Book presentation

The judge who was reluctant to impose sentences

Dr. Peter Mück recently presented a book about his time as a criminal judge in Rankweil.

(Bild: David Huber)

The former criminal judge Dr. Peter Mück does not at all fit the stereotype of a strict guardian of the law. Alongside the law, he has always focused on people.

Last week, the 75-year-old presented his book "Freude am Strafen kann nur der Teufel haben" to a packed Vinomnasaal in Rankweil. As a kind of prequel to the actual reading, Mück's long-time companion, star psychiatrist Reinhard Haller, gave an introduction to the world of "evil": "Every person has a good and an evil side. The latter often only comes to light depending on the situation and leads to actions that many people would not have expected in this form." Using various examples, Haller vividly demonstrated that many criminals led a completely normal life until their crime. "One concentration camp inmate described a guard after her liberation as follows: He was a diligent, conscientious worker who always fulfilled the wishes of his superiors - i.e. murder - 100 percent."

The Vinomna Hall was packed.

(Bild: David Huber)

No guilty verdict in case of doubt
Mück has also experienced in his professional life that the human psyche has many shades. In his book, he describes a total of 64 formative episodes, three of which Mück presented to a spellbound audience: a murder, a serious assault with lifelong consequences for the victim and a scam in the prostitution scene. In an interview after the presentation, Mück gave an insight into his judicial mind: "As a judge, I always had to abide by the law, whether I liked the result or not." He always passed judgment to the best of his knowledge and belief: "If I had the slightest doubt about the guilt of a defendant, I always acquitted them. As a judge, you have to be aware that it's not just the convicted person who receives a sentence. His family also suffers. The husband, the father, the son is suddenly in prison and the family has to completely reorganize itself."

As a judge, I always had to abide by the law, whether I liked the result or not.

Dr. Peter Mück

A thoroughly social person
Mück saw every offender as a human being, and he met up with some of them after their release to exchange ideas. He even arranged an apartment for a prostitute after she had served her sentence. These examples show that Mück always had a strong social side as a judge. This came to the fore in his private life: as a long-time leader of the Rankler Pfadi and later as Vorarlberg regional leader, he repeatedly initiated charitable campaigns whose impact extended far beyond the state borders. "As a judge, I had no opportunity to have a social impact in the traditional sense. That's why it was clear to me early on that I wanted to include this part in my private life."

Since retiring, he has also had the time to do so. Among other things, he caused a stir as the organizer of the "Ukraine Run" shortly after the start of the Russian invasion. And, of course, his book presentation was not without a good cause: fortunately, many visitors responded to the call to donate to the victims of the flood disaster in Lower Austria.