clear value judgement of the Treaty of Lisbon in favour of an “area of
freedom, security and justice” and an effective protection of fundamental rights remains undisputed. That this becomes utopian in the
event of the kind of staffing as was the case here cannot be disputed
and, from the perspective of the AOB, is clearly unacceptable in this
form.
Right to a fair and public trial
CRIMINAL RECORDS ABOUT FOREIGN CONVICTIONS
In January 2008 Mr. N.N. filed a petition to delete the entry of a
foreign conviction in the Austrian criminal record. After an almost
two-year proceeding, it was found that this entry was unlawful.
During these almost two years it was disregarded that this entry
could possibly result in damage to Mr. N.N.’s credit standing or
have career drawbacks for him.
The entry or expungement of foreign convictions raises difficult
practical and legal problems that are also based on statutory provisions that are not quite clear. On one hand, one must adhere to the
presumption of innocence that is derived from Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On the other hand, one must
take into consideration the needs of the Austrian authorities, respectively, the Austrian population. For example, a potential employer of
Mr. N.N. has a legitimate interest in the past life of a foreign national
living in Austria, if this is related to a criminal offence.
Statutory provisions
A foreign country is not always willing or able to provide the Austrian
authorities within a reasonable period of time with the documents
and information required for an evaluation of whether a conviction
complies with human rights laws. This should already result in serious doubts about whether such a conviction can be entered in the
Austrian criminal record. For foreign government agencies it should
not be difficult to cooperate with Austrian authorities and to send a
copy of a file and to provide additional information. Authorities in
foreign countries should be aware of what the consequences of an
entry into the criminal record can have for the person affected.
Cooperation with
not clear
foreign government agencies
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