Default complaint
Default complaints under Austrian law are complaints due to a violation of the administrative authorities' duty to make decisions ( Art. 130 Para. 1 Z 3 B-VG ).
If a party in an administrative procedure is violated in their rights because the competent administrative authority has not issued a decision within the legally stipulated decision-making period, which according to Section 8 VwGVG usually lasts 6 months , the party concerned can lodge a default complaint with the competent administrative court . The expiry of the decision deadline must be certified ( Section 9 (5) last sentence VwGVG ), premature default complaints must be rejected.
In matters within the municipalities' own sphere of activity , an administrative instance can be provided for by law. In this case, if the municipality body responsible in the first instance has exceeded its decision deadline, an application for devolution ( Section 73 AVG ) must be submitted. In this case, responsibility is transferred to the local authority responsible in the second instance. A default complaint is only admissible if this has also exceeded its decision deadline.
history
Before the 2012 amendment to administrative jurisdiction came into force, the Administrative Court of Justice (Austria) ruled on default complaints.
