Steinacker to Zadić: "Construction sites in the judiciary must be addressed"

2023-07-29 11:51:09

If the Minister of Justice were actually concerned about the rights of the accused, she could have taken measures to improve the situation long ago.

Vienna (OTS) – “The many construction sites in the judiciary must finally be tackled. The past few months have shown once again that the rights of suspects need to be strengthened. This is accompanied by a reimbursement of costs for acquittals. One does not do justice to the rule of law if acquitted accused are left with the high costs and are exposed to heavy financial burdens. In addition, the procedures finally need to be accelerated, as was also decided in the 2021 Council of Ministers presentation. These are important measures to adapt the judiciary to modern times,” says Michaela Steinacker, justice spokeswoman for the People’s Party, and further: “If the justice minister were actually concerned about the rights of the accused, she could have taken measures to improve the situation long ago.”

Steinacker continues: “We agreed with the Greens in February 2021 to create an independent judiciary commander. The introduction of a federal prosecutor represents a serious change in the previous system and must be processed conscientiously. In a democracy, there must be a connection to the people. Therefore, at the head of instructions should be a person who is responsible to Parliament, both for appointment and for dismissal and ongoing control. The model presented by Zadić is one that envisages a democracy-free space without parliamentary control over appointments and dismissals. We strictly reject the accusation that we are not ambitious enough. It is the People’s Party that has long been pushing for something to be done to make the justice system fairer and more up-to-date. Meanwhile, Zadić has still not implemented many of the measures agreed in the government program.”