Since January 1, 2006, legal entities and partnerships (i.e. companies or associations) can be held criminally liable under Austrian law, in addition to natural persons/individuals. Accordingly, companies or associations can be subject to criminal prosecution – just like natural persons/individuals.
The specific regulations regarding the criminal liability of companies or associations can be found in the Corporate Criminal Liability Act. This has now become an integral part of the Austrian criminal justice system. The practical application and significance of corporate criminal law are constantly increasing. The recent increase in the possible fines for corporations will continue to bring the area of corporate criminal law into increasing focus in the future.
Therefore, in addition to criminal risk management and preventative counsel for companies, there exists a strong demand for the representation of corporations in criminal proceedings themselves – in preliminary proceedings, main proceedings and appeal proceedings.
The defense strategies and options are in many respects similar to those of natural persons, but often go beyond them. On the one hand, this is especially true since the facts of the case must be examined with regard to the respective decision-maker or employee. On the other hand, however, particular attention must also be paid to the questions of organizational fault and post-offense behavior (such as participation in the clarification of the facts and organizational changes) when defending associations.
In addition to representing individuals, our law firm specializes in advising and defending companies and associations in criminal matters. We are gladly prepared to assist you in the area of corporate criminal law as legal counsel and defense attorneys. Through our network of experts, we are also able to coordinate and align the defense of the individuals concerned in addition to representing the interests of the association.
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Hardly any other area of legal practice is as complex and challenging as defense and advice in criminal cases. It is not uncommon for the freedom and liberty of those affected to be at stake. The consequences of a criminal conviction are often severe. From the outset, criminal proceedings represent an exceptional situation of immense stress for those affected. As a law firm specializing exclusively in criminal law, we ensure that our criminal defense and our clients benefit from this high standard.
Learn moreThis is the part of the legal system that deals with defining crimes and the penalties for them. It determines which actions are considered punishable and what the consequences are. General criminal law includes crimes such as murder, robbery, assault, theft, property damage, and bodily injury, among many others.
Learn moreAlthough the law does not contain a definition of economic and corruption criminal law, these are two essential areas of criminal law.
In white collar criminal law, one has to deal with facts such as embezzlement, fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy, anti-competitive agreements, money laundering or accounting offenses. Corruption offenses include, for example, abuse of office, bribery, corruption, acceptance of benefits and prohibited intervention.
It should not be overlooked that in connection with criminal offenses there are often also parties who may have suffered damages as a result of the respective criminal act. The criminal laws refer to these affected persons as “victims”. In order to be able to enforce one’s own rights and claims as a victim in criminal proceedings, a so-called private party joinder is required.
Learn moreThe field of “compliance” deals with adherence to laws, guidelines, standards and internal rules for avoiding violations and legal risks in companies or organizations. A functioning compliance system is not only necessary to minimize legal risks. Rather, it has been shown that compliance violations can also damage a company’s reputation and credibility.
Learn moreIn addition to our core activities as defense attorneys and criminal defense counselors, we also work as lecturers. In lectures and seminars, we impart both basic knowledge of criminal law and specialized knowledge on individual legal matters with criminal law implications. This area of activity therefore complements our orientation as a specialized law firm for criminal law and ensures the high quality of our work.
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