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