Reducing a daily rate after later financial hardship: Reassessing an Austrian fine

The provision concerns a later deterioration in the personal circumstances or financial capacity of a person convicted to a fine. The deterioration must have occurred or become known after the judgment and must be more than minor.

The legal consequence concerns the outstanding fine. The court must reassess the amount of the daily rate within the limits of section 19(2) StGB. The issue is therefore the amount per daily rate, not a later change in the number of daily rates.

A substantial deterioration must be established from the individual development. Simply stating that payment has become difficult does not replace a meaningful comparison between the earlier and current circumstances.

The assessment needs a clear timeline: When was the judgment given, when did the change occur and how much of the fine remains outstanding? Without that sequence, a later development cannot be separated reliably from the circumstances considered in the original judgment.

Financial capacity may change, for example, through a substantial fall in income or the loss of an earning opportunity. Personal circumstances may also change and affect the financial position. These examples illustrate the assessment and do not replace an individual review.

The decisive point is the extent of the deterioration. Section 31a(2) StGB does not address every inconvenience in making payment. It requires a change that is legally relevant to the amount of the outstanding daily rate.

Section 31a(2) StGB excludes reassessment where the convicted person intentionally caused the deterioration. The statute gives the example of failing to take up reasonably available employment. The reasons for the reduced capacity must therefore be documented carefully.

A bare assertion of having no funds is not enough for this distinction. The actual employment situation, the development after the judgment and the reasons for the change must be examined. The documents should present a coherent account.

Whether the statutory exception applies depends on the circumstances of the individual case. Reassessment is therefore not a general way of transferring an intentionally reduced earning capacity to the fine.

Reassessment under section 31a(2) StGB concerns the amount of the daily rate for the outstanding part of the fine. Instalments, a payment extension and practical enforcement are different questions. The same financial crisis may give rise to both issues, but their subject matter is different.

The article Day fines under section 19 StGB explains the starting point, including the distinction between the number of daily rates, the daily-rate amount and payment arrangements.

Before making an enquiry, establish whether the request concerns a lower daily rate because of a later substantial deterioration or a solution for paying an unchanged fine.

The judgment, the calculation of the fine and the current outstanding balance belong together in the assessment. Documents showing the earlier and current financial position and the reasons for the change should be added.

Depending on the case, useful material may include income records, evidence of the loss of an earning opportunity and dated documents showing the personal or financial development. The documents should show what applied at the time of the judgment and what changed afterwards.

The possibility of an intentional cause must also be considered. A transparent record of employment and the reasons for the reduction in income creates a sounder basis for assessing the statutory exception.