Allegations too unclear

Action over land consumption rejected

The Constitutional Court (VfGH) has rejected a state liability claim against land consumption in Austria. It was brought by the Austrian NGO AllRise in May 2023. The reasons given for the dismissal included the allegations being too unclear.

According to the Constitutional Court's statement, it was not clear which accusations were made against the legislator and which against the enforcement. Furthermore, it is not clear from the complaint what specific damage is attributable to the inadequate implementation of Union directives and to what extent these standards confer rights on individual citizens.

The Constitutional Court also does not consider itself to have jurisdiction. This was also argued by the federal government and the provincial governments of Upper and Lower Austria.

Here you can see a tweet on the NGO's complaint from May 2023.

NGO founder: "Political court"
"It is very regrettable that the Austrian Constitutional Court is refusing to address the issue of land use and climate protection or the failure of politicians and legislators in this area," said the founder of AllRise, Johannes Wesemann. The Constitutional Court is thus slipping into exactly the role it always wanted to avoid, namely that of a "political court."

In June 2023, an application to the Constitutional Court by twelve children and young people had already been rejected on formal grounds. They see their rights jeopardized by the lack of climate protection measures. The application was too narrowly worded, they said. The parts of the Climate Protection Act were inextricably linked. Only individual areas were contested.