Research | Law Faculty

Project period: 2020-2021, Project leader: Dr. Tamara Ehs, Project funding: Future Fund Republic of Austria.

About the project: The Corona Crisis necessitated interventions in the foundations of a democratically organized society that were previously hardly thought possible: Massive exit restrictions were imposed, entire localities were quarantined, parliamentary procedure was reduced to a minimum in favor of quick action, etc. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which has had constitutional status in Austria since 1964, permits such fundamental rights restrictions, among other things, for the “protection of health,” “which are provided for by law and are necessary in a democratic society.” This means that even massive interventions can be justified, but they must be proportionate and represent the lesser means.
The project “Democracy and Human Rights during the Corona Crisis. Austria in International Comparison” undertakes the classification of Austrian crisis management during the corona pandemic with regard to fundamental rights that are particularly relevant to democracy, such as freedom of expression, the fundamental right to data protection, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, the right to vote, and the right to education.

May 2020 

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Verica Trstenjak was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art I. Class by Federal President Dr. Alexander Van der Bellen for her exceptional scientific merits in the field of European Law and for her contribution to the deepening of relations between Austria and Slovenia. Read the press release (pdf) here.

April 2020

Mag. Dominik Prankl (SFU) has submitted an individual application to the Constitutional Court, with which he fights the decree of Health Minister Anschober regarding exit restrictions due to unlawfulness.
Read the article from the press (pdf) by Benedikt Kommenda here.

March 2020

From March 5 – 7, 2020, the 3rd Vienna Conference on Higher Education Law and the Management of Sciences of the Institute for European and International Higher Education Law will take place at SFU Vienna. Tickets can be purchased online, and the program (pdf) can be found here.

February 2020

Mag. Susanne Gstöttner, Mag. Lukas Linser, Lio Soliman and Kristina Altrichter from SFU participated in the Masterclass Interdisciplinary Legal Studies of JKU – Johannes Kepler University Linz on the topic “Verfahrensgerechtigkeit – Procedural Justice” on February 20. Mag. Susanne Gstöttner gave a lecture on the topic “Autonomous Driving in the Real Lab – The Population as Sufferer or Profiteer?”, Lukas Linser on the topic “Victims in Sexual Criminal Law”. The program for download can be found here (pdf).

January 2020

On January 17, 2020, the IGKK international child protection conference took place at SFU Vienna from 9:15 am – 5:15 pm.
The program (pdf) can be found here.