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One-year deadline for data protection complaints
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) reviewed whether the one-year deadline specified in Section 24(4) of the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz, hereinafter DSG) under national procedural law alig...
Salary Arrangement for Parental Part-Time Employment
Labour LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has recently issued a decision regarding the calculation of all-in salaries when employment contracts do not specify the allocation for overtime and additional hours during parental p...
ECJ Strengthens Airline Rights
European LawIn preliminary ruling proceedings, the European Court of Justice provided an interpretative response to the inquiry submitted by the Supreme Court. The issue under consideration was whether EU air traffic control regulations are designed solely to pr...
Partial acceptance of inheritance and provisional renunciation of inheritance
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) decides on Legal Succession of Intestate Decedents. No substantiated basis for disqualification from inheritance In the present case, the testator passed away in 2023 intestate, survived by two daughters (the first an...
Austrian OHG Upholds Choice of Law in Cross-Border Securities Deals
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) was requested to determine the applicability of Italian law to a cross-border commercial relationship involving an Italian consumer and an Austrian bank, notwithstanding the bank’s subsequent con...
Security for legal costs: No time limit for supplementary applications
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter referred to as OGH) has issued a ruling regarding the circumstances under which pre-trial security deposits may be requested from foreign claimants. In late 2021, the plaintiff in the case...
Invalid Termination – Employment Continues
Labour LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has recently ruled on the termination of the employment contract of a plaintiff who was a beneficiary of the Austrian Disability Employment Act (Behinderteneinstellungsgesetz, hereina...
Maintenance Not Tied to EU Residency Status
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) was tasked with assessing whether third-country nationals under the age of eighteen relinquish their entitlement to advance maintenance payments upon obtaining a permanent EU residenc...
Top Prize on Scratch Cards – Who Wins?
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) has determined that having the 5,000 symbol three times on a scratch card does not automatically entitle the holder to the top prize. When a scratch card comprises multiple distinct games—such as...
Class Action: Procedural Rules for Redress
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) recently reviewed the procedural requirements pertaining to the definition of ‘essentially similar circumstances. Imposition of a processing fee The plaintiff is an acknowledged quali...
German BGH: Abstract Debt Acknowledgment after Lapsed Claim
Civil LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) had to determine whether enforcement may proceed on the basis of a standalone notarial acknowledgement of debt when the underlying claim has already become time barred. Abstract...
Austrian OGH: Are Video Game ‘Loot Boxes’ Considered Gambling?
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has examined the issue of whether ‘loot boxes’ featured in video games qualify as gambling, and if so, whether operators are obligated to obtain a licence. Loot box contents are rando...
Austrian OGH on Liability for Providing Incorrect Expert Opinions
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has recently ruled on a claim for damages against an expert in a construction case. The claimant commenced a construction project in early 2017 pursuant to an approved building permit...
Austrian OGH: Preliminary Ruling on Estate Asset Sales
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) was asked to clarify whether Austrian courts have international jurisdiction under Article 10(2) of the European Succession Regulation when a beneficiary of a compulsory portion sues ...
Austria: OGH Decisions on Telecom Fees
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has recently reviewed a clause about processing fees in a telecom company’s general terms and conditions. The court also sent questions regarding activation fees to the Court of Justi...
Austrian Disability Pension: Rigorous Criteria Governing Hardship Provisions
Labour LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) examined the criteria governing the application of hardship provisions to disability pensions. In particular, the court addressed the issue of whether brief periods of employment cons...
Maintenance obligation during Imprisonment in Default (of Fine)
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) explained when a parent is required to pay maintenance while serving a default prison sentence for financial offenses. In the case at hand, a father has been required to pay EUR 100 p...
Austrian OGH Blocks Early Transfer of Shares in Company Capital Increase
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has determined that shares resulting from a future capital increase are only recognized upon the registration of the increase in the commercial register. Until this entry occurs, neit...
Austrian OGH: Minority Shareholders Classified as Consumers
Civil LawThe applicants in the case at hand requested that a judge appoint an arbitrator, relying on the arbitration clause found in their general partnership agreement. This request arose from a disagreement among shareholders about whether a particular shar...
Airline Required to Refund Commission after Cancelling Flight
European LawThe European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued a decision regarding whether travel agencies should be reimbursed for commissions on flights that are cancelled. In the case at hand, multiple travellers had acquired return flight tickets from Austria t...
Deposit Protection: OGH Asks ECJ for Preliminary Ruling
Banking LawDoes the Deposit Protection Directive (2014/49/EU) mean that deposits held by a housing association structured as a limited liability company (GmbH), which come from the sale of an apartment by the association to a private individual, should be consi...
Austrian OGH: Lost Wills Remain Valid
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has recently explained that, according to Section 722 of the Austrian General Civil Code (Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, hereinafter ABGB), a last will and testament is still va...
Austrian OGH: No Personalised Advertising Without Consent
Data Privacy LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has ruled on the conditions under which the processing of Facebook users’ personal data for personalised advertising and third-party tracking is permissible, as set out in Article 15 ...
GER: Easements Require Land Registry Entry
Civil LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) examined when a conditional civil law right to obtain an easement for rights of way may exist. Transfer of ownership without registration of the right of way in the land registry In the cased at hand, after t...
Austrian Government Unveils Inflation Relief Act for Tenancy Law
Civil LawThe Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice recently presented the government bill for the Inflation Relief Act for Tenancy Law (Mietrechtliches Inflationslinderungsgesetz, hereinafter MILG). Restrictions on safeguarding value Value protection clauses a...
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