AUTHOR (name and surname)

Maria Bertel

COUNTRY

Austria

YEAR

2021

Name of the act/s*

Constitutional Court, 15th December 2021, V425/2020 (V425/2020-9)

Subject area

Public International Law and National Law

Brief description of the contents of the act

The Constitutional Court had to examine an administrative regulation downsizing an area of natural protection issued by the government of the Land Vorarlberg. The Court found that the administrative regulation violated the law because § 26 Nature Protection Act of Vorarlberg stipulates that in such cases, the authority has to take into account different interests. In this balancing of interests, the Nature Conservation Protocol of the Convention on the Protection of the Alps (Alpine Convention) has to be taken into account, which the government in the case taken to the Court had not done.

Comment

In this decision, the Constitutional Court has repeated and reinforced, that the Alpine Convention and its Protocols are in principle directly applicable.

Secondary sources/ doctrinal works (if any)

*Act citation /year and number

Constitutional Court, 15th December 2021, V425/2020 (V425/2020-9)

Enacted by

Constitutional Court

Official link to the text of the act

https://ris.bka.gv.at/Dokument.wxe?Abfrage=Vfgh&Dokumentnummer=JFT_20211215_20V00425_00