Essential material changes by the amendment to the Austrian Enforcement Act of 2014

As of October 1st of 2014 significant adjustments with regard to the legal recovery of debts have to be considered.

By the adjustments of the current amendment to the Austrian Enforcement Act the enforcement fees, the fees of the bailiff and the traveling expenses experienced moderate increases: The enforcement fees, paid by the pursuing, are to be adjusted in line with the inflation rate.[1] In the course of establishing the current amendment to the Austrian Enforcement Act, the improvements in efficiency and legal protection assume an important role. In this context – because of the fact that rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have to be implied – on the one hand, the focus is on strengthening the rights of people who are unable to process (on their own), on the other hand the right to be heard and the two-sidedness of the appeal procedure play a central role.

The current amendment to the Austrian Enforcement Act (of 2014) contains significant changes, which mainly deal with the scope of legal protection. Besides these changes in the scope of legal protection, the amendment to the Austrian Enforcement Act approaches regulations for forced sale procedures (cases of compulsory auction proceedings), as well as adjusted regulations concerning the ensured execution of monetary claims.

The current amendment to the Austrian Enforcement Act of 2014 brings an adjustment regarding § 1 of the Austrian Enforcement Act, inasmuch as decisions by a criminal court – regarding pecuniary arrangements – are as of now (national) execution titles, which can be executed immediately.

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