It should not be overlooked that persons may have suffered damage through criminal offenses comitted by perpetrators/the accused/defendants. The criminal laws refer to these affected parties as “victims”.
Since the focus of criminal proceedings lies primarily on investigating a crime and sanctioning the perpetrator, victims have only limited rights. Even if the perpetrator is convicted, a “mere” victim cannot derive any legal claims from this per se.
In order to be able to enforce one’s own rights and claims as a victim in criminal proceedings, it is necessary to join the proceedings as a so-called private party. In this context, the damage incurred must be asserted and quantified, both in terms of the reason for the damage and the resulting amount.
Private parties can also be represented by a lawyer during the main proceedings. In this context, extensive rights of participation are provided for – e.g. the defendant, witnesses and experts can be confronted with questions, evidence can be requested, and much more.
We also support our clients in the context of private party representation and victim representation. In doing so, we ensure that your rights and claims are asserted in a timely and efficient manner in order to minimize the disadvantages arising from having suffered a criminal offense.
Victim representation
As a victim of a crime, you often find yourself in a situation in which you are overwhelmed, unable to cope, and do not have the strength or time to participate in criminal proceedings without legal aid and support.
The consequences of a crime are often far-reaching and even if damages are compensated financially, the incidents are not undone or reversed. Therefore, the interests of a victim go beyond monetary compensation for damages. In many cases, it is about a complete clarification of the crime and the criminal prosecution of the perpetrator.
As a law firm specializing exclusively in criminal law , we ensure that your claims and interests as a victim of a crime are taken into account. We stand by you in these exceptional situations and secure the observance of your rights as a victim. Proactive interaction and cooperation with the investigating authorities can often be crucial in the investigation and prosecution of a crime. This usually requires energy, strength and stamina, for which our clients can rely on us instead of having to shoulder the situation alone.
Criminal complaints
If you have become the victim of a crime, the question usually arises:
“How and where can I best report the crime and file my criminal complaint?”
Every situation is unique and requires a tailored approach.
Complaints can be filed at the local police department, police commissioner’s office, state criminal police office, public prosecutor’s office or even the Central Public Prosecutor’s Office for White-Collar Crime and Corruption.
The form of the complaint – in writing as a statement of facts or orally during an interview – can and should be selected based on the respective particularities of the respective case.
When filing a criminal complaint, however, the content is of foremost importance. It is not only crucial how the facts of the case are reported to the law enforcement authorities. Rather, comprehensive and often complex events must be communicated and presented in a comprehensible and understandable way for a person that has not been confronted with the case yet at all. After all, the first step is to ensure that the law enforcement authorities can derive an initial allegation from the criminal complaint and initiate a promising preliminary investigation.
When filing a complaint, it is also necessary to consider the further course of action in a preliminary investigation as well as strategic procedural aspects. In many cases, it is advisable to propose specific investigative steps and suggest measures to safeguard the (victim’s) interests. This may take the form of securing assets by freezing bank accounts, securing evidence by executed search warrants, investigating the location of the perpetrator, wire tapping, and much more.
We work exclusively in the field of criminal law advice and representation. In doing so, we are mostly hired to defend suspects and defendants. We are therefore able to anticipate the usual behavior of alleged offenders, investigating authorities and other parties involved.
We incorporate this experience and knowledge into the formulation of criminal complaints. This enables us to lay the foundation for our clients to ensure that their interests as victims/private parties are soundly protected and enforced in further proceedings.
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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.
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.
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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