Increased punishment in the event of relapse
The tightening of penalties in the event of a relapse is an extension of detention for repeat offenders imposed by Austrian and Liechtenstein courts in criminal proceedings . It is defined in Section 39 of both penal codes (StGB) and is served like any normal prison sentence in Austrian prisons . This normally also applies to increased penalties pronounced in Liechtenstein, since Liechtenstein prisoners usually also serve their prison sentence in Austria on the basis of a bilateral state treaty, apart from their release.
The Austrian Financial Criminal Law (FinStrG) also recognizes the tightening of penalties in the case of recidivism for financial criminal offenses with Section 47. Neither the German nor the Swiss penal code recognizes the sharpening of penalties in the event of relapse.
definition
In the first paragraph of Section 39 of the Criminal Code, the sharpening of penalties in the event of relapse is described as an optional means of extending the sentence. At the same time it is defined that it can only be used against offenders who have already been convicted twice for a similar crime. It also describes the application of the severity of penalties and the maximum duration of the prison sentence. In Austria this is generally a maximum of 20 years; beyond that, only persons sentenced to life imprisonment and inmates of the measures taken can be imprisoned.
"Has the perpetrator been sentenced to imprisonment twice for offenses based on the same harmful inclination, and has he served at least part of these sentences, even if only by taking into account preliminary detention or the deprivation of liberty associated with the implementation of a preventive measure ? , if, after reaching the age of nineteen, he again commits a criminal offense for the same harmful inclination, the maximum imprisonment sentence or fine may be exceeded by half. But the term of imprisonment must not exceed twenty years. "
The second paragraph describes the statute of limitations for criminal offenses that can be used to justify the aggravation of the penalty.
“A previous sentence will not be considered if more than five years have passed since it was served until the next offense.
This period does not include times in which the convicted person was stopped by order of the authorities. If the sentence has only been served by crediting preliminary detention, the period does not begin until the judgment becomes final. "
Same harmful tendency
Paragraph 71 of the Austrian Criminal Code (ÖStGB) describes as the same harmful tendency in the sense of a legal definition "acts threatened with punishment if they are directed against the same legal interest or are due to similar reprehensible motives or to the same lack of character."
