On 22 May 2024, the Krems Regional Court and the Krems-Waldviertel Lawyers’ Club hosted a lecture and panel discussion.
The panel discussion was attended by Mag.a Shoura Zehetner-Hashemi from Amnesty International Austria, Mag. Friedrich Forsthuber, President of the Regional Court for Criminal Matters Vienna, Univ.-Ass. Andreas Sauermoser from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights, and Lisa-Marie Mosberger from the Vienna Forum for Democracy and Human Rights.
Marriage for all, euthanasia, the third sex… Numerous legal policy decisions have been made in recent years not by politicians but by the Constitutional Court. Austria is thus joining a legal policy development that is on the rise in many places in Europe and is often referred to as ‘judicial activism’. But how far can constitutional courts go before it becomes questionable in terms of democratic policy? And how far must they go in order to be able to offer functional and effective protection of fundamental rights? These questions, including the importance of strategic litigation and the influence of social media on democratic developments and jurisdiction, were the subject of lively discussion in the jury courtroom of the Krems Regional Court. The event ended with an urgent appeal: especially in these politically turbulent times, it is human rights and democracy that we must not stop addressing. And it is precisely these questions that we as citizens cannot afford not to ask!