Prosecutor Investigates

Chamber Has Incorrectly Appointed Lay Judges for Years

The plenary assembly would have been responsible for appointing the expert lay judges.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Since 2007, the appointment of expert lay judges at the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture is said to have no longer been in compliance with the law. This is because, instead of being approved by a resolution of the general assembly, the nominees were most recently approved only by the executive committee. The Independent Farmers’ Association filed a complaint regarding the matter, and the public prosecutor’s office is now investigating.

What began with an oral question during a state parliament session has led to an investigation by the public prosecutor’s office. On May 21, NEOS club leader Felix Eypeltauer asked State Agriculture Minister Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP) on what resolution of the General Assembly of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture (LKOÖ) the appointment of expert lay judges for the 2022–2026 term in the Labor and Social Court would be based.

Error Admitted
Langer-Weninger had to admit that the regulations governing the appointment had not been followed. She stated that until 2006, everything had proceeded in accordance with the law (i.e., with a resolution by the General Assembly), “for the terms of office from 2007 to 2011 and 2012 to 2016, the legal department submitted the list of lay judges to the Main Committee; since 2017, it has been submitted only to the Presidium,” said the Provincial Councilor. No justification for the change in procedure can be inferred from the LKOÖ’s statement.

In light of the recent debates surrounding political patronage and party-political cronyism, this finding carries even greater weight.

Felix Eypeltauer, Neos-Klubchef

UBV Set the Ball Rolling
The Independent Farmers’ Association (UBV), which joined the LKOÖ in 2021, set the ball rolling. State Chairman Karl Keplinger commented: “We wondered why we were never asked to nominate lay judges, even though we were entitled to eight seats.”

Case is with the District Attorney’s Office
For the upcoming term, however, the UBV was already able to make these nominations, as the appointment procedure was corrected at the LKOÖ’s general assembly on June 25. Keplinger denies that no one in the chamber was aware of the irregularity. In early July, the UBV therefore submitted a statement of facts to the Linz Public Prosecutor’s Office. “An investigation is underway against persons unknown,” confirms spokesperson Ulrike Breiteneder. The case involves allegations of abuse of office. The LKOÖ has been asked to comment.

Statement from the Chamber
“We guarantee transparency. There may have been an error in the legal assessment of the nomination process. I could be absolutely furious about that,” says LKOÖ Chamber Director Karl Dietachmair in response to a query from “Krone.” He ruled out any political influence, as well as the possibility that anyone had knowingly acted improperly.