Austria

Austria

Right	Section	Contents
Freedom of Association	History	Freedom of association was articulated in Article 12 of Austria's “Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals in the Kingdoms and Länder represented in the Council of the Realm” in 1867. According to a report on human rights practices from the US State Department, "The constitution and law provide for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights." Austria ratified the ILO "Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention" in 1950. References: 1867 Basic Law: https://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/au03000_.html US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices in Austria: https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/austria/ 1950 International Labor Organization Convention: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11300:0::NO::P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:312232
Freedom of Expression	History	Article 13 of Austria’s 1867 “Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals in the Kingdoms and Länder represented in the Council of the Realm” states that “Everyone has the right within the limits of the law freely to express his opinion by word of mouth and in writing, print, or pictorial representation. The Press may be neither subjected to censorship nor restricted by the licensing System. Administrative postal distribution vetoes do not apply to inland publication” (Basic Law of 21 December 1867) . References: 1867 Basic Law: https://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/au03000_.html
Freedom of Religion	History	The current Austrian state has maintained the Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals of 1867, drafted during the Habsburg Empire. This makes Article 14 of the document the first assertion of freedom of religion in the country’s modern history. However, deeper legal foundations for this right can be found in the Patents of Tolerance of 1781/82. The Constitution of Austria was ratified on October 1, 1920 and reinstated on May 1, 1945. Article 7 bans discrimination, including on the basis of religion. References: English original text of the Federal Constitutional Law of 1920 883 (2010), "First Principal Article: General Provisions ," Constitution of the Republic of Austria. - October 1, 1920 : 883-890 “Austria’s Religious Landscape.” Austria Embassy Washington. Accessed July 19, 2023. https://www.austria.org/religion#:~:text=EXPRESSIONS%20OF%20THE%20BASIC%20RIGHT%20OF%20RELIGIOUS%20FREEDOM&text=According%20to%20Austrian%20law%20(Law,choose%20his%20or%20her%20religion.
Freedom of the Press	History	Article 13 of Austria’s 1867 “Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals in the Kingdoms and Länder represented in the Council of the Realm” states that “Everyone has the right within the limits of the law freely to express his opinion by word of mouth and in writing, print, or pictorial representation. The Press may be neither subjected to censorship nor restricted by the licensing System. Administrative postal distribution vetoes do not apply to inland publication” (Basic Law of 21 December 1867) . References: 1867 Basic Law: https://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/au03000_.html
Privacy Rights	History	According to the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the ratification of the ECHR by Austria in 1958 gave the treaty constitutional law standing in the state. The ECHR is what protects the right to privacy in Austria. References: https://www.austria.org/human-rights-and-the-council-of-europe
Voting Rights and Suffrage	History	In Austria, universal suffrage for men was introduced by the Voting Rights Act of 1907 and the country was one of the first in Europe to introduce women’s suffrage in 1918 (Metropole, “Your Right to Vote in Austria”). References: https://metropole.at/vienna-legal-right-voting/