Image: APA/EXPA/JOHANN GRODER
This was confirmed by court spokeswoman Birgit Fink after a report by the “Tiroler Tageszeitung” on Wednesday. This means that there is no longer anything pending against the state of Tyrol and the federal government in the case at the Innsbruck regional court.
Accusation: official failure
The lawsuits were about possible official failures in the spread of the corona pandemic. Since June 1, 2023, the OGH has had a landmark decision on the long-term cause. The supreme court denied official liability claims by a German tourist against the republic. This had apparently been infected with the corona virus in March 2020 during a stay in the Tyrolean winter sports resort. The Supreme Court confirmed the opinion of the lower courts that the duties imposed on the authority in the Epidemic Act “must exclusively be aimed at protecting the general public”. And apparently not the protection of individuals. The OGH also saw no starting point for possible liability in “incorrect information” from the state of Tyrol dated March 5, 2020 about a sick passenger on the way from Munich to Iceland. The information was “kept in the subjunctive” and “vaguely formulated”. The Supreme Court granted appeals by the Finanzprokuratur against the annulment decision of the court of appeal, the Higher Regional Court of Vienna (OLG).
Further proceedings pending
However, the cause has not yet been legally resolved nationwide. Proceedings against the federal government are still pending at the regional court for civil law matters in Vienna, and in individual cases judgments are still awaited, according to Peter Kolba, President of the Consumer Protection Association (VSV) on the APA. There are now 50 final OGH decisions. The plaintiffs would have the opportunity to bring a state liability action within three years. According to the legal opinion of the SAAM, the Supreme Court should have referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) because of the question of the applicability of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The SAAM is now examining whether the legal protection insurance would finance a model state liability lawsuit. According to Kolba, such a proposal would have to be submitted to the Constitutional Court (VfGH).
No criminal consequences
In the meantime, it has been clear for a long time that the Ischgl case will have no criminal consequences. Five people had once seen themselves exposed to criminal investigations in the cause. According to reports, these were the Tyrolean state office director Herbert Forster, the former Landeck district governor Markus Maass, the Ischgl mayor Werner Kurz and two employees of the district administration. Ultimately, however, no charges were brought. There is no evidence “that someone culpably did or refrained from doing something that would have increased the risk of infection,” the reasoning said, among other things. As a result, the consumer protection association (VSV) announced that it would submit a continuation application, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
Covid outbreak in apres ski venues
At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, there was a major outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the Tyrolean winter sports resort of Ischgl. Around 11,000 infections could be traced back to the ski resort, which had been temporarily quarantined along with the surrounding area. The infections are said to have happened mainly in après-ski bars. The authorities had been accused of reacting too late and not comprehensively enough. The VSV had accused the local authorities in Tyrol and the responsible politicians at federal level of serious mistakes in pandemic management in the ski areas in February and March 2020.
Source: Nachrichten
