1. General
Austrian Civil Law System
The Austrian legal system is a civil law one. Laws are based on
codes and statutes. Civil procedure provides an adversarial process
with inquisitorial elements: the proceedings and the judge are
limited to the factual allegations of the parties. The judge is not
a mere "referee" (eg, in the judge's inquisitorial
role, he or she will be the primary interrogator of parties and
witnesses).
Obligatory Public Hearings
A public hearing is obligatory. The judge will determine all
relevant facts of the case in the hearing, hear parties and
witnesses, discuss the content of documents and – if needed