Coercive acts the members of the NPM in the text of Section 47 (2) of said act by way of an amendment of the law. The Ministry initially agreed to the request of the NPM for a statutory regulation as part of the next amendment to the Railway Act in autumn 2020. However, this promise was not included in the draft for review. The NPM therefore submitted a statement of opinion in the parliamentary review process and also reminded the Ministry of its promise. Statement of opinion in review process Section 47 (2) of the Railway Act thus now authorises the NPM and its commission members to enter the railway tracks of the Austrian Federal Railways without permit “if and for as long as this is necessary to perform the obligations of their office”. 2.8.5 Football games A derby between Austria Wien and Rapid Wien took place on 1 September 2019 in Vienna. The commission criticised that large amounts of forbidden pyrotechnics were ignited, in some cases questionable banners (skull as a symbol of a hooligan group designed to look like the SS skull) were hung up and it was possible for fans to storm the VIP area and injure three law enforcement officers. Pyrotechnics and questionable banners In response to the first point of criticism, the Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that there was no permit issued for the use of pyrotechnics and that the organiser is responsible for admission to the event. The NPM noted that – according to the information from the Federal Ministry of the Interior – the game was qualified as high-risk. The executive thus issued a search warrant pursuant to the Austrian Security Police Act (Sicherheitspolizeigesetz). This allows the public security officers to search persons who want to enter the ground prior to admission and to stop them from entering the event if they refuse. Admission checks were also included in the official security police mandate. Search warrant was issued The NPM could not understand why the law enforcement officers did not make use of the search warrant for high-risk fans at the major Vienna Derby. In the view of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the in part critical banners were justifiable under the fundamental right to the freedom of speech. In this context, the Ministry referred to a decision by the Constitutional Court of Austria according to which banners with A.C.A.B. (all cops are bastards) written on them do not constitute an insult to the law enforcement officers but merely highlight the tense relationship between fans and the police. In this respect, the content of this banner was covered by the right to the freedom of speech in the opinion of the Constitutional Court of Austria. Banners with critical symbols and content 168