Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on the way: decoupling politics and justice!

Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on the way: decoupling politics and justice!

The federal government has announced a significant step towards an independent judiciary. On July 9, 2025, the three-party coalition agreed on the creation of a federal public prosecutor's office that would act as the highest authority in criminal proceedings. This new body will consist of a collegiate three-member board elected for a six-year term, with the chairmanship rotating every two years. The aim of this reform is to strengthen the separation between politics and the judiciary and to ensure that political influence on law enforcement is excluded.

How vienna.at Reportedly, a Council of Ministers' presentation on this was decided on before the summer break. A specific draft law for the new regulation should be developed by autumn 2025 and presented for public review. In this context, the need for talks with the opposition in order to achieve the required two-thirds majority in the National Council is also mentioned.

Steps towards judicial independence

Justice Minister Anna Sporrer emphasizes that the introduction of the federal public prosecutor's office is intended to end the confusion between politics and the judiciary. The previous influence of the Minister of Justice on the public prosecutor's offices will be replaced in the future by the new collegial system. The members of the three-member committee are elected by the National Council on the recommendation of a commission in the Ministry of Justice and appointed by the Federal President. There are no plans for re-election after the six-year term, which should further strengthen the independence of the new institution.

However, details of Parliament's control of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office are still unclear. In particular, there are concerns that ongoing investigations should not be controlled by Parliament to ensure the independence of law enforcement, such as vol.at highlights.

Political reactions and challenges

The reactions to the planned federal prosecutor's office are mixed. The SPÖ welcomes the decision and sees it as a success in its decades-long efforts to introduce an independent public prosecutor's office. SPÖ justice spokeswoman Selma Yildirim emphasizes that this promotes the decoupling of politics and justice, a step that is already standard in many European countries. The EU rule of law report had previously suggested the introduction of a federal public prosecutor's office for Austria, which is seen as a further impetus for this reform ots.at.

On the other hand, FPÖ justice spokesman Harald Stefan expresses criticism and describes the federal public prosecutor's office as “superfluous”. He fears that the judiciary will become politicized. The Greens, represented by Alma Zadić, have called for a concrete law and are generally willing to talk.

Overall, the creation of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office is seen as a significant step forward towards an independent and objective judiciary in order to strengthen citizens' trust in the rule of law. However, the next steps towards implementation and the associated political negotiations remain crucial to the success of this reform.