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LIVING IN AUSTRIA

What are the laws on noisy neighbours in Austria?

Noisy neighbours? Can't sleep? Before you call the Austria police it's important to understand the law on noise complaints.

What are the laws on noisy neighbours in Austria?
Noisy neighbours can make your life a misery. In Austria, however, you do have recourse. Photo: Pexels / Atul Choudhary

Contrary to popular belief, Austria doesn’t abide by neighbouring Germany’s ‘Ruhezeiten‘ (quiet hours) when it comes to law-making – that it to say, there is no specific, countrywide legally-mandated obligation to keep noise to a minimum between 10pm and 6am. 

That’s not to say that you have no legal recourse, should you face those around you blasting techno music into the early hours. It’s just that there is a (slightly lengthier) process that you need to follow. Put simply, each case needs individually to be investigated and evaluated judging on where and when it has occurred.

According to the official Austrian government site, your first course of action should always be to make contact with your neighbours regarding the issue. If this doesn’t work to resolve things, you then have recourse to approach either the police or you local municipal authority (your local Rathaus, specifically) and file a complaint.

Most of the time this will ultimately involve the police conducting an investigation and if they judge a disturbance has occurred, a fine being issued to the culprit. The fine amount varies across Austria, from €700 in Vienna, up to €1,450 across Tyrol. However, these fines can take time to be issued, and several months before the process is ultimately completed.

Also keep in the mind that the investigation is ultimately a subjective matter, depending on where the noise infraction is considered to be taking place. The amount of noise that may be tolerated by an investigating police officer in a heavily trafficked urban environment, for example, may be more than in the countryside. Noise on a week day may be more tolerated than on a Sunday. 

If a neighbour is persistent in making undue amounts of noise, and complaints made with the police don’t appear to effective, Austrian civil law also allows you to take the matter to court. Following a successful legal action, there will be severe consequences following any further infractions by the noisemaker. While costly, it can be an effective way to ultimately resolve the matter. 

It’s also important to understand your rights specifically regarding to the noise made by lawnmowers and other sorts of loud machinery. Individual municipalities within Austria can and do regulate when you are permitted to use noisy gardening equipment and you can find the permitted hours here (Page in German, select the federal state, then the individual municipality). Should your neighbour drag the lawnower out at 6am, for example, it’s more than appropriate to contact the local police – on a non-emergency number, of course. 

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LIVING IN AUSTRIA

Why internet users in Austria need to be aware of new ‘shitstorm’ ruling

'Shitstorm' is a ubiquitous Anglicism used in Austria referring to public, online and broad harassment people sometimes suffer. And now the country's supreme court is cracking down on perpetrators.

Why internet users in Austria need to be aware of new 'shitstorm' ruling

The word “shitstorm” officially arrived in German dictionaries more than ten years ago,

Its meaning is different from the English version, which according to the Oxford dictionary is used to a describe “a situation marked by violent controversy”.

However in German the Duden Dictionary explains it as a “storm of indignation in an internet communication medium, sometimes accompanied by insulting statements”.

The word is back on Austrian media after a controversial decision of Austria’s Supreme Court, which decided to crack down on instances of online harassment. According to the decision, simply participating in a “shitstorm” can cost an individual plenty. 

According to the court’s decision, it’s sufficient for a victim of a “shitstorm” to identify one person involved. You can “then assert a claim against this person for the entire immaterial damage that the person has suffered as a result of the ‘shitstorm’ “, media lawyer Maria Windhager told broadcaster ORF

READ ALSO: Four reasons Austria is great for women and four reasons why it isn’t

The Supreme Court’s decision means that those who spread hate and fake news online must also accept that they can be prosecuted for it. 

Police officer vilified online

Austria’s highest court dealt with the specific case of a police officer photographed and filmed as he worked in one of the 2021 demonstrations against COVID-19 measures. In a Facebook post, his image was shared with the false accusation that he pulled an 82-year-old man to the ground before arresting and interrogating him. 

According to the police officer, the post had many unpleasant consequences for him. He, his sister, and his mother had been asked about it many times, and even his former post commander had confronted him about it, the report stated. 

He was able to identify several people who shared the post and was able to bring one to court. In an initial trial, the court only awarded him a small portion of the €3,000 compensation he had demanded. 

Austria’s Supreme Court, however, awarded the man a total €3,000. In its reasoning, the Supreme Court stated that a “shitstorm” is defined precisely by the fact that many people participate in it. At the same time, the Supreme Court disagreed with the argument that this makes the individual act of every participant less significant. 

READ ALSO: What to do if you experience online abuse in Austria

Such an argument would have the consequence that the more people who take part in a shitstorm, the “less liable” everyone would be.

“The effect of a shitstorm is all the more violent, the more people participate in it”, according to the Supreme Court. With this, the court said those affected by a “shitstorm” could claim the total damage from a single perpetrator. 

Lawyer Windhager said: “I do believe that the ruling will shake people up and make them think a little more carefully about what they post and, above all, what they share”.

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