Statute of limitations (Austria)
In civil law, statute of limitations is the loss of the opportunity to enforce an existing claim caused by the expiry of a certain period. In public law, the statute of limitations usually leads to the expiry of the claim. The criminal statute of limitations constitutes a procedural obstacle, i. H. the offense can no longer be prosecuted.
civil right
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Limitation periods :
- Thirty-year period : The general limitation period of the ABGB is 30 years.
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Three-year period : In certain cases the period is reduced to three years, mainly for rights that are normally asserted very quickly. (Hardly anyone keeps the receipts for payments at the bakery, for example.) In particular, the short limitation period is subject to:
- The right to regularly recurring individual services (interest, pensions, etc.).
- Claims of daily life (§ 1486 ABGB).
- The right to overturn a testamentary disposition, to demand the compulsory portion or its addition, to revoke a donation due to gross ingratitude, to assert errors or fears when concluding a contract, to discontinue the business basis, to reduce it by half (§ 1487 ABGB).
- Claims for damages (from knowledge of the injured party about the damage and the damaging party).
- Forty-year period : A forty-year limitation period applies to individual tax claims.
- Effect: After the deadline has expired, the debt is still enforceable, but the debtor can object to the expiry of the statute of limitations, whereby he is exempt from performance. Nevertheless, the debt can still be effectively fulfilled ( natural obligation ).
- Preclusion periods (e.g. warranty periods), however, completely destroy the right.
Criminal law
In criminal law, a distinction is made between the statute of limitations on prosecution and the statute of limitations on enforceability :
- If the statute of limitations has occurred, the criminal liability expires.
- Once the statute of limitations has expired, an imposed penalty may no longer be executed.
Statute of limitations
The period for this begins as soon as the criminal act is completed, in the case of permanent offenses as soon as the criminal act has been completed. However, it is extended if the actual success only occurred later: In this case, the period begins with the occurrence of the success.
The length of the limitation period depends on the severity of the sentence with which the act is threatened:
| Limitation period | Act threatened with maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| none (but after 20 years reduced to 10-20 years) | life imprisonment or 10–20 years |
| 20 years | Imprisonment for more than 10 years |
| ten years | Imprisonment for 5–10 years |
| 5 years | Imprisonment 1-5 year (s) |
| 3 years | Imprisonment 6 months - 1 year |
| 1 year | Imprisonment of up to 6 months or a fine |
Limitation of enforceability
The deadline for this begins with the legal force of the court decision. It depends on the extent of the penalty imposed or the type of order made and is:
| Limitation period | Punishment imposed or type of disposition |
|---|---|
| no | Life imprisonment or 10–20 years or placement in an institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers or dangerous recidivists |
| 15 years | Imprisonment for 1–10 years |
| ten years | Imprisonment 3 months - 1 year or, in the case of a fine, a substitute imprisonment of more than three months |
| 5 years | in all other cases |
If several penalties (or preventive measures) are imposed at the same time, the statute of limitations is based on the penalty or measure with the longest limitation period. If imprisonment and a fine were imposed at the same time, imprisonment and substitute imprisonment are added to the calculation of the limitation period.
Administrative criminal law
A distinction is made between the statute of limitations on prosecution and the statute of limitations on enforcement . Furthermore, there is a statute of limitations for appeal proceedings .
- The statute of limitations begins one year after the administrative offense was committed. If the administrative criminal authority has not committed any persecution by then (that is, any official act against a specific person because of a specific administrative offense), the act is statute-barred. The violation may no longer be prosecuted.
- The by limitation occurs in most cases, three years after the commission of the administrative offense one: At this point in time may also previously imposed penalties not be enforced more. However, the limitation period is suspended for the duration of complaint proceedings before the courts of public law ( Constitutional Court and Administrative Court ) .
The limitation period is also suspended for the duration of a stay abroad.
- The complaint limitation occurs when the Administrative Court does not fall within 15 months (from receipt of the complaint to the respondent authority) a decision. In this case, the contested decision is deemed to be canceled and the proceedings are to be discontinued.
Tax procedural law
There are two types of statute of limitations in tax law:
- Rated limitation is the limitation of the right of tax authorities to impose a levy. It occurs 5 years after the end of the year in which the tax claim arose. In the case of tax evasion, this period is 10 years. The statute of limitations is interrupted by every externally recognizable act of the tax authority that is undertaken to assert the tax claim (e.g. request to submit a declaration, reservations, supplementary order). The limitation period begins to run again at the end of the year in which it was interrupted. If 10 years have passed since the tax claim arose, the tax claim may no longer be asserted ( absolute statute of limitations ).
- The statute of limitations is the statute of limitations on the right of the tax authority to collect a tax that is already due. It occurs 5 years after the end of the year in which the tax was due. The statute of limitations is interrupted by any externally recognizable action by the tax authority that is undertaken to enforce the claim (e.g. reminders, enforcement measures, approval of payment facilitations). The limitation period begins to run again at the end of the year in which it was interrupted.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Criminal Code (Austria) , Section 57
