GIVE AND TAKE
2010-11-30 – by Attorney Dr. Stefan Lausegger (Column)
This year, too, the legislature has blessed us with a savings package that was put together just before Christmas, rather than before the elections, due to a political consensus that is otherwise rare. The state is making it easy for us to enjoy the Christmas holidays happily, as we can look forward to being able to give a lot more from next year, while at the same time taking a lot less. That's great, it makes us happy and the budget healthy. The following innovations are expected in the area of the rule of law in 2011:
The "court year" is to be shortened from 9 to 5 months (with a "moderate reduction in the training contribution" to near the subsistence level), also in order to "reduce the lack of space in many courts". To ensure that the remaining legal trainees are not confronted with a number of people seeking legal advice that has not changed due to the budget accompanying law, the possibility of "filing a report" (especially on the official day) is to be significantly restricted: In classic civil proceedings, for example, "the parties are to be left to draw up a complaint on their own responsibility". This of course shifts the work to the judge: if an incomplete complaint is received, the unrepresented party must be instructed to improve it.
In order to get the most out of the justice system, the plan is to abolish the “trial-free period” (during which judges could previously complete judgments and maintain files, and individual lawyers spent their annual vacation) – in future, the divorce hearing on December 27th will no longer be impossible. Anyone who feels unjustified in custody (and has previously been awarded up to €100.00 per day in “imprisonment compensation”) will in future be able to demand a maximum of €50.00 per day. The deadline for contesting a decision by a social insurance provider (keyword: disability pension) is to be shortened from three months to (non-extendable!) four weeks, which is supposedly only intended to “simplify the procedure”. Anyone who does not submit their annual financial statements to the company register on time will no longer just be threatened with a penalty, no, in future it will be imposed immediately. There are also a number of fee increases in the broadest sense, and a long-awaited clarification: If a party makes an electronic copy of a court file themselves (with a mobile scanner or cell phone, etc.), €0.50 must be paid for each page photographed. The copy made by the court, on the other hand, still costs €1.00.
These are just a few examples from a series of fiscal policy-motivated changes to the legal system that show us that an austerity budget can only work if you not only take more away from the citizens, but also give less back.