All jurisdiction in Austria proceeds from the Federal Republic. Verdicts and findings are proclaimed and published in the name of the Republic. Nobody may be deprived of appearance before a judge as prescribed by law. Military jurisdiction is suspended except in time of war. The death sentence has been abolished.
Judges are independent in the exercise of their offices.
They may be neither dismissed nor transferred. Proceedings in courts of civil and penal law are verbal and public. The law itself defines exceptions to this principle. The general public is involved in the process of jurisdiction. In other cases lay assessors are involved in the proceedings if the prescribed sentence exceeds a certain limit defined by the law.