Pilnacek's accusations

Commission confirms influence exerted on the judiciary

The late head of the justice section Christian Pilnacek spoke of interventions, and the commission set up by Justice Minister Alma Zadić has now confirmed this.

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth, APA/Helmut Fohringer, Andi Schiel, krone.at-Grafik)

A bombshell in the case surrounding the deceased former head of section Christian Pilnacek! A commission of inquiry set up by the Ministry of Justice has confirmed political interventions during Pilnacek's time in office and thus substantiated the allegations made by the top official. However, the report is also harsh on Pilnacek. 

The impetus for the establishment of the investigative commission had been tape recordings in which Pilnacek reported on attempts by the ÖVP to influence investigations during a meeting with acquaintances in a pub. The "Krone" was leaked the tape recordings and published them together with the ORF.

There is a "two-tier justice system" in Austria 
The commission speaks of "two-tier justice" and not only gives politics a bad verdict, but also criticizes the lack of distance between judicial officials and politics and the media. They accuse Pilnacek of repeatedly overstepping the boundaries. The commission also identified a "fog of responsibility" surrounding prosecution proceedings.

Feldkirch Regional Court President Angelika Prechtl-Marte, Chairman of the Investigation Commission Martin Kreutner and former Bavarian Constitutional Court President Peter Küspert

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

The former President of the Bavarian Constitutional Court, Peter Küspert, cited a meeting between Pilnacek and the justice spokesperson of a party whose "high-ranking government members" had been investigated in an advertisement case as a concrete example of overstepping boundaries. Pilnacek had also had discussions with defendants in the CASAG affair. There had also been "unfounded dismissals", according to Küspert. However, judicial officials had also been continuously informed in proceedings against themselves.

"Favoring members of their own group"
Another "phenomenon" is the "tendency to favour members of one's own group in closed organizations", according to Küspert. This concerns, for example, official secrets, data protection and bias regulations. The report also identifies "close relationships", "rope teams" and "political ingratiation" as well as a "pseudo-cameral structure". Confidential information - for example on house searches - is passed on to political representatives via messenger services.

The Austrian judiciary will still have to be debated

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

WKStA should be broken up or weakened
Finally, there was also open criticism of the fact that there had been "party political efforts" to weaken the Economic and Corruption Prosecution Office (WKStA). A group of high-ranking judicial officials had attempted to break up the WKStA. In addition to the establishment of a general public prosecutor's office and the "abolition of two-tier justice", the commission recommends, among other things, the "elimination and strengthening of the WKStA while at the same time removing the 'federal eye of the needle' of the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office as an instance" (this is currently the supreme authority of the WKStA, note). All public prosecutors are also to be invited to make a public statement regarding "(necessary) distance from politics and equidistance from individual political parties" and the media.

The "30-eyes principle" prevails
A further demand is the restriction of the prosecution process to two instances while at the same time strengthening judicial control and reducing the reporting system. This plays a role above all in so-called "clamorous cases", which currently have to be reviewed by numerous people in the senior public prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Justice. The President of the Feldkirch Regional Court, Angelika Prechtl-Marte, reported that proceedings had been deliberately delayed. In connection with a politically prominent case, buzzwords such as "doing a lap of honor" or "playing for time" had emerged out of fear for the sake of the coalition. The commission speaks of a 30-eyes principle.

The original report comprises 230 pages and the investigation period was from January 1, 2010 to December 14, 2023. The commission, which was set up in December of last year, investigated for six months. The report was submitted to the Ministry of Justice on Sunday. However, it will not be published in full immediately, but "promptly". As the owner of the media, the ministry has asked for a few more days to clarify the publication in terms of media law, according to Kreutner.

Judicial reform will occupy the next government
In view of the results, the ministry is trying a little diplomacy. "The Kreutner Commission confirms that there was influence on legal processes," reacted Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) in a statement. "Although the Commission believes that much has already improved during my term of office, there is still a lot to be done to strengthen the resilience and independence of the judiciary," was her own summary. The ÖVP, on the other hand, sees the results of the commission as proof that the internal processes in the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice are not working.