On Thursday 23 January, in a letter to the European Commission, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) shared its concerns about the amendments to the Austrian Criminal Procedure Act, which came into force on 1 January 2025.
According to an EPPO press release, this text contains various elements that are incompatible with respect for the principles of the rule of law, in accordance with the cross-compliance regulation.
It would make it “extremely difficult if not outright impossible for the prosecution services, including for the EPPO when acting in Austria, to effectively gather and seize digital evidence”.
According to a source close to the case, the new legislation would require a degree of precision that is impossible to apply in criminal investigations, especially at the very beginning.
This may result in a massive loss of evidence.
In addition, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office reports that the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice has presented a draft law to implement EU acts in the field of criminal justice.
This text does not address several of the “most obvious” shortcomings in adapting the Austrian legal system to the Regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
A number of issues have also been raised, some of which relate to the supervisory powers granted to a person from outside the judiciary (‘Rechtsschutzbeauftragter’) - and therefore to respect for the independence of the EPPO - and others relating to the splitting of cases.
In the view of the public prosecutor’s office, all of these factors present “a threat to the efficiency of criminal investigations into breaches of the law”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)