Status of Digitalisation of ESCP Enforcemnt Procedures The online service platform of the Austrian justice system (https://www.justiz.gv.at/home/service/digitale-justiz/justizonline.9b8.de.html) enables electronic contact with the judiciary. Citizens of other EU Member States can also register with the electronic identity (eID) of their EU country of origin. The online platform offers several services including online submission of the application for execution and online access to the file. Movable property seized during executions can be offered in online auctions on the judicial auction platform: www.justiz-auktion.at. Pursuant to sections 427ff of the Execution Code – Exekutionsordnung (hereinafter EO)[1] – on “Electronic Query of Data”, execution data is offered as an online query for a fee (10,70 EUR) and allows a restricted group of users to retrieve it. This function is intended to assist in deciding whether the initiation of litigation or execution proceedings makes economic sense. Lawyers and notaries as creditors’ representatives are entitled to make queries. The execution data query shows all execution proceedings pending for more than one month. Specifically, the following information is displayed:
  • Execution court, file number, amount of the claims pursued, incl. reference to a suspension and the type of means of execution.
  • In the case of execution against a vehicle: seizures and unsuccessful attempts at execution.
  • Whether a list of assets has been submitted within the last year.
 ESCP Procedural Aspects
  1. Competent Enforcement Authority
The first part of the enforcement procedure is authorisation (Bewilligungsverfahren) which start with the application for execution which must be submitted to the court (“Exekutionsantrag”). The district court always has subject-matter jurisdiction, irrespective of the amount in dispute or the basis of assessment. The court with local jurisdiction is the court at the debtor’s domicile or company’s seat. The land registry court (Grundbuchsgericht) is responsible for the execution on real estate (registered in the land register). If the debtor has no domicile in Austria, the court where the movable property is located will have jurisdiction. The enforcement process is conducted either by the judge (forced sale of real estate) or by the court official (enforcement on movable goods or enforcement on receivables). The second part of the execution procedure are the enforcement acts. After the authorisation of the execution, the proceedings are conducted ex officio by the enforcement organs of the competent execution court (section 16 (1) EO).
  1. Rules on Service
In principle, service is effected by a service agent, i.e. the post office or another service provider or by court employees (section 88 of the Code of Civil Procedure, Zivilprozessordnung – hereinafter ZPO)[2]. There is a special system for electronic service by the courts, the Electronic Legal Communication (ERV). An obligation to participate in this system exists only for some professions like lawyers. Private persons may participate in this system, but there is no obligation for them to do so.  
  1. Language of the Certificate and Documents to be Appended
Certificate should be submitted in German. The application for execution is also offered in other language versions: Slovenian and Hungarian.
  1. Enforcement Fees
In execution proceedings, execution fees are due in addition to the court fees for the authorisation proceedings. Court fees are regulated in TP 4 of Court Fees Act (Gerichtsgebührengesetz[3], hereinafter GGG) and depends on the value of the subject matter of the dispute. TP 4 (1) lit. a GGG provides for a uniform court fee for all execution proceedings. The execution fees depend on the type of execution and are regulated in section 455 EO.
  1. Refusal, Stay, or Limitation of Enforcement Procedures
As there are no specific provisions implementing Art. 22 and 23 of the ESCP Regulation, thus general provisions on discontinuation, limitation or stay (sections 39 ff EO “Einstellung, Einschränkung und Aufschiebung der Exekution ) apply in addition to the regulation provisions. The application should be brought to the execution court that had jurisdiction in the authorisation procedure Critical Assessment Foreign consumers contact ECC Net and ask for information which court is the enforcement court and how high are the fees of the execution procedure. Another common hurdle is the language and the fact that documents may have to be translated. The access to information in different languages remain main problem for consumers seeking enforcement of the ESCP. ECC Austria gets feedback from consumer in the cases when the enforcement could not be carried out because the debtor was not tangible. [1] RGBl. Nr. 79/1896, available online: https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10001700 [2]RGBl. (Das Reichsgesetzblatt) Nr. 113/1895; available online: https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10001699 [3] BGBl. (Bundesegestzblatt) Nr. 501/1984