When the state decides, deadlines are short and formal requirements strict. We represent you before authorities and administrative courts.
Public law governs relations between the state and its citizens, and the organisation and conduct of the administration. For businesses and private individuals it becomes concrete when an administrative decision (Bescheid) issues: a building permit, an operating plant permit, a penal order, a demand to repay a subsidy. We accompany the proceedings from the application to the supreme court.
Our services in public and administrative law
- Administrative proceedings: applications, the right to be heard, access to the file, oral hearings, objections and applications for evidence under the AVG.
- Remedies: appeal to the Provincial Administrative Court, revision to the Supreme Administrative Court, complaint to the Constitutional Court.
- Administrative penal law: representation in proceedings under the VStG, objections to penal orders, appeals against penal decisions.
- Fundamental rights: the principle of equality, freedom of property, fair trial, data protection, freedom of expression and of economic activity – including by application for review of norms.
- State liability: claims against the federal state, a province or a municipality for unlawful administrative action.
- Special administrative law: building and spatial planning law, land transfer law, trade and operating plant law, water law, nature conservation, public procurement law, security policing law.
Procedure decides too
Administrative proceedings are often decided not on substance but on how they are conducted: timely objections, complete applications, observance of the right to be heard, and the response to expert opinions. Anyone who raises no objections at first instance regularly loses party status – and with it any chance to change things later. We therefore act as early as possible, not only at the appeal stage.
The appeal route in Salzburg
Depending on the subject matter, the first instance is the City of Salzburg Magistrate, the district administrative authorities or the Salzburg Provincial Government. Appeals go to the Provincial Administrative Court of Salzburg, and thereafter, on points of law of fundamental importance, by revision to the Supreme Administrative Court or complaint to the Constitutional Court in Vienna. Legal representation is mandatory before both supreme courts. We know Salzburg practice, particularly in building, spatial planning and operating plant law.
Fundamental rights are a practical instrument
The principle of equality, freedom of property and the right to a fair trial are not abstract concepts but concrete grounds for challenging burdensome decisions. Where a regulation – a zoning designation, for example – leads to unequal treatment without objective justification, an individual application for review of norms to the Constitutional Court may be an option. We assess whether this route holds up in the individual case, and say plainly when it does not.
The deadline runs from the date of service
Four weeks pass quickly, particularly if the administrative decision was deposited for collection while you were away. Bring us the decision as soon as you receive it, therefore – even if you have not yet decided whether to challenge it. Get in touch.