A leading judge at the Federal Administrative Court in Innsbruck was still registered as a lawyer years after his appointment. In Liechtenstein. He would therefore also be allowed to represent Austria. He also maintained a prominent presence on his former law firm’s website.
Austria’s largest court is apparently proving to be a building site for justice: after the Crown recently reported on questionable processes in corporate distribution, the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) has shown a rather remarkable approach to secondary employment. This subject is of course also a legacy from the time of the former president, who retired at the end of 2022. The new BVwG president Christian Filzwieser has only been in office since February 2024.
The present case concerns the division of the Federal Administrative Court in Innsbruck. Martin Attlmayr was appointed judge there in October 2016. He acts as deputy head of the Tyrolean branch. Previously, Attlmayr was a lawyer and partner at the well-known law firm Gasser und Partner in Liechtenstein. The only problem is: Attlmayr clearly continued to work for the Vaduz law firm.
Registered until July 2020
Research shows that the senior judge from Austria was registered as a lawyer until mid-July 2020 on the list of the Liechtenstein Bar Association, for which annual chamber contributions are due. As a lawyer registered in the principality, he will probably also represent in Austria.
In addition, Attlmayr was listed on the Gasser und Partner website as “Of Counsel”, that is, as a special advisor, with a photo, the main areas of work and the email address of his own law firm until 2021. In the law firm’s presentation for the 2022 publication ‘The Legal 500’, the judge is also prominently mentioned as ‘Of Counsel’ by Gasser and Partner. Even five years after his appointment as a judge, Martin Attlmayr mentions on his LinkedIn profile not only his work as a judge, but also as a lawyer. When internal discussions about part-time work arose at the Innsbruck branch, the reference to the ‘lawyer’ was removed from the Linkedin profile.
Which is prohibited according to the guidelines
Working for a leading law firm in Liechtenstein can be particularly problematic if cases involving Liechtenstein companies are also heard in the Federal Administrative Court. The compliance guidelines of the Austrian judiciary state on page 27 in a highlighted passage with a large exclamation mark: “The simultaneous exercise of the profession of judge (…) and the practice of law or the office of notary is incompatible.” In one of them, the Ministry of Justice issued a 2015 decree recalling the “relevant regulations” on secondary employment. It contains the sentence: “A judge in civil cases is prohibited from having a second job as a lawyer due to the possible suspicion of bias.”
The president’s responsibility
The “Krone” had already sent questions to the Ministry of Justice and Judge Attlmayr last Friday. On Monday, the Ministry of Justice pointed out the responsibility of the BVwG president. In response to specific questions about possible conflicts of interest and approvals, the spokesperson of the Federal Administrative Court said on Tuesday simply: “Ancillary work of employees must be reported to the service authority (President of the Federal Administrative Court).” question had “declared to the new President Filzwieser that since his appointment as a judge on October 1, 2016, he has not practiced any work as a lawyer.”
This past week, Judge Attlmayr left two questions about his past activities for Gasser and partners unanswered. His LinkedIn profile is now “not publicly available or does not exist.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
