AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Bettina Knoetzl, Katrin Hanschitz, Dr Kirstin McGoldrick and Natascha Tunkel, KNOETZL HAUGENEDER NETAL GmbH
An enjoining judgment orders a party to stop or desist from a certain act. A divorce is an example of a judgment that alters legal status. Declara- tory judgments may be obtained regarding the existence of a certain legal relationship or a cer- tain claim. Civil courts limit their decisions to the relief requested by the plaintiff. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages Monetary and Declaratory Judgments There are no special rules regarding awards in damage proceedings. The most important forms of awards for damages are monetary judgments (ordering the payment of money) and declaratory judgments regarding foreseeable future damag- es. For such damages, declaratory judgments may be necessary to avoid the expiration of a limitations period. No Punitive Damages Austrian tort law is based on the principle of compensation and provides for damage claims only insofar as the plaintiff actually suffers dam- ages. Punitive damages are not available. Con- tractual penalties are nevertheless allowed and intellectual property law provides for lump sum damages, which are considered to be partly punitive in nature. Moreover, the European Court of Justice has ruled in connection with the “Die- sel” matters that, under certain circumstances, a compensation of 5% to 15% of the purchase price of the car should be paid by the car pro- ducer to the car owner independent of actual damage. In 2023, the Austrian Supreme Court adopted this ruling, in essence granting punitive damages. There are no general rules that limit the maximum amount of damages. However, some provisions of substantive law establish maximum amounts
for particular types of damages, particularly in cases of strict liability. 9.3 Pre-judgment and Post-judgment Interest Amount of Interest Under Austrian civil law, the debtor is required to compensate the creditor for the damage caused by any delay of payment, together with legal interest. If not otherwise agreed by the par- ties, legal interest amounts to 4% per annum. Between entrepreneurs it amounts to 9.2 per- centage points above the base interest rate if the default is attributable to the debtor’s negligence. As a rule, the base rate applicable is the base rate that was in effect on the first day of the rel- evant half year (1 January for the first half and 1 July for the second half) and is available on the Austrian National Bank’s website. The creditor can also claim, in addition to the legal interest, compensation for other damage caused by late payment. Starting Date The starting date for interest accrual is the date when the payment obligation is due. It is owed from the day after the payment obligation becomes due until the day of actual payment. This applies both to pre-judgment and post- judgment interest. 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment Types of Enforcement Different enforcement rules apply: • to monetary claims on the one hand and claims for specific performance on the other; and • depending on the assets against which the claim is to be enforced.
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