Association of Austrian judges
| Association of Austrian Judges (RIV) |
|
|---|---|
| legal form | society |
| founding | 1907 |
| Seat | Vienna |
| Chair | Sabine Matejka |
| Website | richtervereinigung.at |
The Association of Austrian Judges (RIV) is a professional association based in Vienna . The association is represented externally by its president. Members of the association can be all Austrian judges for service and retirement as well as all Austrian trainee judges and Austrians who are appointed as judges at international or supranational courts.
Structure and field of activity
The board consists of the president, three vice-presidents and a further eighteen board members from all four Austrian higher regional courts, who are elected from the association members by the general assembly for four years, whereby two re-elections are permitted. The regional interests are represented by 16 sections (for the district of one or more courts of first instance, as well as the supreme courts and administrative courts). Specialist groups deal with special areas of law, in particular with the assessment of draft laws and judicial training.
During the general assembly on November 26, 2015, the statutes of the association were changed by establishing a section "Administrative Courts" and adding a member from the area of administrative jurisdiction to the board of directors, including judges from the Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Finance Court to offer the regional administrative courts the opportunity to better represent their interests within the association.
The presidium elected in 2017 consists of the president, Sabine Matejka , and the three vice-presidents, Gernot Kanduth, Harald Wagner and Yvonne Summer. In December 2017 the association had around 2900 members.
The Association of Austrian Judges, in cooperation with the Association of Austrian Public Prosecutors and the Federal Representation of Judges and Public Prosecutors in the Public Service Union, publishes the Austrian Judges 'Newspaper, which appears 10 times a year, and organizes the Judges' Day every five years deals with fundamental questions of the rule of law, the judiciary or the judiciary. The last judges' day took place in November 2017 in Vienna with the focus on “Rule of Law - Back to the Future”. It submits proposals and reports to legislation and enforcement and takes a position on practical issues.
aims
The purpose of the statutes is:
- raising and promoting the administration of justice and the rule of law in Austria
- maintaining and strengthening judicial independence
- the promotion of organizational reforms to guarantee the administration of justice that takes modern circumstances into account
- supporting and representing the ideal, material and social interests of the judiciary
history
On March 17, 1907, the constituent assembly took place in the jury room of the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in Vienna , with the lively participation of judges and public prosecutors from all parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy .
The "raising and promoting the administration of justice and the judiciary" was the general purpose of the association. Leo Elsner, the first president of the association, described the association in his welcoming speech as the “guardian of the independence of judges”.
In May 1907, Minister of Justice Franz Klein tried to take lawyers to the Supreme Court. Due to the vehement resistance and protests of the association, no such appointments were made. Beginning in July 1907, the “Notices of the Association of Austrian Judges” were published regularly. These have been published as the “Österreichische Richterzeitung” since 1904. With the publication of the magazine, a powerful instrument was available that served to articulate the long-term goals and urgent concerns of the association.
On December 8, 1907, the first general assembly took place and the association had around 2000 members. In 1911 the association had more than 3,000 members.
The outbreak of war in 1914 led to a significant reduction in the size of the judges' newspaper for reasons of cost, which meant that its publication could be guaranteed without interruption throughout the First World War. Due to the war, the focus shifted to articles about the poor material situation of the judges. Finally, in November 1918, the judges 'newspaper was renamed "German-Austrian judges' newspaper".
The collapse of the Habsburg monarchy did not leave the judges' association unaffected. The emergence of independent states in the area of "old" Austria ensured that the area of activity was reduced to the newly emerging Republic of German- Austria. Associated with this was a drastic reduction in the number of members within the judges' association. This meant a significant shortage of financial resources due to the decrease in membership fees.
The judges' association was renamed “Association of German-Austrian Judges” on October 30, 1918. This corresponded to the political orientation of the time and the general trend towards annexation to Germany between 1918 and 1919. The “legal association with the German empire” should be promoted and one now wanted to devote itself to “cultivating the German judicial spirit”.
The following years were marked by reforms in the area of the judiciary and shifts of competences up to a planned amalgamation of all supreme courts of justice ( OGH , VfGH , VwGH ). This amalgamation could only be prevented after violent protests by the judges' association. Furthermore, the time was marked by a constant struggle of the judges 'association to improve the judges' service and wages, which should correspond to their constitutional status, the nature of their service and the needs of the administration of justice.
During the politically turbulent years of the First Republic, the judges' association was challenged several times to communicate its ideological position. It also had to defend itself against attacks by representatives of extreme political views, both on the left and - especially in later years - from the right. As early as 1920 a declaration was published in which the association refused to accept anonymous letters to the editor with anti-Semitic content, which apparently gave the impression that they were the official opinion of the entire judiciary.
The association, whose ideological orientation was Greater German and which was still called the “Association of German-Austrian Judges”, decided in 1922 to join the German Judges' Association. However, the latter refused to join "with consideration for Germany's foreign policy situation".
The association changed its name to "Association of Austrian Judges" in 1925. Since then, its press has been called “Österreichische Richterzeitung”. The fire at the Palace of Justice in 1927 was a decisive event .
In 1934, after the establishment of the corporate state, the professional duties were transferred to the newly founded “Comradeship of Judges and Public Prosecutors” and the Austrian Association of Judges had to delete these goals from its statutes. From then on she had to concentrate on the cultural and social concerns of the judiciary.
In March 1938 the (for the time being last) edition of the judges newspaper still bore the title "Österreichische Richterzeitung", but already had the subtitle "Organ of the Judges and Public Prosecutors' Group in the National Socialist Legal Guardian Association " (NSRB). The former “Comradeship of Austrian Judges and Public Prosecutors” was transferred to the NSRB . The Austrian Association of Judges ceased to exist. As early as March 16, 1938, Hans Mann was appointed acting head of the legal associations and associations by the Austrian leadership of the National Socialist Lawyers' Association. Formally, however, the dissolution of the Austrian Judges' Association was only ordered in August 1938 and the liquidation dragged on until the beginning of 1939.
Efforts to re-establish the judges' association failed in 1945/46. Two years later, the association was revived and on June 8, 1948, the first general meeting of the Association of Austrian Judges for over ten years took place. Wilhelm Malaniuk became the first chairman of the Austrian judges' association in 1948. The judges' association initially led a shadowy existence, as the exclusive professional representation was carried out by the trade union section. After a split, even if only temporary, between the union section and the judges 'association from 1950, the judges' association developed into a professional organization again over the next few years. She was also active on an international level and organized, among other things, the founding conference of the international judges' association in 1953.
The "Österreichische Richterzeitung" appeared again in November 1954. The judges' association in association with the Federal Judges and Public Prosecutor's Office in the GÖD acted as owner and publisher and was to be seen as a sign of the reconciliation between the two professional organizations.
On the occasion of the Judges 'Day in 1982, which was held in Salzburg under the main theme: “The task of the judge in a pluralistic society”, the judges' association passed the “Salzburg resolutions”.
This was a resolution that recommended judges not to engage in party politics while on active service and to avoid membership in political parties. The “Salzburg Resolutions” triggered criticism and discussions, but in the end they still represent an essential cornerstone of the attitude and attitude of the judges' association.
On the occasion of its general meeting in 2007 - which was dedicated to the centenary - the judges' association, in a consequent further development of the Salzburg resolutions, adopted a declaration of ethics that had been drawn up since 2003 with the involvement of a large number of Austrian judges.
Since then, as the “Wels Declaration”, this has formed an essential component in the training of young judges and is also a role model in neighboring countries in the development and elaboration of ethical guidelines for judges.
President
- 1907–1913: Leo Elsner
- 1913–1914: Friedrich Hruza
- 1914–1923: Friedrich von Engel
- 1923–1929: Ernst Ganzwohl
- 1929–1934: Friedrich Aichinger
- 1934–1937: Philipp Hotter
- 1937–1938: Oskar Stritzl
- 1948–1951: Wilhelm Malaniuk
- 1951–1957: Karl Wahle
- 1957–1972: Heinrich Bröll
- 1972–1975: Walter Schragel
- 1975–1983: Udo Jesionek
- 1983–1992: Ernst Markel
- 1992–1998: Josef Klingler
- 1998–2007: Barbara Helige
- 2007–2017: Werner Zinkl
- since 2017: Sabine Matejka
literature
- Christian Neschwara , Karin Ostrawsky: The first Austrian judges' association 1907–1918. In: Barbara Helige, Thomas Olechowski (Hrsg.): 100 years of judges' association, contributions to contemporary legal history. Linde Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7073-1026-9 , pp. 27-50.
- Viktor Szontagh: The judges' association 1918–1938 in the mirror of the judges newspaper. In: Barbara Helige, Thomas Olechowski (Hrsg.): 100 years of judges' association, contributions to contemporary legal history. Linde Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7073-1026-9 , pp. 51-66.
- Verena Pawlowsky: "Law is what is useful to the German people" The dissolution of the Austrian judges 'association in 1938. In: Barbara Helige, Thomas Olechowski (Ed.): 100 years of judges' association, contributions to contemporary legal history. Linde Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7073-1026-9 , pp. 113–125.
- Thomas Olechowski: The judicial professional representation since 1945. In: Barbara Helige, Thomas Olechowski (Hrsg.): 100 years of judges' association contributions to contemporary legal history. Linde Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7073-1026-9 , pp. 147-189.
Individual evidence
- ^ Statutes of the Association of Austrian Judges , accessed on February 23, 2016
- ↑ Werner Zinkl: Willkommen In: RZ - Österreichische Richterzeitung 94th year, 2016, p. 1
- ^ Presidium of the Association of Austrian Judges , accessed on December 22, 2017
- ↑ Salzburg resolutions , accessed on June 3, 2015.
- ↑ Ethics Declaration of the Association of Austrian Judges , accessed on June 3, 2015
- ^ Wiener Zeitung: President for judges for the first time . Article dated November 26, 1998, accessed November 19, 2017.
- ^ Association of Austrian judges in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
- ↑ derStandard.at: Association of judges gets a new president . Article dated November 8, 2007, accessed November 19, 2017.
- ↑ a b Crossing the finish line at the head of the judges: Sabine Matejka becomes head of the judges' association . Article dated November 14, 2017, accessed November 19, 2017.