Correcting an Austrian criminal trial record: section 271(7) StPO

Section 271(1) StPO requires a record of the main hearing. It includes, among other things, essential procedural formalities, documents presented, applications, and the decisions on those applications. Parties may ask to have individual points recorded to safeguard their rights. Section 271 StPO in RIS.

Under section 271(3), answers by the accused and statements by witnesses and experts are generally recorded in summary form, covering their essential content. Verbatim recording is provided for where it appears necessary to decide the case. The record is therefore not always a word-for-word transcript. A different phrasing alone does not establish an error.

Under section 271(6), a party may request reproduction of the content of the recording or notes. The audio recording and hearing notes must be transcribed in full without delay. Unless they waived service, parties should receive a copy of the record as soon as possible and no later than together with the written judgment.

Section 271(7), first sentence, treats spelling and arithmetic errors separately. It applies section 270(3), first sentence, correspondingly: the presiding judge may correct these errors at any time, after hearing the parties if necessary. For important circumstances or events wrongly omitted from or recorded in the hearing record, section 271(7) provides a process involving the necessary inquiries and an order. Section 270(3) StPO in RIS.

A challenge to a witness’s credibility, the assessment of evidence, or the legal reasoning of the judgment raises a different issue. Record correction concerns what happened at the hearing and how it was documented. It does not replace appeal grounds or itself reopen the assessment of the evidence.

Under section 271(7), a party entitled to bring an appeal or a nullity appeal may request correction or completion. The presiding judge may also act on the court’s own motion. Address the request to the presiding judge and identify the court and case number so it can be matched to the right proceedings.

Identify the hearing date and exact page or passage. Compare the current record with the omitted event or wording you believe is inaccurate. Explain why the point is important and refer to available notes, file entries, or a recording. A general statement that the record is incomplete gives the court little to check.

Check which appeals were registered and when the written judgment was served. Keep a copy of the request and proof of filing. The correct filing channel and current deadline should be checked against the case file and actual service history.

Before correcting or completing the record, the presiding judge makes the inquiries that are necessary. The request does not automatically produce the proposed change. The court examines the passage and the material or recordings used to clarify it.

The parties must have a suitable period to comment on the requested or proposed correction and on the results of the inquiries. The decision to correct or complete the record is made by order. Section 271(7) also applies section 270(3), second to fourth sentences, correspondingly. This includes a separate 14-day complaint route against a correction or the rejection of a related request. That period concerns the decision on the request, not the time to file the original correction request.

The request must be filed no later than the end of the period for stating the grounds of a nullity appeal or appeal registered against the judgment. If that period expires, section 271(7) expressly requires the request to be rejected as inadmissible. The provision does not set an additional three-day period from service of the hearing record.

For a nullity appeal, section 285(1) generally allows four weeks from registration. If the written judgment is served only after the appeal is registered, the four weeks run from service. In proceedings of extreme scope, the period may be extended on application under section 285(2). Section 294(2) provides the corresponding period for an appeal and applies any longer period granted under section 285(2). Section 285 StPO and section 294 StPO in RIS.

The actual end date therefore depends on registration, service, and any extension. The separate 14-day complaint period for a decision on correction is a different deadline. Check both periods against the actual orders and service records.

If the hearing record is corrected or completed after the written judgment has been served, the last sentence of section 271(7) provides that renewed service starts the period for stating the grounds of appeals already registered. This concerns the written grounds period under sections 285 and 294 StPO.

That rule does not automatically extend the deadline for requesting correction of the record. It addresses the grounds of a registered appeal after the correction. Record correction and appeal grounds serve different purposes and should be prepared separately.