AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Bettina Knoetzl, Katrin Hanschitz, Dr Kirstin McGoldrick and Natascha Tunkel, KNOETZL HAUGENEDER NETAL GmbH
substantive law was entitled to be a plaintiff in proceedings. Consequently, in cases of mass claims, an “Austrian-type mass claims proce- dure” became established by practice. This concept enables claims that may be assigned for collection to be filed, and a plaintiff may file a single lawsuit to deal with multiple claims it may have against the defendant. Thus, the party that has been assigned all claims can raise all such claims against a single defendant in the same proceeding. Recently Implemented Collective Redress for Consumers On 18 July 2024, the Act on Qualified Entities for Collective Redress (the “Qualified Entities Act”), along with amendments to the Austrian Code on Civil Procedure, the Consumer Protec- tion Act, the Court Fees’ Act and the Lawyer’s Fees Act came into force, providing significant changes to collective redress under Austrian law. Under this newly implemented regime, so-called “qualified entities” are entitled to bring collec- tive actions. At the heart of the new regime is the “representative action for redress”. This is a novelty in Austrian civil procedure law. It aims to provide effective procedural means to not only end unlawful practices threatening or harming the interests of a large number of consumers but also to provide redress in any form. Consum- ers can participate in a representative action for redress if they actively join (opt-in). Once at least 50 consumers have joined, the qualified entity can assert claims for all consumers who have joined. Upon a redress decision, the company is required to extend redress to the affected con- sumers, depending on the case, in the form of compensation, repair, replacement, price reduc- tion, contract termination, or reimbursement of the price paid. As a result of such a decision, consumers directly benefit from the redress
specified in the decision without having to file a separate lawsuit. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate There is no legal requirement to provide clients with a cost estimate of the potential litigation at the outset. Nevertheless, in practice, clients will often ask counsel to provide such a cost estimate. It is advisable to address the issue in a timely fashion because, upon filing its claim, the plaintiff must pay an advance on the court fees that are calculated on the basis of the amount in dispute. There are only a few, specified applications available that may be decided before a trial takes place, such as: • a request for injunctive relief (to secure future enforcement or to safeguard evidence, see 6. Injunctive Relief ); • an application for security of costs; • an application for legal aid; • an application to dismiss the claim for lack of jurisdiction; and • the intervention of a third party. 4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions Otherwise, Austrian procedural law does not provide for pre-trial proceedings as are known, for example, in Anglo-American jurisdictions.
4.2 Early Judgment Applications Early, Interim and Partial Judgments
Before a substantive hearing of the claim takes place, an early judgment on some of the issues in dispute or to dismiss the claim is possible, particularly with respect to procedural grounds
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