Use of IT within
Austrian Justice
Justice-online
Information
As at August 2005
1. Justice Enterprise
The Administration of Justice offers an indispensable service to society. Today this service is provided by an efficient and innovative enterprise, the Austrian Administration of Justice. The figures show that this enterprise - with an “annual turnover” of Euro 976 m and about 11,400 employees - is a major company.
The revenue figures demonstrate that this enterprise is also very efficient: about 74 percent of the expenditure is covered by revenue. It has to be taken into account that the Administration of Justice also has to fulfill very extensive and responsible functions, where no income can be generated.
Figures for the year 2005:
Budget estimate: expenditure – Euro 976 m
revenue – Euro 727 m
IT budget – Euro 44 m
Number of employees in the Administration of Justice Department: 11.400 (January 2005)
2. Automation of Court Procedures
The Automation of Court Procedures (ACP) has been in operation since 1986. It started with summary judgments and since then has grown to support 46 types of judicial procedures. With the project REDESIGN it has undergone a process of complete renewal, utilizing the latest Internet technology. This system has been extended with additional functions, mainly required by its users, facilitating an even faster and simpler management of procedures in the courts.
Functions: - administration of court cases
- electronic dispatch of letters
-statistics
-court fees
-index of names (for the whole of Austria)
-Integrated Text Processing (Text blocks for decisions, summonses etc)
-National Insurance inquiries (especially identification of unknown third party debtor/employer in case of garnishee/attachment of earnings proceedings
-electronic legal communications (ELC)
-publications on the Internet (edicts)
-external inquiries (in the law enforcement proceedings for attorneys/solicitors, notaries and public bodies in the conduct of legal proceedings and since January 1st 2004 electronic case inquiries)
-online help
Facts for the year 2005:7,400 users (of these 1,900 judges and public prosecutors),
3.6 m court cases, about 8 m postal items annually
3. Electronic Legal Communication (ELC)
Electronic legal communication with the courts as an instrument of communication with the parties of proceedings, on the same level as paper, was introduced into the rules of procedure in 1990. The Austrian administration of justice is therefore the "IT-World Champion" as no other country is known to have introduced electronic communication earlier.
As one of the most outstanding e-Government applications in Europe, the ELC was awarded with the EU e-Government-Label in 2001.
Electronic communication in legal relations allows electronic transmission of applications or submissions and the automatic transfer of procedural data to the Automation of Court Procedures. The resulting personnel savings in the administration of justice, which could be achieved in the final development, is estimated at 133 manpower units. Since July 1999 the "oncoming lane" on the "data highway of the administration of justice" has been opened: electronic service of court documents is also possible now by the so-called "return traffic stream". For the year 2004 savings on postage (with increasing tendency) of more than Euro 2.5 m were achieved.
At present the electronic legal communication is transferred to a new technical basis, which amongst other things opens the possibility of appending attachments to written submissions transmitted electronically.
Facts for the year 2004:6.3 m transmissions:
- approx. 2.2 m communications, i.e. 85% of summary proceedings and 60% of applications for enforcement
- 4.1 m transmissions via the “return traffic stream”
4. Land Register
At the beginning of the eighties the Federal Ministry for Economy and Employment(at that time: for Construction) and the Federal Ministry of Justice created in close co-operation a real property database at the Federal Computing Center, enabling the courts to maintain an automation supported Land Register and enabling the Land Surveying Offices to maintain an automation supported Cadastre (surveying and mapping). Since 1986 so-called "External Inquiries" have been possible: at that time already the general public was able to inspect the Land Register at the office or from home.
Since 1.7.1999 it has been possible to make external inquiries via the Internet. For these inquiries six charging agencies have been set up. (For further details see "
In view of the technical developments in this application and in order to best fulfill the increasing demand of business and public administration as well as the administration of justice itself, a fundamental technological modernization of the real property database with all its applications will be undertaken. In addition, work is in progress to integrate an electronic document archive; the rollout of the Electronic Collection of Documents at the Land Registry Courts is due to begin in 2006.
Figures for the year 2004:
3 m existing entries in the Land Register
10.4 m properties
672,000 entries
183,000 extracts of the Land Register at court
6,6 m external inquiries via the charging agencies
5. Companies Register
After the success of the Land Register the Companies Register was similarly changed over to automation support. In addition, the Companies Register law has been modified to reflect modern conditions: The Companies Register Act has been in force since 1.1.1991; the Commercial Register is now the Companies Register and includes not only businesses but also co-operative societies and private foundations. "External inquiries" in the Companies Register have been possible since then. (For further details see " The details relating to the Land Register also apply in this case.
In 2001 the electronic transmission of annual financial statements was introduced. Publication of entries in accordance with the requirements of commercial law is carried out fully automatically in the edict database.
Since early 2003 all software has been upgraded to a modern web-sphere software and Java while the database remained unchanged. Here the design of the user interface at court is similar to that of the Automation of Court Procedures. This modernization, also a precondition for the implementation of the ELC in the Companies Register, will be completed towards the end of 2005.
The change over of the Collections of Documents in all Companies Registry Courts to electronic archiving (see Electronic Document Archive below) was completed beginning of July 2005.
Figures for the year 2004:
166,000 existing registered legal entities
214,000 entries
12,000 extracts from the Companies Register at court
2,2 m external inquiries via the charging agencies
6. Official Receivers in Bankruptcy Database and Expert List
The databases contain the individuals referred to above, including interpreters, for each function with their special qualifications. They are primarily available to the courts for selection in court proceedings, but also to the public for inquiries on the Internet. This allows the allocation of court cases to these individuals as well as a secure transmission of expert opinions and court files.
As from the beginning of 2004, the Expert and Interpreter Lists have been available on the Administration of Justice intranet and on the Internet on the website
Experts, interpreters and receivers in bankruptcy can maintain themselves certain data on the EI-Lists and the Receivers in Bankruptcy List (address, telephone number, e-mail etc) by using an appropriate certificate.
Since 2005 the new expert interpreter identity card has been available which meets the standard of the citizen's card.
7. Edict File (Insolvency File, Real Property Auctions, Companies Register Publications…)
As from 1.1.2000 insolvencies (bankruptcies, compositions with creditors, settlement of debts) have been published exclusively on the Internet with legally binding effect. The costs of publications could be reduced by 95%. Every Internet user has access free of charge to the latest data on the Internet ( Data are copied automatically from the Insolvency Register of the ACP into the Insolvency File at the "push of a button". Petitions in bankruptcy have legal effect the following day.
Since 2001 real property auction edicts and publication of entries in the Companies Register as well as the service of edicts can be retrieved in the Companies Register from the Edict File.
Beginning of 2003 the Edict File was extended to publication of auctions in execution proceedings against personal property and to search for owners in criminal proceedings. Since 1.1.2005 all announcements provided for in court proceedings have been published exclusively in the Edict File. Public announcements in probate proceedings, declaration of nullity and official declaration of death as well as appointment of guardians are exemplary.
The Edict File in Austria won the Ökomanager Award 2000 of the Austrian Business Association (WKÖ) and of Justitia 2000.
Facts for August 2005:
43,825 Insolvency proceedings pending
approx. 1 m inquiries per month
8. Electronic Document Archive
When the Land Register and the Companies Register where changed over to IT, for technical reasons, the Document Collections of these court division were not changed over to electronic storage. Now the technology for archiving documents has been improved considerably. Impulses and requirements from the legal practice demonstrate the necessity to modernize the court system with the help of IT.
Since summer 2003, in a pilot project the Federal Ministry of Justice has been testing this system for filing documents in the Land Register and the Companies Register and already initiated a public invitation to tender to provide a general and central Court Document Archive also for other types of court proceedings. During 2005 a central Document Archive will be established, which can be used for all application and procedure types.
It will then be possible to archive documents (e.g. contracts with electronic signature) and to create a link to them from court in every application and category of procedure (e.g. if a contract or a document is required in the Land Register, Companies Register and also in a civil court case).
Since 11 July 2005 the Collections of Documents of all Companies Registry Courts are maintained only electronically, thus implementing a further step towards an optimized and service orientated process according to plan. From 2006 the Land Register Collection of Documents will be changed over to this technique.
9. Integrated Administration of the Prison Regime
The objective of the "integrated administration of the prison regime" is a comprehensive automation support in the administration of prison inmates. After lengthy preparations version 1 was put into live operation at the end of 1999: It includes an inmate register, administration of cells, planning and administration of transfers and, of particular importance for the relief of prison officers, an automatic calculation of the end of prison terms and all other periods depending on it.
In the meantime further modules followed: dates, absences, deposits, administration of prisoners' funds and remuneration.
At present it is being further extended into the areas of deletion of data due to the extinction of the criminal record, integration of social services, generation of code numbers and "integrated administration of the prison regime" for judges and public prosecutors.
Work is in progress on the exchange of data with the courts of decision (transfer of instructions relating to imprisonment, sentence reports), sentencing courts (preparation and decision regarding conditional release), police stations (arrest, committal to prison).
In addition, since the end of September 2002, the possibility in certain cases exists, to use video conferencing for the first hearing of prisoners, which helps to reduce unscheduled transferals (especially on weekends) to a considerable extent.
Facts for January 2003:
14,300 custodial sentences commenced (remand in custody, imprisonment, detention in administrative penalty)
5,400 custodial sentences from other forms of imprisonment commenced (e.g. remand in custody)
on average 7,700 inmates per day
10. Legal Information System (LIS)
The Legal Information System of the Federal Government operated by the Office of the Federal Chancellor has become the essential tool in today's court business for fast searches of court decisions, predominantly within the framework of the documentation of court practice and also for locating sources of law and literature. This instrument is available to administration of justice employees at their workstations.
The new Internet technology based version of the LIS ensures an even more efficient search for the required information and thus results in a speedier decision process. Important parts of the LIS, such as legislation and decisions of the Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court and the ordinary courts are already available to the public on the Internet ( free of charge.
Facts for August 2005:more than 300,000 inquiries on the authorities' intranet and about 400,000 inquiries on the Internet on "Court Practice Administration of Justice"
81,000 decisions and 120,000 legal rulings, in particular by the Supreme Court in civil and criminal matters
11.Voice Recognition - Test in the Administration of Justice
To test the very new technology of speech recognition, i.e. the creation of written text by speaking into the computer, for the daily court business, nine judges from different instances, branches and regions, as well as one female public prosecutor were asked to participate in a trial run of the new programs "Voice Type Simply Speaking" and later "Via Voice" from IBM and "Dragon Naturally Speaking" from Dragon. These programs additionally include specialist vocabulary filtered from 20,000 decisions of the Supreme Court. The voice input of trial records and decisions resulted in different error rates.
On the basis of the results to-date and after integrating an updated judicial vocabulary it is planned, that from autumn 2005 100 judges, public prosecutors and registrars will have the opportunity to gain practical experience in the daily court business with the program “Dragon Naturally Speaking 7.0”. In case of positive feedback, an increase of the number of users is planned.
12. Internet Homepage of the Administration of Justice
The Homepage of the Administration of Justice at this Website address contains basic information in German, English and French about the essential areas in the administration of justice, such as courts, public prosecution services, prison regime and probation services. The feature most used is a file with addresses, phone numbers, clear travel timetables and further detailed information of all Austrian courts. On entering a name of a place the user receives the locally competent court with all higher instances from the database. An independent international version of the Austrian Court Database is available on
Further and more detailed information from the administration of justice is available for downloading under the heading "brochures". The new service "Citizens' Information" offers a multi media introduction to important legal areas (legal aid, Land Register, divorce etc) with an integrated law encyclopedia for all important legal concepts. For individuals seeking legal advice in a particular matter, a link list to the institutions providing legal advice free of charge is available.
Furthermore, information about current legislation and other projects of the Ministry of Justice Department is published to meet the public demand for information. The Website fulfils an important function also in the legislative process. All current ministerial draft bills can be retrieved on the Administration of Justice website together with explanatory notes and clear brief information about the draft bill.
In 2003 the website was adapted for blind people in accordance with the regulation of Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
At the end of summer a new section "EU-Info" will be introduced, offering at the forefront and during the Council presidency of 2006, relevant legal topics relating to the EU.
13. Intranet Administration of Justice - Homepage
The Administration of Justice Intranet Homepage is a comprehensive information platform with the objective to offer users simple and quick access to information as well as an introduction to the numerous web applications available. The information is collected and administered in an editorial system. Adaptations and additions can be effected in a quick and simple manner. The structure makes maintenance easier for editors and currently consists of nine central topic areas:
Current issues, applications, specialist information, forms, training and knowledge, staff, data and facts, IT and links.
In the section “current issues”, news is presented on the homepage in the form of headlines together with pictures. In other sections news can be announced separately. The subheadings of the sections provide a clear overview of the content.
The intranet is extended regularly. Existing statistical web pages and similar information are replaced by the intranet. Other content is integrated and new functions are included, leading to a development in the direction of an information portal.
After an initially uniform intranet homepage for the whole department, the content was extended last year and the visual appearance changed. A kind of "localization" was introduced. The information in the editorial systems is classified according to the individual organizational areas and is available in a purposeful manner. At present the Supreme Court, the Higher Regional Court districts and the penal administration have their own homepages and from autumn 2005 the Director of Public Prosecution Office Vienna and the Public Prosecution Service Vienna will also have their own homepages to which their staff will be led directly.
In addition to the general information and links still available, they will only find topics that are relevant to the respective area. This meets the requirements of users for adequate support in their daily work in an even better manner, which is evidenced by the doubling of the access figures of 500,000 per month on average in 2004 to over 1 million per month in 2005.
Facts for June 2005:50,000 accesses to the homepage per working day
1.1 m accesses in June 2005
14.Network Administration of Justice
Since the beginning of the eighties the Austrian Administration of Justice has been developing a comprehensive network of Information Technology. This network ensures a general use of IT: all courts, public prosecution services, all penal institutions and of course the Ministry of Justice cooperate in the IT-Network via a hub, the Federal Computing Center (Bundesrechenzentrum), were all major applications of the administration of justice are operated. Communication with other Ministries, other agencies and the citizen takes place via the Federal Computing Center.
This network is the basis for the e-mail system of the administration of justice (Lotus Notes) and Internet access by the court personnel.