Austrian justice workers protest staff shortages and heavy workloads

Judges and prosecutors across Austria are holding regional protests on Tuesday and Wednesday over severe staff shortages and heavy workloads, ORF reported. More than 250 judges are missing nationwide, including 50 to 55 in Vienna.

At the Regional Court and Higher Regional Court in Innsbruck, more than 100 legal professionals are expected to take part. Most hearings there are cancelled on Tuesday. Judges and prosecutors say Tyrol is short of 20 percent of the staff it needs.

In Vienna, only urgent cases will be handled throughout the week. A large protest gathering is planned at the Vienna Criminal Court on Wednesday, with senior justice officials expected to attend. Harald Wagner, head of the Vienna Judges’ Association, said further action was possible if there was no progress by the end of the week.

In Burgenland, justice representatives are calling for seven additional posts. Thirty-six judges currently work at the district courts and the regional court, and officials are due to outline the situation on Wednesday.

Prison officers in Leoben and Graz, in Styria, are also protesting over conditions in correctional facilities, where overtime has reached record levels. Their union is seeking about 100 additional positions and plans to raise the issue at workplace meetings on Tuesday.

In Upper Austria, judge and union representative Stefan Pfarrhofer said staff were working five days while carrying files that would take six days to process. He warned that persistently high workloads could further delay court proceedings.

The district court in Schwechat, Lower Austria, is particularly strained by a growing number of compensation claims under EU air passenger rights rules, according to judge Jörg Iglseder. It received 4,500 such claims last year and is operating at nearly 180 percent capacity. At the start of this year, district and regional courts were short of about 225 judges, not counting administrative court judges or prosecutors.