Fundamental Rights Right to freedom Inmate released late An inmate was released three days late from Klagenfurt prison: instead of being released on Friday, he was not released until the following Monday, as the reversal of verdict had been forwarded too late. Although the Graz Higher Regional Court decision was sent to the offices of the Chief Justice of Klagenfurt Regional Court via fax at 1.14 pm, it did not reach its destination until 10 am on the following Monday. N. had been sentenced to 20 months in prison. Pursuant to a decision of 17 July 2009, the Graz Higher Regional Court ruled that the criminal proceedings regarding N. should be reopened. 17 July 2009 was a Friday. At Klagenfurt Regional Court the filing office and the offices of the Chief Justice were staffed without interruption until 3.30 pm. In the criminal departments, at least one employee is always present until 3.30 pm, and this was the case on 17 July 2009. After the necessary statement had been obtained from Klagenfurt prison, N. was released on 20 July 2009 at 11.40 am Held in custody three days too long The late release would have been avoidable if the Graz Higher Regional Court decision had not been sent to the offices of the Chief Justice of Klagenfurt Regional Court but instead directly to the filing office. The Ministry of Justice stated that it would have been feasible to send the decision on appeal to the relevant department during the afternoon of 17 July 2009. It would then probably have been possible to contact Klagenfurt prison to clarify the question of custody that day. However, the Ministry of Justice pointed out that in retrospect it was impossible to say precisely how much time the interaction between court and the prison would have taken. Response from the Ministry of Justice 23