The landscape for litigation in Austria is palpably shifting. Stirred by recent developments such as a legislative amendment halving Austria’s notorious court fees amidst changing litigation activity patterns, 2020 promises to be an exciting year for litigation practices throughout the jurisdiction. To find out more about the current state of the industry through the eyes…

KNOETZL’s Bettina Knoetzl and Thomas Voppichler have contributed the Chapter on Law and Practice in Austria to the latest Chambers Global Practice Guide on White-Collar Crime. Also available online, the prestigious guide offers succinct expert commentary on contemporary key legal issues. We are honoured to be among leading law firms worldwide chosen to contribute on…

1 Purpose and objective of the Directive On 7 October 2019, the so-called Whistleblower Directive (Directive on the Protection of Persons Reporting on Breaches of Union Law, “Directive”) was adopted by the European Union.  Full implementation by Member States is required by 15 May 2021. The Directive assigns minimum requirements for this purpose, so that…

1 Ziel und Gegenstand der Richtlinie Am 7.10.2019 wurde die sogenannte Whistleblower-RL (Richtlinie zum Schutz von Personen, die Verstöße gegen das Unionsrecht melden, „RL“) beschlossen. Bis spätestens 15. Mai 2021 ist sie von den Mitgliedstaaten umzusetzen. Die RL enthält Mindestvorschriften, das heißt die Mitgliedstaaten dürfen auch günstigere Maßnahmen für Whistleblower vorsehen (Artikel 19). Ziel der…

Update: More information on the directive here. Service provided by whistleblowers, combined with strong encouragement and protection of active whistleblowers, has proven to be a vital link between the public interest and enhancement of the public good, away from corruption, negligence, and malfeasance. Despite their protected position encouraging and even enabling them to reveal insider…