Review for lawyers: unauthorized data access or system error?

Review for lawyers: unauthorized data access or system error?

A 27-year-old lawyer who had previously worked as a legal intern at the Vienna Regional Court of Criminal Matters was on trial in Vienna for abuse of office. The allegation was that he had accessed personal data of the judicial system without authorization after he had been transferred to the regional court for civil law. Despite the severity of this accusation, the accused was recently acquitted. This reports vienna.at .

The prosecutor described the case as unusual and underlined the important role of legal interns in the judicial company. A crucial point of the procedure was the fact that the former intern continued to have access authorizations to electronic files, even after he had changed his place of work. These unauthorized accesses were noticed by an experienced criminal judge who then informed the Higher Regional Court (OLG).

The course of the process

During the process, the accused was preparing for his takeover test as a judge. His defender, Otto Dietrich, emphasized that his client had not acted in intent to damage and that no guilt was aware of. The Schöffensenat found that no knowing abuse could be demonstrated, which led to a quick acquittal. The judges did not believe that the lawyer did not know that he was unauthorized to accessing the files.

The accused had worked as a legal intern at a criminal judge at the beginning of 2023 and explained that he only wanted to learn and did not search for the contents of the file. The judge confirmed that neither she nor other judges knew that access to the files was still possible even after the internship. Dietrich pointed out that it was a "system error".

the legal implications

For the legal assessment of the case, it is important to consider the requirements for the abuse of office, such as those carried out in the OGH judgment of October 6, 2011. In this judgment it was found that the intentions of the actor are also decisive for an offense pursuant to Section 302 (1) of the Criminal Code, which requires conscious disregard for the powers. In the case of generally accessible data or with the consent of the data subject, there is no abuse of authorization. This could also play a role in this case, since the accused indicates that he had no harmful intentions.

The decision of the Schöffenenat is currently not final. So far, the prosecutor has not made a statement, and a declaration of appeal still requires the approval of the Higher Prosecutor's Office (OSTA).