Ombudsman urges legal framework for Vienna juvenile group home

Austria’s ombudsman has urged the Justice Ministry to quickly establish a clear legal basis for Vienna’s juvenile time-out group home, ORF reported, as the project continues to face criticism. The home accommodates children under 14 who have committed serious offences.

The country’s first such home has operated in a house in Simmering since mid-July, in partnership with the provider neue wege. Children can stay for up to 12 weeks. Two are currently receiving care; the first boy to leave is said to have improved.

Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz said on Tuesday that the current situation was not ideal. He supports educational measures to keep young people from offending, but said punishment must not be the focus and human rights must be respected. Temporary group homes should be a last resort, he said, but are better than lowering the age of criminal responsibility, both socially and financially.

The project currently relies on the Home Residence Act, a law originating in the health sector. Achitz said restrictions on liberty should be used only as a last resort and under a clear legal basis, adding that the act was not suitable for this situation. Legal expert Heinz Mayer has also said the arrangement could breach the constitution and raised the prospect of state liability lawsuits.

Vienna Deputy Mayor Bettina Emmerling, who is responsible for the project, also said the act was not an appropriate basis. She said the required conditions had been met, but that the arrangement was not an ideal solution because it delayed action and made a complicated matter more difficult. Emmerling ruled out closing the home, regardless of the legal basis.

The Justice Ministry has been working for more than a year on a legal framework for specialised socio-educational group homes within child and youth welfare, as provided for in the government programme. A ministry spokesperson said a draft addressing custody law would soon enter coordination.

Vorarlberg Governor Markus Wallner recently renewed calls to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner also supported “prison-like accommodation” for persistent offenders below that age over the summer. A spokesperson said on Monday that Karner’s earlier comments in favour of lowering the age remained valid.