Procedures
The 1895 Franz Klein code, still built around an actively managing judge
Austrian civil procedure rests on the Zivilprozessordnung of 1895, whose author Franz Klein gave the judge an active role in directing the case rather than leaving pace to the parties. Bezirksgerichte hear claims up to EUR 15,000 and the Landesgerichte above that.
Key rules
- Bezirksgericht jurisdiction runs to EUR 15,000; above that the Landesgericht sits as court of first instance.
- Representation by a Rechtsanwalt is compulsory above EUR 5,000 and in all Landesgericht proceedings.
- Appeal (Berufung) must be filed within four weeks of service of the written judgment.
- A further appeal to the Oberster Gerichtshof requires a legal question of fundamental importance and generally EUR 5,000 in dispute.
- The general limitation period is thirty years, but three years for damages claims from knowledge of damage and wrongdoer under § 1489 ABGB.
Governing law
- Zivilprozessordnung (ZPO) (RGBl 113/1895)
- Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (§§ 1478, 1489)Thirty-year general and three-year delictual limitation
- Jurisdiktionsnorm (JN)Allocation of jurisdiction between courts
In practice
The long thirty-year default limitation period is misleading in practice: most commercial and damages claims fall under much shorter special periods, and the three-year delictual period is the one that actually catches claimants out. As in Germany there is no discovery, so a claim depending on the opponent's documents is hard to run. The Mahnverfahren gives a quick enforceable title for undisputed money claims, and is mandatory for claims up to EUR 75,000.