Public Prosecutor’s Office

As the central law enforcement authority, the public prosecutor’s office in Austrian criminal proceedings conducts investigations, controls the criminal police and decides whether proceedings are discontinued, settled by diversion or continued with an indictment. It specifies which measures are taken and in which direction proceedings develop. Even if a court has to approve certain interventions, the impetus for this always comes from the public prosecutor’s office. The principle of objectivity obliges it to examine incriminating and exculpatory circumstances equally. The legal assessment of the public prosecutor’s office determines the further course of criminal proceedings as early as the investigation phase.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

The public prosecutor’s office in Austrian criminal proceedings

The public prosecutor’s office is the central control center of every criminal proceeding. It not only decides whether proceedings begin, but also controls how they are conducted and how they end. Without an indictment by the public prosecutor’s office, no criminal court can open proceedings. It thus has the sole right to bring charges and controls whether a case even comes to court.

Criminal proceedings usually begin with a report or an initial suspicion. As soon as such a suspicion exists, the public prosecutor’s office opens the investigation proceedings. In this phase, it collects evidence, questions witnesses and clarifies the facts. Only then does it make a legally binding decision.

At the end of the investigations, there are only three possibilities:

• Indictment
• Discontinuation
• Diversion

This decision shapes the further course of the entire proceedings. Whoever the public prosecutor’s office does not indict does not bring them to court. Whoever it indicts leads into a public criminal trial. Thus, the public prosecutor’s office defines the legal framework even before a judge decides on guilt or innocence.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

Criminal prosecution institutions

Criminal proceedings are not conducted by a single body. Several authorities work together, but with clearly separated tasks.

Criminal police

The criminal police carry out the practical investigations. They secure crime scenes, question witnesses, evaluate traces and carry out searches. In doing so, they do not work independently, but according to the instructions of the public prosecutor’s office.

In summary, this means:

• The police investigate practically
• The public prosecutor’s office decides legally

The police implement what the public prosecutor’s office specifies.

Public Prosecutor’s Office

The public prosecutor’s office manages the entire investigation procedure. It decides:

• which persons are considered defendants
• which evidence is collected
• which coercive measures are applied for
• whether charges are brought or the proceedings are terminated

It gives the police binding orders and thus controls the direction and scope of the investigations. No other body in the proceedings has this decision-making power.

Detention and legal protection court

This court protects the fundamental rights of those affected in the investigation proceedings. It decides on all serious interventions such as:

• House searches
• Telephone surveillance
• Remand

The public prosecutor’s office must apply to the court for each of these measures and justify them. It may only be implemented after judicial approval. The judge examines whether there is sufficient suspicion and whether the measure is proportionate.

This means that the public prosecutor’s office applies, the court approves and the criminal police carries out.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office

The Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office supervises the work of the public prosecutor’s offices in its district. It can issue instructions, review proceedings and take over individual cases itself. In addition, it represents the prosecution before the Higher Regional Courts in appeal proceedings.

Directorate General of Public Prosecution

The General Prosecutor’s Office is located at the Supreme Court. It is not a prosecution authority. Its task is to ensure the correct application of criminal law. If it detects errors in the law, it can lodge an appeal on points of nullity with the Supreme Court to safeguard the law.

Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption

The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption is a special authority with nationwide jurisdiction. It deals with particularly large and complex proceedings, especially serious economic offences, large financial losses, corruption cases and organised economic crime. Its jurisdiction is based on statutory thresholds and the public interest.

Legal classification of the public prosecutor’s office

Position of the public prosecutor’s office in criminal proceedings

The public prosecutor’s office is an independent law enforcement authority. Its position arises directly from the Code of Criminal Procedure. This law assigns it the legal responsibility for the investigation procedure.

There are three separate roles in Austrian criminal proceedings:

• the criminal police investigates practically,
• the public prosecutor’s office conducts the proceedings legally,
• the court decides on guilt and punishment.

This separation prevents investigations, charges and verdicts from being in one hand. The public prosecutor’s office forms the connecting point between the police and the court.

However, it does not decide on guilt or punishment. This decision is made exclusively by the court in the main proceedings.

Significance

The law stipulates in § 20 StPO that the public prosecutor’s office manages the investigation procedure and alone decides on the indictment. This construction fulfils a protective function.

The public prosecutor’s office decides in particular

• whether proceedings are conducted at all
• against which person is investigated
• whether the evidence is sufficient for an indictment
• whether the proceedings are discontinued or terminated by diversion.

It thus functions as a legal filter between suspicion and criminal proceedings. Without its decision, there will be no court hearing.

Objectivity and proportionality as legal guidelines

The public prosecutor’s office is obliged to investigate both incriminating and exculpatory circumstances with the same care. It may not align proceedings towards a desired outcome.

At the same time, the principle of proportionality applies. Investigative measures must be proportionate to the alleged offence. The more serious the interference with a person’s rights, the stronger the suspicion must be.

Particularly intrusive measures include:

• House searches
• Monitoring of telephone and electronic communication
• Arrest and detention on remand

The public prosecutor’s office may not order these measures independently. They require prior judicial approval. The competent judge examines whether there is sufficient suspicion and whether the measure is necessary and proportionate.

Such interventions may only be implemented after this judicial control.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

Tasks and powers of the public prosecutor’s office

Management of the investigation procedure

As soon as a suspicion of a criminal offence becomes known, the public prosecutor’s office takes over the legal management. It decides

• whether investigation proceedings are opened
• which persons are considered defendants
• which evidence is collected.

The criminal police implement these decisions practically, but the public prosecutor’s office determines the direction, scope and goal of the investigations.

Ordering, controlling and monitoring of investigation measures

The public prosecutor’s office gives the police binding investigation orders. These include:

• Interrogations of defendants and witnesses
• Seizure of objects
• Evaluation of digital data
• Preparation of searches

In the case of serious interventions in fundamental rights, a judge also decides on the admissibility. This allows him to control the public prosecutor’s office and prevent it from using coercive measures in an uncontrolled manner.

Decision on indictment, discontinuation or diversion

After completion of the investigations, the public prosecutor’s office assesses the evidence. It makes one of three decisions:

• Indictment if a conviction is likely
• Discontinuation if the suspicion is not sufficient
• Diversion if the proceedings can be settled without a court trial

This decision determines whether a person stands trial or whether the proceedings are terminated.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

Role of the public prosecutor’s office in court proceedings

If the public prosecutor’s office brings charges, it represents the state in court. It submits the investigation files, applies for evidence and comments on guilt and sentence. Even in this phase, it remains bound by the principle of objectivity.

International cooperation and legal assistance

Many criminal proceedings today cross national borders. In such cases, the public prosecutor’s office coordinates international cooperation and ensures that it conducts investigations abroad in a legally effective manner.

These include, in particular:

• Evidence requests to foreign judicial authorities
• Investigation orders within the European Union
• Criminal proceedings with cross-border reference

In doing so, the public prosecutor’s office works with specialised European and international bodies, especially with the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) and with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in cases of fraud to the detriment of the financial interests of the European Union.

On this basis, evidence can be collected, assets secured and investigations coordinated between several states.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption

Special responsibility for major economic and corruption proceedings

The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption is a special public prosecutor’s office with nationwide jurisdiction for particularly serious economic and corruption offences. It conducts proceedings that require specialised processing because of their amount of damage, their economic significance or their public weight.

It is not the place of residence of the accused that decides, but the significance of the crime for the state, the economy and society.

Which criminal offences fall within this area of responsibility

This authority prosecutes in particular:

• serious fraud, breach of trust and embezzlement with high sums of damage
• Subsidies and abuse of funding on a large scale
• fraudulent insolvencies and systematic asset shifts
• corruption offences in the public sector
• Money laundering if it originates from serious predicate offences
• criminal organisations with an economic focus
• extensive financial offences

The decisive factor is always whether proceedings are particularly serious economically, legally or socially.

Takeover and demarcation from other public prosecutor’s offices

Proceedings can also end up with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption if they originally started with a regional public prosecutor’s office. This happens if special economic knowledge is required or the case stands out due to complexity, amount of damage or public significance.

Other public prosecutor’s offices must report such proceedings. Until a decision is made on a takeover, they remain responsible for the ongoing investigations.

Senior Public Prosecutor’s Offices and General Prosecutor’s Office

The hierarchical structure of the public prosecutor’s offices in Austria

The public prosecutor’s offices in Austria are organised in several levels. This system ensures that investigations are professionally controlled and conducted uniformly throughout the country.

There are four levels:

• the public prosecutor’s offices as locally responsible investigation authorities
• the Senior Public Prosecutor’s Offices as supervisory and coordination bodies
• the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption as a nationwide special authority
• the General Prosecutor’s Office at the Supreme Court

The public prosecutor’s offices of the first level

The public prosecutor’s offices are those authorities that actually conduct criminal proceedings. They receive reports, conduct interrogations, manage the criminal police and decide on indictment, discontinuation or diversion.

In proceedings for less serious offences that are heard before the district court, district attorneys also perform certain tasks. In doing so, they always act under the supervision and direction of the public prosecutor’s office. The public prosecutor’s office bears the legal responsibility in every case.

They exist, among others, in Vienna, St. Pölten, Korneuburg, Krems, Wiener Neustadt, Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Feldkirch, Klagenfurt, Leoben, Ried im Innkreis, Wels, Steyr and Eisenstadt.

For those affected, this level is decisive because this is where the investigations begin and are controlled.

The four Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office districts

All public prosecutor’s offices are subordinate to a senior public prosecutor’s office. Austria is divided into four districts:

• Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office Vienna
• Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office Graz
• Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office Linz
• Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office Innsbruck

These authorities exercise supervision over the public prosecutor’s offices in their district and participate in criminal proceedings before the higher regional courts. They can intervene in individual proceedings or take them over themselves.

The role of the General Prosecutor’s Office

The General Prosecutor’s Office is at the head of criminal justice. It is not a prosecuting authority, but represents the interests of the state in the administration of justice.

Its task is to ensure that courts and public prosecutor’s offices apply the law correctly and that serious legal errors are corrected.

If it determines that a decision or procedural step violates the law, it can file a complaint of nullity to protect the law. This serves to clarify and standardize the law, not to change an individual judgment.

Jurisdiction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office

Jurisdiction according to the place of the offense and the place of effect

In principle, the public prosecutor’s office in whose district the criminal offense was committed or in which the damage occurred is responsible.

Jurisdiction in the event of an unclear place of the offense or unknown whereabouts

If the place of the offense cannot be determined, the public prosecutor’s office in whose district the accused has or last had his residence or place of abode shall conduct the proceedings. If this connecting factor is also missing, the public prosecutor’s office in whose district the authorities found the accused shall assume jurisdiction.

If jurisdiction cannot be determined in this way, the General Prosecutor’s Office shall make a binding decision as to which public prosecutor’s office shall conduct the investigation proceedings.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

Precedence

If no clear jurisdiction can be determined, the public prosecutor’s office that first becomes aware of the criminal offense shall conduct the proceedings until another jurisdiction is established.

Criminal offenses with foreign connections

If the place of the offense is in another member state of the European Union, the public prosecutor’s office will generally forward reports from victims residing in Austria to the competent foreign authority, provided that the offense is not subject to Austrian jurisdiction.

This ensures coordinated prosecution across national borders.

Connection and separation of criminal proceedings

Transfer of proceedings to another public prosecutor’s office

If a public prosecutor’s office determines that it does not have jurisdiction over proceedings, it may not simply discontinue or abandon them. It must continue the urgent investigations and then transfer the proceedings to the competent public prosecutor’s office.

All reports and evidence are forwarded. This prevents proceedings from stalling solely due to jurisdictional issues.

Joint conduct of several investigations

If a person is suspected of several criminal offenses or several persons were jointly involved in an offense, a single public prosecutor’s office shall conduct these proceedings jointly. This also applies in the event of a close factual connection.

The goal is:

• uniform assessment of evidence
• avoidance of contradictory decisions
• faster and more efficient investigations

Distinction between general public prosecutor’s office and public prosecutor’s office for economic affairs and corruption

In the case of white-collar crimes, not every single act is decisive. The decisive factor is whether the economic focus, the scope of the investigations or the public interest justifies the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor’s office for economic affairs and corruption.

Related offenses remain with the regional public prosecutor’s office if they play only a subordinate role in relation to the serious economic offenses.

Separation of proceedings

The public prosecutor’s office may divide proceedings if this is necessary to:

• avoid delays
• to protect the legitimate interests of an accused
• or to prevent excessive pre-trial detention

This keeps the proceedings manageable and proportionate.

Transfer of proceedings and jurisdictional conflicts

Transfer of proceedings for special reasons

The Senior Public Prosecutor’s Office or, depending on jurisdiction, the General Prosecutor’s Office shall transfer proceedings to another Public Prosecutor’s Office if there are important reasons for doing so. These include dangers to public safety or justified doubts about the impartiality of the originally competent authority.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

Change of jurisdiction in the event of bias or security concerns

A transfer is particularly considered if proceedings against:

• judges
• public prosecutors
• or bodies of the security authorities

would have to be conducted within their own area of responsibility. This is to avoid any appearance of bias.

Decision in the event of a dispute over jurisdiction

If there is a dispute as to which public prosecutor’s office has jurisdiction, a superior body shall make a binding decision.
In the event of conflicts with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption, this decision shall be made by the General Prosecutor’s Office.

Importance of jurisdiction for defendants and victims

Procedural control

Not the police, but the public prosecutor’s office conducts the investigation proceedings. It decides:

• which evidence is collected
• which measures are requested
• whether to indict or dismiss

Courts control individual interventions, but only take over the management of the proceedings after an indictment.

Influence of jurisdiction on duration and course

Which public prosecutor’s office has jurisdiction has a significant impact on:

• how intensively investigations are conducted
• how quickly decisions are made
• and how complex the proceedings are conducted

Proceedings before a special authority take a different course than before a regional public prosecutor’s office.

Your Benefits with Legal Assistance

Our lawyers specializing in criminal law will assist you in the investigation proceedings before the public prosecutor’s office with professional experience and legal precision.

Your main advantages:

• Inspection of files and structured evaluation of the investigation files
• legal control of the investigation
• Enforcement of your procedural rights
• Review of coercive measures for their admissibility and proportionality
• Classification of allegations and evidence from a criminal law perspective
• Representation of the interests of defendants and victims

In this way, your proceedings are factually accompanied, legally classified and conducted on a clear decision-making basis.

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Select Your Preferred Appointment Now:Free initial consultation