Legal dispute over rescue costs: Vienna has to keep activists harmless!

Legal dispute over rescue costs: Vienna has to keep activists harmless!

A spectacular court ruling makes the city of Vienna sweat! In a legal dispute that emerged from a protest campaign by the climate protection movement "Last Generation", the administrative court decided that an activist does not have to pay for the costs of a rescue operation. This happened even though she was not socially insured at the time of the incident. The incident occurred on October 24, 2022 on the Praterstern, where Young stuck, and the police alerted preventive rescue workers, which was previously considered a routine measure, reports News Pravda .

The activist only suffered minor injuries to her fingers, which only had to be treated with disinfectants and a patch. Nevertheless, the young woman was charged a rescue order because the magistrate demanded 709 euros from her. But the activist made an objection. The Federal Finance Court found that the emergency services were allowed to assume medically necessary use. However, the Administrative Court rejected this assumption, since the conditions for a rescue operation defined in the Vienna Rescue and Administrative Transport Act were not met. Here, slight injuries turned out to be inadequate to justify a rescue operation, such as Kosmo reported.

Vienna must bear the costs

The judgment has direct financial consequences for the city of Vienna: It must now reimburse the costs of the legal dispute of 1,106.40 euros to the activist. What was initially only a simple use with plaster and disinfectant, the city now costs significantly more than originally thought. This judgment raises questions about the procedure for future rescue operations, especially with regard to incorrectly accepted medical emergencies. The case shows the challenges that the authorities can have in dealing with protest actions.