The country s provinces possess considerable latitude in local administration and can check federal power by electing members of the upper house of parliament.
Voting is compulsory in some provinces.
The independent judiciary is headed by a supreme court and includes both constitutional and administrative courts. A 1955 treaty prohibits Nazis from exercising freedom of assembly and association. Nazi organizations are illegal, but Nazis are welcomed in the Freedom Party. In 1992, public denial of the Holocaust and justification of approval of Nazi crimes against humanity were outlawed. In general, Austrian police enforce these anti-Nazi statutes more enthusiastically when extremists attract international attention.