AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Michael Rohregger, Rohregger Rechtsanwälte
(aggravated fraud), Section 148a Austrian Criminal Code, Section 241b Austrian Crimi - nal Code and Subsection 241f Austrian Crimi - nal Code. In the last year, the investigative measures in the Austrian Code of Criminal Procedure were supplemented by the paragraph regarding “Sei - zure in authorities and public offices” (Section 112a). This amendment, which was the subject of lively debate in the run-up, entered into force in December 2021, and essentially concerns the rights of authorities and public officers in the event of a seizure of data in the course of a house search. In this case, sensitive intelligence records or data carriers are to be secured and deposited in a suitable manner against unau - thorised inspection or modification upon the objection of the person concerned, whereby the decision as to whether the seized or confis - cated records and/or data carriers may be used is made by a court. Moreover, due to the implementation of the EU Directive (EU) 2017/1371 on combating fraud affecting the financial interests of the Union by means of criminal law (PIF Directive), the Federal Law Gazette I 111/2019 adopted correspond - ing amendments to the Austrian Criminal Code, the Austrian Act on the Federal Agency for Pre - venting and Combating Corruption and the Aus - trian Code of Criminal Procedure. In the Aus - trian Criminal Code, these amendments were anchored in the offences “Expenditure fraud to the detriment of the financial interests of the European Union” (Section 168f) and “Misappro - priation of funds and assets to the detriment of the financial interests of the European Union” (Section 168g) after adaptation by the Federal Law Gazette I 94/2021. In addition, the imple - mentation of the Directive was accompanied by an amendment or redefinition of the terms
“public official” and “Union official”, which also resulted in an addition to the offences of bribery (Section 304), acceptance of advantage (Sec - tion 305), bribery (Section 307) and granting of advantage (Section 307a). The legislature also planned comprehensive changes through the Austrian Criminal Proce - dural Law Amendment Act 2018. This Act, which for the most part came into force on 1 June 2018, enables law enforcement agencies to use state espionage software ( Bundestrojaner ) to monitor encrypted messages and messenger services such as WhatsApp and Skype. However, in December 2019, the Austrian Con - stitutional Court annulled large parts of the Aus - trian Criminal Procedural Law Amendment Act 2018, including the Bundestrojaner , as unconsti - tutional. Therefore, for the time being, those pro - visions will not come into force. The legislature might pass a new Amendment Act, but this is not likely to happen in the near future. The Aus - trian Criminal Law Amendment Act 2018, which came into force on 1 November 2018, extended the catalogue of terrorist offences as well as the domestic jurisdiction related to terrorism. With the amendment of the Transparency Data Bank Act 2012, which came into force on 7 November 2019 and 1 January 2020, the con - trol of the appropriate use of public funding or support is being improved. In September 2023, major amendments of the Austrian Criminal Code, the Austrian Corporate Liability Act, the Regulations on National Coun - cil Elections and the Regulations on European Council Elections came into effect implementing stricter anti-corruption laws ( Korruptionsstrafre- chtsänderungsgesetz 2023). The recent amend - ments include both higher penalty ranges as well
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