2023-11-13 10:18:25
All persons prosecuted or convicted of consensual homosexual acts in the Second Republic will be rehabilitated and financially compensated. Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) announced a corresponding legal regulation in a press conference on Monday. According to this, there will be a payment of 3,000 euros for each overturned judgment, and 1,500 euros for each year in prison.
For every investigation initiated into the criminal law paragraph that was abolished at the beginning of the 2000s, those affected receive 500 euros, regardless of the outcome, as Zadic emphasized. If the victims of the old legal regulation have suffered economic, professional or health disadvantages, they will receive an additional 1,500 euros. A total of 33 million euros is available for compensation payments.
Zadic estimated that around 11,000 people would be affected. However, the Ministry of Justice will not actively approach those affected. Instead, victims of the old regulation must turn to the state courts or the ministry itself. There will also be various information on the department’s website. “We hope that a lot of people will come forward,” emphasized the minister, who spoke of one of the “darkest but also saddest chapters in Austria”.
Homosexuality was fundamentally decriminalized in 1971. Nevertheless, there were still special paragraphs followingward that criminalized otherwise legal conduct involving same-sex acts. It was not until 2002 that the last of these provisions was repealed by the Constitutional Court (VfGH).
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