Vienna seminar - News from Austria

To promote a harmonised judicial officer in Europe
The profession of judicial officer is at the heart of the European construction of a free, safe and just area.
Every new legal instrument, whether rules or European directives, concerns the role of judicial officers.
Our profession has changed rapidly and is developing in an area which favours a legal status that is broadly open to free markets.
This situation led the UIHJ to promote a harmonised judicial officer regime which would encourage the existence of a genuine European judicial officer.
In Austria the “Gerichtsvollzieher” does not meet these criteria and the Europe of our profession cannot be conceived with a body of judicial officers who continue with basic differences in areas such as qualifications for the profession, training, prerogatives, business and so on.

A seminar under the patronage of the Ministry of Justice of Austria
That is why, upon the initiative of the UIHJ and in cooperation with the Austrian Judicial Officers Association, Mr Eduard Beischall, former chairman of the Association of Judicial Officers of Germany, was assigned to conduct an information mission for the purpose of inviting our Austrian colleagues to commit themselves more passionately to the harmonisation of their positions with that of their European colleagues. Contact was established with the Minister of Justice who offered her patronage to the holding of an international colloquium in Vienna.
This colloquium, which was organised in Vienna by our friend Marc Schmitz, a member of the committee of the UIHJ, occurred last 7th October in the presence of representatives of 17 delegations from all over Europe and of Dr Franz Mohr, Director of Professions at the Ministry of Justice.
The topic was “Enforcement in Europe: new goals, new ways” and was divided into three workshops with a summary report (see programme below).
Outside the colloquium, Mr Isnard and Mr Beischall were received by Mme Karin Milautsch, the Minister of Justice, who reinforced her support for the work of the UIHJ and said she was paying close attention to the changes in the position of a judicial officer in Austria.

Towards a liberal profession in Austria?
Mrs Miklautsch said clearly that she was not against a change of this position towards an independent status, if that were necessary, but that it was appropriate, before that, to know the desires of our Austrian colleagues.
As an extension of the UIHJ international colloquium organised with the OGVB (Austrian Association of Judicial Officers), a poll of around 300 Austrian judicial officers was taken.
The question asked was the following: given the evolution of the profession in a substantially enlarged Europe and open to an independent status, are the Austrian judicial officers favourable to the adoption of independent status?
Two items were added to this question: first that the Minister of Justice had been convinced of this reform subject to the agreement of the judicial officers, and secondly that a major meeting of all the judicial officers would occur in Salzburg during 2005.
There were 68 responses: Yes: 40, No: 28
This is a significant indication of the position of the Austrian judicial officers even if the poll only covered 68 of 300 colleagues.
The UIHJ decided to continue its action and will organise on 11 November in Salzburg an information session on the situation of the judicial officer in Europe, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice.
Afterwards and as circumstances warrant, this first wave of action may be accompanied by more technical and certainly more political approaches.