on the ABGB, Springer 2007, ISBN 978-3-7091-0171-1 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-211-71643-4_28 .
• Draft of a new Austrian law on damages. Springer Verlag, 2006. ISBN 978-3-211-30827-1 .

literature

• Brigitte Schenk, Elisabeth Lovrek , Gottfried Musger, Matthias Neumayr (editor): Festschrift for Irmgard Griss. Jan Sramek Verlag, 2011. ISBN 978-3-902638-38-0 .
• Carina Kerschbaumer: Irmgard Griss in conversation with Carina Kerschbaumer. Edition Kleine Zeitung , Graz 2016, ISBN 978-3-902819-62-8 .

Web links

• www.griss16.at - Official election campaign website for Irmgard Griss.
• Short biography (PDF) on the website of the Austrian Academy of Sciences as of 2013.
• Short biography on the website of the Austrian Constitutional Court. ( Memento from October 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
• Hypo investigation committee. Official website under the responsibility of “Hon.-Prof. Dr. Irmgard Griss, LL.M ".
• Irmgard Griss on the website of the Austrian Parliament
• Irmgard Griss at www.meineabektiven.at

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} cf. B. in: Directory of Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences , accessed on April 15, 2016.
2. ↑ Fixed candidacy: Irmgard Griss wants to become Federal President. In: Tiroler Tageszeitung , December 17, 2015, accessed on March 6, 2020.
3. ↑ Griss managed 6,000 supports. In: Kurier , March 8, 2016, accessed March 9, 2016.
4. ↑ Dr. Irmgard Griss, biography. Retrieved January 1, 2018 . 
5. ^ In: Weststeirische Rundschau. Volume 88, No. 9/2015, February 27, 2015. Simadruck Aigner and Weisi, Deutschlandsberg 2015, p. 3, ZDB -ID 2303595-X .
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} About the person - My training path ( memento of the original from April 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the campaign website of the IG support association for courage and responsibility for Irmgard Griss, accessed on April 15, 2016. 
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Short biography (PDF) on the website of the Austrian Academy of Sciences as of 2013, accessed on April 15, 2016.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Karin Leitner, Maria Kern: Spindelegger's rubble woman in the Hypo. In: Kurier , March 29, 2014, accessed April 15, 2016.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Substitute member: Irmgard Griss. ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Short biography on the website of the Constitutional Court, accessed on October 30, 2016.  
10. ↑ Irmgard Griss: The woman who is supposed to slow down the hypo committee . In: derStandard.at , March 23, 2014, accessed on December 6, 2014.
11. ↑ Report of the independent investigation commission for the transparent clarification of the incidents around the Hypo Group Alpe-Adria. (PDF) Published on December 2, 2014 on the website of the Commission of Inquiry, accessed on April 15, 2016.
12. ↑ Griss Commission sees severe failure of the coalition . In: derStandard.at , December 2, 2014, accessed on December 6, 2014.
13. ↑ Griss does not completely rule out candidacy for the Hofburg. In: derStandard.at , December 28, 2014, accessed on September 28, 2015.
14. ↑ A rejection for the Hofburg and the consequences. In: OÖN / nachrichten.at , January 16, 2015, accessed on September 28, 2015.
15. ↑ Griss does not rule out candidacy as Federal President. In: derStandard.at , APA report from September 21, 2015, accessed on September 28, 2015.
16. ↑ Griss: I'm ready to run for the Hofburg. Also with an FPOe ticket. In: krone.at , accessed on October 26, 2015.
17. ↑ Hofburg election: Griss gives inaugural speech on YouTube. In: DiePresse.com . December 17, 2015, accessed December 17, 2015 . 
18. ^ Hofburg election: Griss presented the election program. In: orf.at , April 1, 2016, accessed on November 21, 2017.
19. ↑ Griss presents 21 points as a model for Austria. In: Kurier , April 1, 2016.
20. ↑ Griss: The division into good and bad bothers me a lot. , In: DiePresse.com .
21. ↑ ^{a b c} Ida Metzger: Griss und Sohn: "At home there were no laws". "Rudolf Griss on his mother's image as a strict judge who was very tolerant at home." Joint interview with Irmgard Griss and her son Rudolf. In: Kurier (daily newspaper) , March 28, 2016, accessed on April 15, 2016.
22. ↑ Irmgard Griss: I have always admired Merkel. In: DiePresse.com .
23. ↑ TTIP: Candidates for President versus Arbitral Tribunals , Der Standard, March 23, 2016
24. ↑ Political scientists expect a close race. In: orf.at , January 31, 2016, accessed on November 21, 2017.
25. ↑ Campaign donations: Griss far ahead. In: DiePresse.com .
26. ↑ Donations to candidates: Griss has already received 660,000 euros. In: derStandard.at .
27. ↑ Transparency ( memento of the original from April 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the official election website of the candidate Irmgard Griss. 
28. ↑ koli, völ, pm, APA: Busek and Strolz support Griss. / Busek for Griss: ÖVP votes demand exclusion from the party. In: derStandard.at , April 14, 2016, accessed on April 15, 2016.
29. ↑ Conrad Seidl : Busek disgusts his critics. In: derStandard.at , April 15, 2016, accessed on April 15, 2016.
30. ↑ Hofburg election: Griss for NEOS “number one” , ORF online, March 4, 2016.
31. ^ Johannes Huber: ÖVP: Ex-Secretary General also elects Griss. "Herbert Kohlmaier joins Erhard Busek: 'I have to put the welfare of the state in front of that of my party.'" In: dieSubstanz.at, April 15, 2016, accessed on April 15, 2016.
32. ↑ völ: Griss-Sohn secures domain griss2016.at. Johannes Griss wants to give his mother a present. In: derStandard.at , October 24, 2015, accessed on April 15, 2016.
33. ↑ presidential election 2016 - news.ORF.at. In: orf.at. Retrieved May 9, 2016 . 
34. ↑ Federal President Election 2016 - overall result including a statement by the federal electoral authority. Federal Ministry of the Interior, May 2, 2016, accessed on May 3, 2016 . 
35. ^ New Federal President: Green Van der Bellen wins election in Austria. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. May 23, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016 . 
36. ↑ ORF at / Agencies red: NEOS with an extremely long list name. July 7, 2017, accessed June 20, 2019 . 
37. ↑ ORF at / agencies red: NEOS clear for Griss. July 8, 2017, accessed June 20, 2019 . 
38. ↑ ORF at / Agencies red: Griss is no longer running for National Council. June 20, 2019, accessed June 20, 2019 . 
39. ↑ STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: Irmgard Griss can imagine ministerial office . In: derStandard.at . ( derstandard.at [accessed on August 15, 2017]).
40. ↑ ORF at / Agencies red: Griss is no longer running for National Council. June 20, 2019, accessed June 20, 2019 . 
41. ↑ ^{a b c} Ida Metzger: Gunter Griss: "As a husband, I make a sacrifice". “Who is the man behind the candidate? The interview [with Gunter and Irmgard Griss] about late love and patchwork. ”In: Kurier.at , January 31, 2016, accessed on April 15, 2016.
42. ↑ The fact that she raised her (first) son as a single mother, she emphasized several times in the various TV programs for the election of the Federal President on ORF ( ORF one and ORF 2 ).
43. ↑ Interview with Renate Graber: Irmgard Griss: "My knees were shaking". In: derStandard.at. April 21, 2014, accessed April 17, 2016 . 
44. ↑ ^{a b} Conny Bischofberger : Rudolf Griss: “At home, mom never spoke a word of power.” “Ex-Supreme Judge Irmgard Griss (69) and her sons Johannes [Griss] (31) and Rudolf [Griss] (28) speak at the 'Krone '-Interview with Conny Bischofberger ... “In: Kronen Zeitung , April 2nd, 2016, accessed on April 15th, 2016.
45. ↑ See immunodermatology / general information / staff ( memento of the original from April 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the Meduni Vienna, accessed on April 15, 2016. 
46. ↑ See e.g. B. Specialized publication 2014 (with GPDE - Griss Proteomics Database Engine and others); Specialized publication 2016 .
47. ↑ Dr. Peter Griss LL.M. ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of Griss & Partner Rechtsanwälte, accessed on April 15, 2016.  
48. ↑ Entry on FN 34624v. In: firmenmonitor.at der Wiener Zeitung , accessed on April 15, 2016: Entry of the change in the commercial register Dr. Gunter Griss GmbH, now Dr. Griss GmbH, shareholders' resolution to change the amount of capital and the amount of company shares. Announced on December 2, 2014 at the Regional Court for Civil Law Matters in Graz.
49. ↑ Entry by Dr. Griss GmbH in Graz, FN 34624v with the legal form starting on December 3, 1991. In: firmenabc.at, accessed on April 15, 2016.
50. ↑ Anna-Maria Wallner: "In the name of the people": Who needs this show judgment? diepresse.com, May 8, 2017, accessed July 1, 2017.
51. ↑ LJUBIŠA TOŠIĆ: "In the name of the people" on pulse 4: Irmgard Griss, desperately wanted derstandard.at, May 8, 2017, accessed on July 1, 2017.
52. ↑ Excitement is a daughter of time. Griss is allowed to do what Haider was never allowed to do. In: Die Presse , print edition, April 9, 2016, accessed on April 28, 2016.
53. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 onwards. (PDF; 6.9 MB) Austrian Parliament , April 23, 2012, p. 1989 , accessed on April 15, 2016 . 
54. ↑ orf.at - Griss receives the state's gold medal . Article dated September 20, 2016, accessed September 20, 2016.
55. ↑ According to the legal notice, the election campaign website is published by the association: IG for Courage and Responsibility, ZVR number 905502827, at the address of the family law firm Griss & Partner. The imprint emphasizes: "[...] The content and opinions represented on this medium are not necessarily consistent with those of Irmgard Griss."