Replies to Lists of Issues - CRC - Austria

to the List of Issues submitted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in connection with the consideration of the Initial Report of Austria

Austria thanks for the transmission of the list of issues raised by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in preparation for the hearing on the initial report on the implementation of the Convention. In order to allow for the most expedient and thorough discussions possible, the following additional information to the initial report has been elaborated by all the authorities concerned; it is structured in accordance with the questions in the Committee's list of issues.

As already pointed out in the main Report itself, the Republic of Austria is party to a large number of international treaties and multilateral agreements encompassing various aspects of the protection and/or legal position of children. As regards the application of reservations to these treaties Austria is in each single case considering, on a regular basis, the necessity for maintaining her reservations to such treaties. It shall be noted that the highest degree of diligence is exercised whenever a reservation is made to an international treaty by Austria. This means that prior to such a decision the necessity of a reservation is examined carefully and, if deemed necessary, reservations are formulated as precisely as possible. With regard to its two reservations to two specific articles of the CRC, it shall be mentioned that it is not possible for the Republic of Austria to withdraw these two reservations since a withdrawal may lead to conflicts with the European Convention on Human Rights, since the European Convention on Human Rights is incorporated into the constitutional framework of fundamental rights and freedoms of the Austrian legal system.

On the federal level the obligation of having all laws and regulations pertaining to children reviewed in order to assess their conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been fulfilled by the "Experts' report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child", which contains a comprehensive analysis of the harmonisation of the Austrian legal system with the CRC on the one hand. On the other, mention should also be made of the "Report on the Impact of the Youth Welfare Act 1989 on Implementing Legislation and its Enforcement in the Provinces", based on Resolution E 157-NR/XVIII.GP of July 14, 1994 (short: Youth Welfare Report), which was drawn up by those in charge of youth welfare at the federal and provincial levels, as well as external experts. Notwithstanding the fact that this report concludes that the Youth Welfare Act 1989 and the respective bills of the Laender basically fully comply with the standards set out in the CRC, there may be some legal amendments recommendable as to improve the child's right to be heard and his/her voice being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child in all matters affecting the child.

The National Assembly, in view of the fundamental finding that, in accordance with the constitutional distribution of competences, a number of important legislative functions including administrative functions relating to children's rights fall within the exclusive competence of the Länder, consciously encouraged a review, not only of federal law but also of the various regional legal systems as well, and after having found that the review of federal law by independent children's rights experts constituted an extremely useful basis for a continuous development of a sustainable children's rights policy on the federal level, also suggested to review further provisions of regional laws in respect of their compatibility with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As the completion of this task on the level of the Länder is still outstanding, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family has already offered its cooperation to the Austrian ombudsmen for children and adolescents of the Länder, should the latter initiate such a compatibility review in the future.

On the basis of a so-called "harmonisation study", the following amendments were achieved:

- Changes in the Criminal Code with respect to sexual offences (wider scope of protection for children; see Question 30 below)

- Changes in the law on criminal procedures relating to sexual offences (extension of scheme of considerate hearings of victims of sexual offences, see Question 30)

- amendment of para. 195 of the Austrian Penal Code (which refers expressly to the CRC)

- Proposals for amendments to the laws pertaining to divorces and to children and parents (introduction of mediation; extension of right to self-determination to minors having reached the age of 14 by granting them an independent legitimation to file requests in proceedings on care and education matters that are relevant to them).

- The Vienna Regional Government is preparing a regional family promotion law designed to implement the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In 1996, the Austrian legislator made a major step forward by approving a specific Law on the protection against violence in the family ("Gewaltschutzgesetz"-, published in the Federal Law Gazette no. 759 ex 1996). This law entered into force on 1 May 1997 and establishes a close co-operation between family courts and police. In cases of violence or danger of violent acts, police are entitled to remove aggressors from the family home - if necessary by physical means - and to prohibit their return to it. This emergency measure ceases to have effect after 7 days if no immediate application to the court is made by a person ("naher Angehöriger") living in the family home and having a close relationship with the aggressor (e.g. spouse, child, partner).

The court is entitled to order the removal of the aggressor from the family home and to prohibit the return to it (without an obligation to hear the aggressor); furthermore the court may also order that the aggressor must not enter specific areas (e.g. the surroundings of the child's school or kindergarten) and/or has to refrain from seeking contacts with the victim. The court order has to be made no later than 14 days after the measure taken by police and is enforced by a special court employee ("Vollstrecker") with police assistance. The aggressor is not informed in advance of this order and the date of its enforcement, and he has to hand over all of the keys to the family home. The court order ceases to have effect after 3 months at the latest, except for those cases where an ordinary law-suit has been lodged (e.g. aiming at the division of the matrimonial property including the family home); In such a case, the order has effect until the ordinary court proceedings are completed.

To begin with it shall be noted that inasmuch as individual stipulations of the Convention guarantee fundamental rights and freedoms to children and adolescents (e.g. the right to life, etc.), these rights have already been constitutionally guaranteed by the wide range of fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Federal Austrian Constitution. This applies to the majority of children's rights set out in the Convention on the Rights. Furthermore, Austria has carried out the constitutional mandate to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The question of introducing principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child into constitutional law has being examined by experts in this field lately.

Pichler (an renowned Austrian family law expert) in his expert opinion given in the Youth Welfare Report, argued against embedding the principles of the Convention in the Constitution noting that it is indispensable that the Convention is being translated into national legislation by taking the respective concrete legislative initiatives, since most of the regulations contained in the Convention lack the necessary precision required for their immediate execution in national legislation under the principle of the rule of law (see art. 18 of the Constitution). Moreover, there is a number of the Convention's articles that just outline general aims and delegate their concrete implementation to the States Parties anyhow.

As against that, the study on the constitutional implementation of the Convention, as announced in section 141, was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family and by the regional Ombudspersons for Children and Adolescents to the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights in autumn 1997 and was submitted by the latter in June 1998. The study concludes that it will be advisable to extend the current scope of fundamental rights in the Austrian Constitution by the enshrinement of specific rights of children and adolescents in order to create a binding framework for legislative measures, to add clarifications and amendments to the system of protection of individual rights of children and adolescents, and to achieve new impulses for a wider understanding of fundamental rights.

The authors of the study do not actually advocate raising the Convention to the Constitutional level (as was the case with the European Convention on Human Rights), but are instead proposing a special federal constitutional law on the protection of the rights of children and adolescents, for which they have already drafted a first version, indicating the following reasons (49f):

The study by the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights is planned to be submitted to a parliamentary hearing by representatives of the two chambers of Parliament and the Länder (federal provinces). In addition to the members of the National Parliament, it is also planned to invite the regional parliaments of the nine Austrian provinces to include same legal provisions pertaining to children and adolescents in the context of regional constitutional reforms which are currently under discussion in some provinces.

Concrete preparatory steps have not yet been taken to enshrine "principles" of the Convention in the Austrian Constitution.

Co-operation between the federal and regional authorities dealing with children and adolescents takes place in various forms:

On the one hand, there are statutory or regulatory forms of co-operation and integration; e.g., the inspection procedure for drafts of laws and ordinances (both federal and regional) or the conferences of regional youth and family commissioners.

In addition, there are numerous forms of co-operation in specific areas taking place in the form of working groups (e.g., the Working Group for the Review of the Criminal Code with respect to Sexual Offences established by the Federal Ministry of Justice and assisted by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and the Family, Federal Ministry for Women's Issues, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Regional Ombudsperson Offices for Children and Adolescents, and scientific and practice-oriented experts, e.g. the Centre for Child Protection (co-operation is not restricted to governmental authorities - see also Question 8); similarly, the working group to reform the divorce law, or common meetings (hearings, conferences, etc.) and joint research projects (like the study on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child referred to in Question 3), or joint projects like the project carried out by the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and the Family ("Family Counselling in court - mediation - assistance for children whose parents are separating or divorcing", a report on this project, which is currently extended to cover the entire Austrian territory, is submitted as an information for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child).

As regards the area of youth welfare, the Youth Welfare Working Party holds a general assembly in the respective leading province every year to discuss, for all of Austria, relevant legal, social and societal aspects which tie in with many articles in the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and Family Matters organises an annual "Youth Welfare Round Table" focusing on a topic of special currency. These two institutionalised events are supplemented by further working parties (currently developing a mission statement for Austrian youth welfare work and seeking to professionalise social work).

Co-ordination of the work of the Ombudspersons for Children and Adolescents in the nine provinces, which have been established and are maintained by the Laender Governments, is carried out on a voluntary basis within the framework of the Standing Conference of Austrian Ombudspersons for Children and Adolescents. The Federal Ombudswoman for Children and Adolescents is primarily obliged to co-operate with the Ombudspersons for Children and Adolescents in the provinces, but she may also assume a co-ordinating function in matters of federal importance. She is only responsible to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and the Family.

In order to intensity co-operation between Child and Youth Protection Agencies in Europe in the field of prevention and to raise the effectiveness of the various institutions, the possibility of establishing a network of observation centres on missing children on a non-governmental level in connection with the European NGO "Child Focus - European Centre for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children" under the Federal Government's Action Plan against Child Abuse and Child Pornography on the Internet.

Based on a ruling of the Constitutional Court in October 1997 and in view of the growing social trend of more and more children being affected by poverty, a comprehensive reform of family assistance measures was adopted in Austria with the aim of bringing financial help to families in two intervals (1999, 2000) ("Family Tax Reform 1998"):

Starting in the year 2000, every family will receive ATS 500,- more per month for each child, i.e. ATS 6000,- more per year.

From 1999, the single-income and single-parent deductible, disbursed in the form of a "negative tax" will be raised from ATS 2000,- to 5000,-.

_Family allowance - will be raised by ATS 125,- in 1999 and by another ATS 25,-in 2000. Family allowance for severely handicapped children will go up by ATS 1775,- in 1999 and ATS 1800,- in 2000.

_Child-rearing deductible will be a standard ATS 700,- in the year 2000, with an increase of current amounts by ATS 125,- already in 1999. The previous system of staggering child-rearing deductibles according to the number of children will be discontinued in 2000 and added to the family allowance in the current amount.

_The newly created extra child allowance for families with more than two children will be ATS 200,- per month for each child in 1999 and ATS 400,- in 2000, provided that the family income is less than ATS 42,000.- per month.

Monthly family benefits as from the year 2000 (including family allowance and child-rearing deductible, without extra-child allowance) will be as follows:

0-10 years

1st child 2,150.-

2nd child 2,325.-

3rd child 2,500.-

10-19 years

1st child 2,400.-

2nd child 2,575.-

3rd child 2,750.-

19-26 years

1st child 2,700.-

2nd child 2,875.-

3rd child 3,050,-

In addition, ATS 600 million for the construction of more child-care centres in the federal provinces were earmarked by the Federal Government (see Question 22)

The total expenditure for the above measures amounts to an extra ATS 12.6 billion for families with children.

Most of the federal provinces, e.g. Tirol and Vorarlberg, have further stepped up their efforts to support families, focusing on grants related to the family-founding stage, child care and educational assistance.

A draft amendment of the Act on Pupils' Grants is currently being reviewed by experts and parties concerned. The amendment envisages higher grants, a higher income tax threshold for eligibility and a slight elevation of the grade average. Good performance is to be recognised by an additional grant which is to be higher than is currently the case.

The 15^th amendment to the School Organisation Act (Federal Law Gazette 512/1993) forms the legal basis for nation-wide afternoon care for pupils in compulsory general education (special schools, primary schools, basic secondary schools and polytechnical courses) as well as the first four classes of general secondary schools. After school, afternoon care is provided against payment of a care contribution and a contribution towards meals. The care contribution is graduated and means-tested.

The federal government supports afternoon care by generally paying five teacher working hours per week and class/group for studying times and covers operating expenses at general secondary schools as it is in charge of maintaining this type of school.

In connection with the implementation of the "economic, social and cultural rights of children" laid down in the Convention, we would like to mention the project "Social work in schools", which provides a co-operation between parents, teachers and students in support of needy families. A study on this project has already been commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education and Culture. The project "Social work in schools" is intended to introduce the expert skills of social workers to the school system. This is to help avoid problematic developments such as failures or integration difficulties or violence and drugs in children from socially disadvantaged families.

Under the competences of the provinces, a number of measures to prevent and combat child poverty have been taken by the States (Laender):

In the framework of youth welfare, families are supported in matters involving the enforcement of maintenance claims for children in terms of counselling or legal representation of the children (custodianship). Moreover, the social welfare system helps prevent poverty risks for children. According to State regulations families with children may, in addition to the Federal Family Allowance, obtain the "State Family allowance" if the per capita income is below a certain threshold. There is also a possibility to grant financial aid ("crisis aid") to help families cope in times of crisis. Great efforts are undertaken to protect families from losing their homes by eviction (measures to prevent evictions).

Moreover, child poverty is prevented and combated by cash grants from social welfare resources: In principle, everybody is entitled to assistance for a secure livelihood if he/she is unable, by his/her own devices or means, to earn such livelihood for him/herself and next of kin living in family community with him/her and if he/she does not receive any support from other persons or institutions.

When granting social welfare benefits, the nature and cause of the emergency, especially the physical and psychological state, degree of socialisation and other personal circumstances of the person seeking help, have to be taken into consideration. Moreover, it has to be taken into account that family ties between the person seeking help and his/her next of kin should be maintained and strengthened, and the self-help potential of the family should be stimulated and supported.

These provisions show that social welfare is meant to be family-friendly assistance.

Normally, children living in a family community are supported if their parents or other persons having custody receive welfare benefits. This is done in such a way that the person entrusted with child care and education is granted a benefit for the child (standard rate for additional recipients of welfare benefits) in addition to the benefits he/she is entitled to him/herself.

Since experience has shown that families with children generally need more financial support, a higher standard rate (standard family rate) is granted in almost all of these cases from the start. In exceptional cases, it is also possible for a child (represented by the person having custody) as the sole applicant to be granted financial support from social welfare resources.

Special mention should, by example, be made of the provision in the Vienna Social Welfare Act which prescribes assistance to advance education and ability to work; the provision encompasses all measures required to ensure that a minor receives the education corresponding to his/her personality and the training corresponding to his/her abilities and inclinations.

Assistance to advance the ability to work comprises all benefits required for the integration of the person seeking help in the labour market. Assistance to advance education and ability to work also includes higher secondary education if this is justified in view of the abilities and performance of the person seeking help.

According to the various Social Welfare Acts (e.g. Vienna Social Welfare Act) there are also provisions for further assistance for pregnant women and women in childbed. Assistance for pregnant women and women in childbed encompasses all medical and social care required in pregnancy and childbirth, including accommodation in appropriate institutions. Under this provision, mothers and infants receive support and care from the social welfare services.

Finally, children are in principle entitled to the same social welfare benefits to ensure their livelihood as all other persons in need(subsistence, care, sick care) whereas assistance to advance education and ability to work is specially directed to minors.

On September 30, 1998, the Austrian Federal government adopted a catalogue of measures (see Appendix 1) which inter alia includes provisions for the further training of various professional groups working with children, in particular as regards issues of violence and sexual abuse. For example, item 6 of the above-mentioned governmental resolution states the following about the continued training of medical doctors:

" ... In order to meet the fundamental and comprehensive information requirements of physicians on the subject of violence in the family and possibilities to intervene, an additional training curriculum for doctors is being developed. Inter alia it will give detailed explanations of immediate and delayed physical and mental effects and indicators pointing to violence undergone as well as a survey of possible interventions and their likely implications for the victims and their families."

Item 16 calls for related training and continued training for other professional groups:

"Existing special training programmes on violence in the family for police officers, public prosecutors and judges of criminal and family courts should be intensified and the specific continuous training programmes for professionals concerned with victims of violence (in the family sphere) such as school teachers, social workers, kindergarten teachers, therapists and leisure and social educators should be expanded.

The inclusion of specific training elements on the subject of "violence In the private sphere" in the appropriate basic professional training syllabuses is a desideratum."

The Federal Ministries of the Environment, Youth and the Family, of Justice and of the Interior have submitted another joint proposal to the Council of Ministers which was adopted by the Federal Government on 10 December 1998 as an "Action Plan against Child Abuse and Child Pornography on the Internet" and which focused primarily on the fight against sexual abuse in the new media including the Internet. It addresses training for the following professional groups:

" ... 15. Increased emphasis will be placed on the new media in basic and further training programmes for judges and public prosecutors. Continued efforts will be made to make judges familiar with suitable investigation methods in practical seminars with the assistance of experts in the fields of paediatric psychology and psychiatry.

31. Within the meaning of the EU "Action Plan on Promoting the Safe Use of the Internet", the following preventive measures should be taken:

(a) informing parents, young persons, children, teachers and others on the safe use of the new media;

(b) taking additional measures to sensitise teachers in further training programmes to the issue of "child abuse, in particular in the Internet";

(d) preparing information material on legal aspects, protection of victims and therapeutic methods as well as on the safe use of the Internet, which should be easily accessible and made available to the general public."

To raise public awareness for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, various media campaigns were launched at the State level, e.g. on violence and children's needs. Medical doctors and psychologists participate in further training workshops on violence within the family and sexual abuse of children (e.g. in Vienna).

Already in 1992, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family and the Federal Ministry of Education and Culture have carried out a competition on the "Rights of the Child" at all Austrian upper-level secondary schools, which has resulted in the special postage stamp illustrated in the 1st National Report. Now, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family and the Federal Ministry of Education and Culture, in co-operation with the Austria committee of UNICEF, are conducting a survey on the rights of the child at all Austrian schools including all students and teachers; the results of the Survey will be presented to the public in a major ceremonial event on the Day of the Child in 1999.

As regards the training of professional groups listed in this chapter, the Federal Ministry of Education and Culture refers to the establishment of a School Psychological Service which comprises more than 130 school psychologists in over 70 Counselling Centres. In addition to helping students in their decision on further education and training paths, the School Psychological Service is a central instrument of prevention and intervention, its members being available for students, parents and teachers.

Informing children about their rights is one of the areas covered by the subject of "Civic Education", which is embedded as an educational principle in Austrian Schools. With its publication "Informationsblätter zum Schulrecht" (School law information sheets), the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs is providing all Austrian school speakers with an annotated collection of legal texts that are relevant to their activities.

In the justice sector, there are no specific training programmes. Still, the Courts are quite familiar with the Convention - not least because of the great number of articles on it in legal literature. For example, the Vienna Regional Civil Court, in its decision No. 43 R 655/96h of 26/10/96 has derived from Art. 9 para. 3 of the Convention a right of the child to personal contact with the illegitimate father. The court concluded that a request by the child, represented by the mother, to oblige the father to have contact to his child cannot be rejected prima vista, as the father first had to be consulted and instructed that a personal contact was very important for the development of the child. The Supreme Court, in its decision No. 60b 2398/96g of 10/4/97, sharing the view held by the Regional Court confirmed this decision.

a) The 1st National Report by Austria to the Children's Rights Committee, which is dealt with in the present document, will be published in German together with the questions of the CRC Committee, the observations of the Federal Government and the final recommendations of the CRC Committee, and sent free of charge to the political decision-makers and all other interested parties such as government agencies, NGOs or private users.

b) To disseminate the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Austria, a number of publications and events have been launched since the approval of the Convention by the Austrian parliament, including the following:

•Illustrated handbook entitled "My perfect right" on the rights of the child in a language that is understood by children (1992)

•Various conferences, events, etc. on the topic "Children's Rights - Child Policies"

The NGO Pro Juventute in co-operation with the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family sent out mailings to 2.7 million Austrian households in the summer of 1998 informing them about the possibility to get a free copy of the brochure "Rights of the Child" (German version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child).

c) The task of translating the Convention into the languages of the minorities in Austria was already considered in 1992 but was not realised then. Translations - of both the text of the Convention and a children's version - into the languages of the recognised ethnic minorities (Hungarian, Slovenian, Croatian, Romanes, Czech, and Slovakian) are now soon to be commenced as part of the working programme of the Division for children's rights in the Federal Ministry of Family and Youth.

As outlined in reply to Question 4, there are numerous forms of co-operation with NGOs - they are involved in inspection proceedings (regarding matters within their competence); a variety of meetings and conferences - organised by governmental agencies or NGOs or both - offer a wide range of information; as mentioned above (Question 3) NGOs are also involved in the preparation of important legal projects on the working-group level.

One example of co-operation with NGOs was the compilation of the "Initial Report", for which all relevant NGOs were asked to give their comments. Similarly, the present list of questions was submitted for comment to several NGOs including the National Coalition, the Children's Rights Group of amnesty international and the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights (see Question 4) and the regional Ombudspersons for children's and adolescents.

Finally, mention should be made of the (financial) support of NGOs working with or providing help to children and adolescents, such as youth organisations, counselling centres, specific projects etc.; these contacts also give rise to an exchange of information and experiences. Co-operation is particularly intensive in connection with the (common) conception and execution of (model) projects such as the project "Family Counselling at Court - Mediation - Child Guidance in Divorce Cases" or current model projects designed to provide children and adolescents who have become victims of sexual abuse with assistance in court.

Despite heavy budgetary constraints, statistical data on Austria's development co-operation indicates that after a reduction from 1995 to 1996, disbursements have increased again in 1997. With 0,26 % of GNP, Austria is once again above the OECD -average of 0,22 %. Austria tries to further concentrate its resources in geographical as well as in sectoral respect and thus to increase the quality of its development co-operation.

Within its strategy for poverty reduction the Austrian Development Co-operation pays particular attention to the investment of human capital from early childhood, e.g. education and health. It is to be hoped that the integration of a consistent and comprehensive gender perspective in all stages and sectors of the project/programme cycle will further contribute towards the economic and social development of children and, in particular the girl child, in Austria's partner countries.

Outstanding projects in this sector are those concerning Juvenile Justice, with special emphasis on more rapid and more accurate preparation of files, adaptation of procedures, training of staff including prison guards and, of course, policy development. Another interesting project deals with Retraining of Girl Child Victims of Prostitution in Ethiopia.

The Austrian Development Co-operation will join the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), a major global offensive launched by ILO in the early nineties. with an amount of 6 million ATS. Austria supports in this connection the Agenda for Action, adopted at the Oslo Conference on Child Labour on 30, October l997.

Protection against discrimination is guaranteed by the general principle of equality enshrined in Art. 7 of the Austrian Federal Constitution: Art. 7 of the Federal Constitution (Principle of Equality) states that all citizens are equal before the law and that privileges of birth, gender, status, class or religion are excluded.

Protection against discrimination is also guaranteed by Art. 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, insofar as these rights are set out in the Convention, and by the Federal Constitutional Law governing the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. In all these cases, there is a general prohibition against discrimination which applies both to nationals and foreigners, asylum-seekers, children belonging to minority groups and children with disabilities. As this prohibition constitutes a right guaranteed by constitutional law, it can be enforced by filing a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

It must be pointed out in particular that with an amendment of the Federal Constitution (Fed. Law Gaz. 1/87/1997 and 1/68/1998) in 1997 it was stipulated that no one must be discriminated against because of his/her disability; moreover, the Republic of Austria has committed itself to reduce or eliminate the actual discrimination of persons with disabilities and of women:

Art. 7 para.1, last sentence, reads: No person must be discriminated against because of his or her disability. The Republic (the federal, regional and local governments) are committed to ensure the equal treatment of people with and without disabilities in all areas of everyday life (cf. Question 1).

Art. 7 para. 2 states that "the Federation, provinces and municipalities have committed themselves to ensuring the factual equal rights of men and women. Measures to promote the equal rights of men and women in fact, especially by the elimination of existing inequalities, are permitted."

Special mention should also be made of Art. 6 (Obligation to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons living on Austrian territory without distinction of race, gender, language or religion and a prohibition on discrimination against Austrian citizens on the above grounds) as well as of Art. 7 of the Vienna State Treaty (Rights of Slovenian and Croatian minorities).

Other provisions providing protection against discrimination are included in international agreements, such as Art. 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (on the Constitutional level), the Federal Constitution Law on the Implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. As regards the sphere of competence of the Ministry of Justice, it should be noted that the last form of legal discrimination against children born out of wedlock was removed by the Inheritance Law Amendment Act 1989, Fed. Law Gaz. No. 656.

The equal rights of men and women are anchored as an educational principle in the curricula of Austrian schools.

In view of the amendment to the Federal Constitution referred to in section 10 which expressly forbids any discrimination on the ground of disability, the law is currently reviewed at the request of the Federal Government in order to detect possible discriminations and to elaborate further changes of the law, if necessary. As the review covers all parts of the law, provisions pertaining to children's rights (e.g. school laws) are also examined.

As to the financial aspect of discrimination: For children with severe disabilities, the family allowance (at present ATS 1,650) will be increased. (For more details see reply to Question 5).

As regards the educational assistance offered to handicapped children, the School Organisation Law Amendment (Fed. Law Gaz. No. 766/1966), which entered into force on 1 September 1997, extended the integrated schooling policy that had already been exercised on the primary school level to (lower level) secondary schools as well.

Pursuant to s. 17 of the Mandatory Schooling Act, children who are only temporarily resident in Austria are entitled to attend school whereas school attendance is obligatory (s. 1 of the above Act) for children living in Austria permanently and makes them eligible for various benefits (school grants, free transportation, free text books).

In the school year 1996/97, 130,094 pupils whose mother tongue is not German attended Austrian schools - this corresponds to a rate of more than 10%. The proportion of this group of pupils is specially large in schools for compulsory general education (80,258). According to past statistics, the number of pupils with a mother tongue other than German has not risen dramatically, but continuously.

To facilitate the integration of these children at school and improve their chances in education and work, the Austrian school system offers the following:

•During the first two years of school in Austria, children may attend school as "associate pupils". For that period, teachers may forego grading their work so they can learn German without being under undue pressure.

•As from the school year 1992/93, "German for non-native speakers of German" was added to the syllabus in schools for compulsory general education. This applies for all "associate pupils" and for regular pupils who have attended schools in Austria for up to six years who are non-native speakers of German.

•The syllabus for mother tongue classes also entered into force at schools for compulsory general education in the school year 1992/93. The goal of mother tongue classes is to advance a bilingual and bicultural approach among the pupils concerned.

•To address linguistic and cultural diversity at Austrian schools, "intercultural learning" was introduced at schools for compulsory general education and general secondary schools as a principle of teaching in the early nineties.

•The School Counselling Services for aliens and migrants in the provinces co-operate closely with out-of-school institutions (Youth Welfare Office, Social Welfare Office etc.).

•The pilot project "school preparation groups" for Austrian and non-Austrian children who do not attend nursery schools was introduced at numerous Vienna primary schools several years ago, thus preparing these children for school.

From the perspective of aliens' law, special provisions ensure that the prohibition of discriminating against minor aliens enshrined in Article 2 is observed.

Minor aliens over 16 years of age have full legal capacity in legal actions concerning the fields of "residence status", "special provisions concerning entry and residence of EEA citizens" as well as "measures to bar from entry, terminate residence or transport abroad". Minor aliens under 16 years of age whose interests cannot be safeguarded by their legal representatives may only act in proceedings on their own behalf to the extent that such acts are at their advantage. In proceedings instituted by Aliens' Police, minor aliens under 16 years of age are legally represented by the competent youth welfare institutions.

Beyond the scope of aliens' police proceedings, it is generally possible to appoint a custodian to take legal actions on behalf of minors in the context of care, education, legal representation or administration of property.

In the context of "residence" provisions, the Austrian Aliens' Act stipulates that aliens whose residence in Austria is directed towards the future and integration must not be refused an establishment permit for certain reasons and after a certain period of time. This inadmissibility of refusal serves to give aliens certainty as to law because they are allowed to live and stay in Austria if they have proven over a prolonged period that they are integrated in Austrian society (consolidation of residence).

Sec. 35 par. 4 of the Austrian Aliens' Act stipulates that aliens who grew up in Austria and have been established here for a prolonged period must not be deported. Aliens are considered to have been established for a prolonged period if they have spent half of their life on Austrian territory and have lastly been established in Austria for at least three years. The same requirements (growing up in Austria and having been established for a prolonged period) also pertain to the inadmissibility of a residence ban.

The special provisions governing the entry and residence of EEA citizens and next of kin of EEA citizens and Austrians mentioned above state that the group of third-country nationals eligible for preferential treatment also includes relatives in a descending line under the age of 21, and over 21 if their maintenance is provided for. To the extent that EEA citizens are entitled to establishment, third-country nationals given preferential treatment also enjoy freedom of establishment. Third-country nationals who have been domiciled on Austrian territory for the past ten year without interruption must not be refused further permit of establishment. Moreover, special provisiontry nationals eligible for preferential treatment also includes relatives in a descending line under the age of 21, and over 21 if their maintenance is provided for. To the extent that EEA citizens are entitled to establishment, third-country nationals given preferential treatment also enjoy freedom of establishment. Third-country nationals who have been domiciled on Austrian territory for the past ten year without interruption must not be refused further permit of establishment. Moreover, special provisiotter.

In the framework of Austrian asylum law, special provisions apply to minor aliens. Minors who have legal capacity and whose interests cannot be safeguarded by their legal representatives are entitled to file requests themselves. Once proceedings have been opened, the competent youth welfare institutions become their legal representatives. In asylum proceedings, minor asylum-seekers must only be interviewed in the presence of their legal representatives.

Austrian asylum law also provides for a possibility to apply for a prolongation of asylum which is only admissible for the parents of minors, or spouses and minor unmarried children. The prolongation of asylum serves the maintenance of existing family life pursuant to Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention.

At the State level one can find special efforts undertaken to combat discrimination against minor asylum seekers and refugees: the Office for Youth and Family Matters of the City of Vienna, to name an example, founded a so-called "specialists' pool" to ensure better representation of minors. The pool is composed of staff specially trained in asylum and aliens' law issues. To optimise the quality of representation, a consultancy contract was concluded with an attorney-at-law specialising in asylum and aliens' law.

To afford ethnic minorities special protection and special furtherance, Austria has to date adopted special school laws for the Slovene, Croatian and Hungarian minorities.

The Ethnic Minorities Schools Act for Carinthia (Federal Law Gazette 101/1959) promulgates provisions for the implementation of the provisions on minorities' schools in the Austrian State Treaty. The Act enshrines the right to use Slovene as the language of education in compulsory schools, lower secondary schools and higher secondary schools designated in particular for the Slovene ethnic minority, or to study Slovene as a compulsory subject. This right is enjoyed by all pupils if this corresponds to the wishes of their legal representatives.

In 1994, an Ethnic Minorities Schools Act was adopted for the Croatian and Hungarian ethnic minorities (Federal Law Gazette 641/1994).

The supreme maxim of the Austrian law pertaining to children and parents concerns the well-being of the child, to which numerous provisions of the Civil Code (ABGB) and other laws relate. For example, s. 137 of the Civil Code contains the programmatic wording that parents are obliged to promote the well-being of their under-age children. The well-being of the child is also of great importance in the context of right of access (s. 148 ABGB), withdrawal and restriction of custody rights and transfer of custody to the child welfare authority (ss. 176, 176a ABGB) as well as, generally, the assignment of custody to one parent (s. 177 ABGB) and the approval of adoptions (s. 180 ABGB).

The vague legal concept of the well-being of the child as used by the legislator is not defined in detail and is thus subject to societal assessment. The concept of the child's well-being therefore constitutes a general clause which is open to the valuing opinion of the judge, who has to consider the framework of values prescribed by positive law and the findings of human sciences (child psychology, paediatric psychiatry and behavioural science).

Section 178a ABGB provides indications as to the content of the well-being of the child by stating that it is necessary in assessing children's well-being that their personality and needs, especially their talents, abilities, inclinations and development potential as well as the living standard of their parents are duly considered.

What the judiciary specifically means by "interests of the child" is outlined below with regard to the most important areas in which the child's interest must be considered:

Under the constant case-law, the primordial principle governing all right of access arrangement is related to the well-being of the child (Supreme Court 21/1/86, No. 2 Ob 681/85; Vienna Regional Civil Court 16/1/96, No. 44 R 1028/95t).

Contacts with the non-custodial parent are designed to promote the emotional and mental well-being of the child, to further his/her intellectual development and help him/her cope with the problems caused by the parents' separation. The parents' claim for access to the child and their personal interests must stand back against the needs of the child (Vienna Regional Civil Court 29/1/96, No. 43 R 50/96p; 23/1/96, No. 44 R 21/96f).

It is the view of the judiciary that minors who are of age .- i.e. children older than 14 years - may not be forced to personal contact with their non-custodial parent (Supreme Court 24/10/96, No. 6 Ob 230496h). The right of access of the non-custodial parent may only be refused or restricted if there are serious reasons, i.e. when the child's well-being is at risk. This would be the case when granting a parent a right of access would jeopardise the psychological or physical integrity of the child (Vienna Regional Civil Court 16/10/96, No. 43 R 867/96), e.g. if there are specific reasons to assume that the right of access was abused or exercised in a manner harmful to the child or if the exercise of the right of access would seriously disturb the relationship between the child and the custodial parent (Vienna Regional Civil Court 23/1/96, No. 44 R 21/96f).

The well-being of the child is also relevant to the question of which parent is entrusted with the custody of the child. The judiciary considers which parent offers better conditions for the intellectual, emotional and physical development of the child, including such aspects as meticulous care, emotional bonds and pedagogical abilities as well as the willingness of the parent(s) to take responsibility (Vienna Regional Civil Court 29/1/96, No. 43R 1151/95y- No.43 R 1158/95b; Vienna Regional Civil Court 14/2/1996, No. 45 R 71/96s).

The judiciary has developed certain guidelines for the assignment of custody which must however not be generalised, e.g. as regards the preservation of continuity in education, or the principle of not separating siblings wherever possible, and - all other aspects being equal - the priority for maternal care in the case of infants (Vienna Regional Civil Court 14/2/1996, No. 45 R 71/96s). The request for transfer of custody to one parent alone as expressed by a minor who is of age (i.e. that has reached the age of fourteen years) is to be taken into account if it does not contradict his/her well-being (Supreme Court 25/10/1996, No. 1 Ob 2296/96w).

The court must withdraw or restrict the right of custody if the parents jeopardise the well-being of the child with their behaviour. The judiciary considers the child's well-being to be endangered where parental duties are not fulfilled or seriously neglected, or where the responsible parent abuses his or her parental responsibility or is unable to cope with the task of education. A subjective fault on the part of the parent is not required (Vienna Regional Civil Court 23/8/1996, No. 43 R 756/96m).

While the wishes of the under-age child are not the only criterion for solving the question of withdrawal of parental rights, they will be duly considered depending on the age of the child (Supreme Court 21/1/1986, No. 2 Ob 675/85; 4/6/1996, No. 1 Ob 601/95). If a minor has reached the age of 16 years, his or her position will be of great importance for the ruling of the court (Vienna Regional Civil Court 25/9/1986, No. 41/86; 28/12/1995, No. 943/96).

Summing up, the well-being of the child comprises both an appropriate physical and an emotional and intellectual development. Material advantages must also be considered.

In order to better meet the requirements of the child's well-being, s. 178b of the Civil Code provides that orders pertaining to the care and education of a child must be preceded by a personal hearing of the child in court, except where this is would jeopardise the well-being of the child. A child under the age of 10 may also be heard by the youth welfare carrier or in some other suitable manner.

Hearing the child in custody proceedings is designed to provide the judge with better information on the child's current situation and wishes and thereby to facilitate a decision in the interest of the child's well-being. What is in the interest of the child's well-being must be decided on a case-by-case basis. It should generally be noted that the well-being of the child takes priority over parental rights.

In order to better take into account the well-being of the child in criminal proceedings, the scope of the provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure (s. 162a) under which children are to be heard in a considerate manner was further extended by the Penal Code Amendment Act 1998, which entered into force on 1 October 1998. The new law requires that children who have become victims of sexual crimes must under all circumstances be heard in a considerate manner, in order to prevent the risk of secondary victimisation by the criminal proceedings.

The party rights of children (i.e., their legal capacity to take part) in administrative proceedings:

The participation rights of children are most comprehensive and varied in the administrative field:

The most important instrument of participation is the right to be a party to administrative proceedings. A person who is a party to administrative proceedings has a number of rights which guarantee his or her full participation in the proceedings. In Austria, the legislature has a relatively wide scope for legislative manouvre as regards the decision on whether or not a person is granted party status. It is not obliged in every single case to grant full party status under s. 8 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (AVG), but may also provide for so-called "formal parties" to whom it only assigns such rights as are necessary to enforce specific interests and find the legal solution to a given case.

It is quite obvious that the legal instrument of "party status" is of central importance for the process of participation. Provided that the legislature (in substantive law) deems a deviation from the Code of Administrative Procedure necessary, it is authorised to adopt special provisions in respect of party status. It may, inter alia, deviate from the provision of s. 9 of the AVG, which implicitly lays down the age of majority as a prerequisite for the assertion of party rights and for getting young persons more involved in administrative proceedings than is currently the case.

Given the specific impact of administrative decisions on children and adolescents, they should be granted party rights (including graduated rights) which help them to enforce their interests and which they may assert autonomously, depending on the subject matter.

Some examples for specific solutions are to be found in administrative law: Minors have full capacity to act in service law proceedings (s. 4 of the Service Code) and a minor aged 14 and over may apply for a passport with the consent of his or her legal representative (or the Custodial Court) (s. 8 Passport Act 1994 for Austrian youth, s. 77 Aliens' Act 1997 for foreign youth). The 1998 Citizenship Amendment also provides that minors aged 14 and over have a right of their own to apply for Austrian citizenship. For this, they also require the consent of their legal representative, which may, however, be substituted by the approval of the Custodial Court if this serves the well-being of the minor.

Under the Asylum Act 1997, minors who are of age and whose interests are not protected by their legal representatives may submit an application themselves.

The Aliens' Act grants minors a refined legal status: Minors aged 14 and older may -with the consent of their legal representative - apply for entry or residence (s.14 Aliens' Act). In particularly sensitive matters, however, as in proceedings concerning expulsion or refusal of entry, residence ban, deportation, detention pending deportation etc., they have full capacity to act from age 16 (s. 95 Aliens Act 1997). Aliens under 16, whose interests cannot be protected by their legal representatives (so-called "unaccompanied minors") may only take such procedural steps in their own name as are deemed to be to their advantage (s. 95 para. 3 Aliens' Act). Lowering age limits for adolescents may however also be problematic as can be seen from the rule of the Aliens' Act under which an under-age minor may under certain circumstances also take effective legal actions that are detrimental to his or her interests.

As regards the legal capacity of pupils who have not yet come of age, the following applies:

Pursuant to sec. 68 of the School Education Act, pupils who have not yet come of age are entitled to act independently in a number of cases (registration for or de-registration from certain subjects at school or school-related events, requests for admission to certain exams, notification of inability to attend school) if there is proof that the person having parental custody has taken notice thereof (which does not necessarily mean approval of such acts). The persons having parental custody may sign a waiver of information concerning individual or all matters listed in the legal provision and revoke the waiver in writing any time.

Under the Religious Education Act (Federal Law Gazette 190/1949), religious education is a compulsory subject for all pupils who belong to a legally recognised church or religious community. Parents may de-register children under 14 years of age from religious education while children over 14 years of age are allowed to de-register themselves.

Even if minors do not have full legal capacity in proceedings concerning changes of name, they are still granted a participatory right. Under the Act on Changes of Names (lastly amended in 1995), a request for a change of name filed by the legal representative of a minor requires the consent of the child if the latter is over 14 years of age. Moreover, the authority has to hear children between 10 and 14 years of age in the course of investigative procedures if this is reasonable.

Such graduated regulations may help to grant children and adolescents a special margin of discretion in matters that are of particular importance for them. While it is conceivable that this system will be further extended, the question as to where this might make sense remains to be discussed in the light of specific circumstances and regulatory situations.

Where the realisation of self-determination is limited by a situation which does not permit the lowering of age-limits because of the need to protect the minors concerned, it might nevertheless be useful, and even necessary in view of the need to respect the child's personality, to introduce adjustable forms of participation by minors, e.g. child hearings and co-deliberation or co-decision models.

Where the need for the protection of children and adolescents stands in the way of granting them formal party rights, their rights to be heard or to take part in deliberations and decision-making in administrative proceedings are to be widened or newly created.

One example for the implementation of Art. 12 of the Convention is the case-law concerning court measures in cases where the child's well-being is in jeopardy (see Question 12).

Regard should also be had to the reform of the Child and Parent Act, which is currently in preparation by the Federal Ministry of Justice and which is designed to considerably extend the rights of minors in proceedings on care and education affecting them personally (granting minors from age 14 an independent legitimation to file requests and to take part in proceedings).

Rights that are of special importance in connection with the educational system are the rights of pupils enshrined in the school law. They can be divided into individual and collective rights. The individual rights of pupils (s. 57a of the School Education Act) include the right to be heard, to submit proposals and comments, to participate in the planning of class-room agendas or to have a say in the choice of teaching materials (e.g. textbooks). The list of collective rights described below is anchored in ss. 58 und 59 of the School Education Act. These rights are not asserted by individual pupils but by elected pupils' representatives.

In years 5 to 8, the speakers of each class elect a representative who has a consultative vote in the consultation and decision-making body of the school (usually the 'school forum'). From year 9, each school chooses one school speaker and two deputies, who then sit on the School Committee together with three teachers' and parents' representatives. In addition to other advisory rights, the School Committee also has decision-making functions (garbled text in conversion). The school speaker and his/her deputies are of particular importance in those conferences where decisions on disciplinary matters (e.g., exclusion of pupils from the school) are taken.

In addition to the representation of pupils at the school level, there are pupil representative bodies on the federal and regional levels which are enshrined in the Pupils' Representation Act. There is one regional pupils' representative organisation in each province (Land) and one federal pupils' organisation on the national level. In the provinces, the school speakers elect the regional pupils' representatives, who form the federal pupils' representative organisation. The most important functions of the regional and federal pupils' representative organisations are to advise the school authorities on general matters of instruction and education, to submit comments on drafts of laws and ordinances, to make proposals for new laws and ordinances, and to plan and organise further education seminars for pupils' representatives.

As regards the issue of participation of children and adolescents that is related to this question, regard should be made to the Resolution on Youth Participation which was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the EU on 26 November 1998 and which was integrated into the Vienna Conclusions of 11 and 12 December 1998 (s. appendix 6).

This Resolution, initiated by the Austrian Presidency, may for good reasons be regarded as unique in making the young people of Europe the focus of consideration by the highest decision makers both within the EU and in the Member states. This is indeed a historic moment and a milestone for the youth of Europe!

Stateless children acquire Austrian nationality on the basis of a constitutive administrative act. The authority may decide at its discretion. The act requires the declarations of an individual person's will (request) and of the will of the authority (decision).

As already mentioned in item 13, the 1998 amendment to the Nationality Act (entering into force on January 1, 1999) stipulates that minors over 14 years of age may file their own application for the granting of nationality, which requires the approval of the legal representative. If there is no approval of the legal representative, this may substituted by the approval of the curatorship court on important grounds.

One of the fundamental principles underlying Austrian nationality law is the principle of avoiding statelessness. Austria thus conforms with an obligation under the UN Convention on the avoidance of statelessness. This principle is particularly enshrined in sections 7, 8, 10 and 14 of the 1985 Nationality Act.

Pursuant to sec. 7 legitimate children will at all times be granted nationality if one parent is an Austrian national when the child is born; illegitimate children are granted nationality if the mother is an Austrian national at the time of birth while the place of birth or the father's nationality are not decisive.

Pursuant to sec. 8 par. 1 of the Nationality Act, children under 6 months of age found in Austria are considered Austrian nationals by descent.

Pursuant to sec. 14 of the Nationality Act, persons born on Austrian territory who have been stateless since then will be granted Austrian nationality on certain conditions, which is in keeping with the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Conditions for granting nationality under sec. 14 of the Nationality Act are as follows:

•the alien has resided in Austria for at least 10 years altogether, and for 5 years without interruption immediately prior to being granted nationality;

•the period foreseen for application starts with the 18^th birthday and ends no later than 2 years after the person has come of age;

Under sec. 10 par. 4 of the Nationality Act, the condition of ten years of residence in Austria may be waived if the person involved is a minor who has lived in Austria for at least four years, or an alien who has been domiciled in Austria for an uninterrupted period of six years, and if there are reasons to be specially considered for the grant of Austrian nationality(e.g. evidence of lasting personal and occupational integration, asylum granted under the 1997 Asylum Act, Federal Law Gazette 76/1997, birth on Austrian territory).

Even though the authority may decide at its discretion, it still has to take into account the common good, public interests and the overall behaviour of the party; when granting Austrian nationality, special attention must be given to the refugee status of the person concerned. In this context, the conclusion to be drawn from sec. 10 par. 5 of the Nationality Act is that the granting of asylum is a reason to be specially considered when deciding about the grant of Austrian nationality.

A 1996 revision of s. 207a of the Criminal Code (StGB) increased the penalties for child pornography to two (three) years for the (commercial) production/importation/dissemination of pornographic materials involving children under 14.

A working group to review the legal provisions concerning sexual offences, which was established by the Federal Minister of Justice (see also question 30), inter alia deals with the issue as to whether the protection enshrined herein is sufficient, and when reviewing the current legal situation, the working group will also give special attention to the sexual exploitation of children and young persons in the context of pornography and new media.

The protection of children against "brutal media" is mainly regulated by the regional youth protection laws of the Länder.

In the school sector, media education and sex education are, among others, educational principles for all Austrian schools, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs supports these by a diversity of measures (brochures, further teacher training, invitations to tender projects etc.). They are of an interdisciplinary nature so that topical events can immediately be addressed and discussed in all subjects.

Replies to the question of physically and mentally ill children will be provided by the competent Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs.

Under Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention, aliens who arrive in Austria as from Jan. 1, 1998 to settle permanently are entitled to family reunion. If all other prerequisites under aliens law are met, an initial establishment permit is granted to the alien as well as his/her next of kin (spouse and minor unmarried children, which denotes legitimate and illegitimate children, including adopted children and stepchildren) under a quota. The right to residence of the family is legally linked with the right to residence of the alien since it is derived from it.

Under sec. 19 par. 2 of the Aliens' Act, the initial establishment permit for third-country nationals who are employees of foreign information media or artists - who have a constitutional right to a residence permit - as well as aliens who are not self-employed but exempt from the Act on Aliens' Employment, are not subject to a quota. Moreover, aliens who need visas to enter Austria but enjoy freedom of establishment, as well as spouses or minor unmarried children (up to the age of 14) of the persons listed in this paragraph are not subject to a quota unless they wish to be gainfully employed in Austria.

If the alien whose spouse and minor unmarried children have moved to Austria to join him/her loses his/her title to residence within the first 4 years after having been granted such title, the family members who joined him/her will also lose their title to residence.

After 4 years, the title to residence of those who joined the alien no longer depends on his/her residence title.

In this context, it must be noted that minor children who come to Austria for family reunion are not granted a residence permit of their own. Legally speaking, they are associated with the spouse who is entrusted with care and education under family law.

Minor aliens over 14 years of age may apply for a title to residence themselves; grant thereof requires the approval of their legal representative (for legitimate children, the parents' approval is required; for illegitimate children, the mother's approval is required; otherwise, the approval of the youth welfare service is needed as it is by law the official guardian without requiring express appointment).

Austria intends to ratify the Hague Adoption Agreement 1993 in the near future. The National Council of Ministers decided on 14 December 1998 that the Convention should be transmitted to Parliament for approval after it was signed by Austria. As regards statistical data, the information on the administration of justice provided by the Central Statistical Office indicates that there were 781 cases of adoption in Austrian in 1994. A total of 753 requests for adoption were effectively granted, of which 544 requests related to adopted children who were under age and 209 who had reached majority. Thirteen requests were rejected, of which 9 involved minors who were under age and 4 who were of age. In 37 cases of effectively granted adoptions and in three cases of effectively rejected adoptions, the applicant parents were persons with foreign nationalities.

According to the most recent youth welfare statistics, 273 domestic adoptions were arranged in 1996. No data are available concerning international adoptions.

On 30 September 1997 a comprehensive list of "Measures against violence in family and society" was adopted by the Council of Ministers at the suggestion of the Federal Ministers of the Environment, Youth and the Family, of Women's Issues, of the Interior, of Justice, and of Education and Cultural Affairs; an English version is enclosed together with some background information (Annex 1). The main issues addressed by the Council of Minister's decision include the protection of victims in a narrow sense, the law on sexual offences (including trafficking in human beings) and the gun law, violence in the media, and training/research, awareness-building and networking activities in these areas, comprising both legal and other measures. Some of these measures are still in the making while others have already been implemented.

One such example is the partial reform of the Code of Sexual Offences, which was adopted on 17/7/1998 after preparatory work performed by a working group of the Federal Ministry of Justice, in which representatives from other Federal Ministries, from the Ombudsmen for children and adolescents, and from expert organisations took part, and which provides for the following (see also Question 30):

•The limitation period for certain sexual offences does not begin until the person has reached majority.

•The so-called "activities resembling sexual intercourse" are on the same level as "sexual intercourse with a minor" and are thus also punishable by terms of imprisonment from 1 to 10 years. This means a duplication of both the penalty and the limitation period.

•The system whereby victims in criminal proceedings are heard in a considerate fashion was further extended and is now mandatory if victims are under 14 and, if requested, will be applied to all victims of sexual offences.

The "Platform Against Violence in the Family", which was founded in 1993 at the initiative of the Federal Minister of the Environment, Youth and the Family to provide a network for NGOs assisting victims of domestic violence, has now expanded its scope of activities. With the support of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family, groups of professionals who might be confronted with violence against children (kindergarten and school teachers, youth office staff and the like) receive relevant training and are integrated into regional networks together with other competent organisations (police, youth offices, family courts, doctors, nurses) in order to be able to detect violence at an early stage and to react in an adequate manner.

In the interest of protecting the victims, it is also necessary to work with the offenders, who are frequently known to be recidivists. The Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family has therefore commissioned a study on the existing literature covering the relevant international plans and programmes dealing with offender work. A Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family-sponsored project working with sexually abusive males, which is modeled on a project for group-working with sexual offenders, started in 1997. This project is to be evaluated with a view to implementing the findings in everyday practice.

At the proposal of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family, more than ATS 8 million were disbursed within the context of the campaign "Licht ins Dunkel" (Light into the Dark) to NGOs offering therapy to children who have become victims of violence.

The Ministry is also co-sponsor of the model project "Judicial assistance for sexually exploited children" which provides children and their confidants with psychological and legal assistance and representation from the time of reporting a case of sexual abuse to the announcement of the verdict. The findings of this project, which is due to end in 1999, will also be evaluated for practical implementation.

Additional measures include a further training curriculum for medical professions, for the implementation of which a textbook is currently under preparation for immediate use by the professional groups concerned. Brochures for pedagogical and medical professions providing information on how to detect violence against children have recently been produced and are now distributed to the various professional groups in Austria (see enclosures).

The Laender Governements (States), e.g. the City of Vienna, operate an extensive support system of public youth welfare and works together with non-governmental carriers of youth welfare with a view to offering children affected by abuse or physical violence support for their physical and psychological recovery and social integration. These measures include special crisis intervention centres designed to offer short-term stationary treatment of children and to clarify the situation, or counseling and therapy units in counseling centres for children and adolescents, institutes for educational assistance, an institute for marriage and family therapy, family counseling centres, and a child protection centre funded by the Laender. There are plans to increase the number of therapy facilities by target-oriented funding.

Moreover, the "Forum Children's Protection Groups" was created under the presidency of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and Family Matters. It is an association bringing together the Presidents of the Austrian Societies of Paediatry and Paediatric Surgery as well as the chief physicians of hospitals in all Austrian provinces. The forum aims at the nation-wide establishment of children's protection groups at hospitals with paediatric departments. Children's protection groups are interdisciplinary and multi-professional teams involving medical staff, psychologists, pedagogic experts as well as external experts (social workers, possibly lawyers). Their objective is the early recognition of any suspicion of violence while they protect the child until such suspicion has been looked into and optimise further procedures.

In 1992 the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs established the Environmental and Health Education Fund. To date, grants amounting to a total of 3.2 million Austrian Schillings were used up every year. The Fund aims at supporting the qualitative and quantitative development of environment-oriented and/or health-oriented projects in education by granting financial assistance for school projects and publishing project results. All schools are invited to tender projects, which are then evaluated by a commission of scientists, civil servants and active teachers according to determined criteria.

The main research on drug dependency and consumption is conducted by the Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs. Together with the Federal Ministry of Transport, Science and Research, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family has commissioned the study "Substance consumption and abuse in children and adolescents. Risk factors, trial and initiation behaviour, development and discontinuation", which was completed in 1998 and which comprised interviews with 1500 Viennese pupils. For more details, see the summary of results in the annex.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Culture is currently supporting a European-wide study which is conducted in Austria by the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute for Health Psychology and which examines the efficiency of parent-support measures in the field of health prevention (drugs, violence, school-related problems etc.) and of schemes assisting single mothers and parents of scially weak children (disabilities, chronic illnesses).

Upon the commission of the Vienna Regional Government in 1995, a study on Viennese youth and drugs was conducted by the Institute for Empirical Social Research (IFES), comprising data obtained from 607 adolescents and young adults aged 14 - 26 who were thoroughly questioned concerning their drug habits.

Alcohol is the most common drug among adolescents. Some 62% of respondents said they had alcohol several times per month or at frequent intervals. Some 6% drink three or more standard (garbled text in conversion) 9-year olds is particularly at risk, namely those adolescents who are subjected to significant crises or severe family conflicts in their childhood or whose parents have themselves taken drugs. Other contributory circumstances are friends who harbour a positive attitude towards drugs or who are insufficiently informed about the harmful potential of drugs.

Some 20% of adolescents have consumed or at least once tried an illegal drug during the half year before the onset of the study. 97% of drug consumers took cannabis while 13% tried hard drugs like heroin or cocaine.

Another study compiled by the Federal Ministry of Health and Consumer Protection in 1996 on problems in connection with the consumption of alcohol and psychoactive substances in Austria (Uhl, A. & Springer, A.: Studie über den Konsum von Alkohol und psychoaktiven Stoffen in Österreich unter Berücksichtigung problematischer Gebrauchsmuster), inter alia, contains the results of a representative survey on the consumption of legal and illegal psychoactive substances. As for the consumption of alcohol, parameters examined also include the age distribution with regard to the amount consumed, frequency and degree of intoxication.

For the first time, the international competition "Be smart! Don't start! - Smokefree Class Competition" is also held in Austria in the school year 1998/99, with 7^th and 8^th forms taking part (17/18-year old students). In Austria, the competition is a joint campaign of the Austrian Cancer Aid Society and the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs. The students participating undertake not to smoke for six months. The aim of the competition is to prevent "smokers' careers". Students should learn to say "No, thanks" when offered cigarettes.

The Vienna Statistical Office provided the following data on suicide rates among adolescents:

Responsibility for information and prevention programmes in connection with venereal diseases including HIV/AIDS lies with the Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs. A study entitled "AIDS-Jugendstudie 1997" (AIDS Youth Study) commissioned by the Ministry and performed by the Ludwig Boltzmann-Institute for Female Health Research was recently completed. The study included data on the knowledge, attitudes, behaviour and information needs of Austrian youth.

In cooperation with Austrian AIDS support organisations, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs launched a new campaign for adolescents at the end of the 1998 school year, using movie spots, comics, posters and brochures to inform young people about HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases and on ways of protecting themselves from infection. For several years now, AIDS support organisations are using the model of "peer group education". A survey (updated: summer 1997) on peer group education models (in the context of addiction, violence and AIDS) is enclosed.

In most of the Regional Governments the responsible institutions (in Vienna: Municipal Department MA 15 [providing health care for mothers and children, social pediatrics and child care examinations]) conducts information talks on sexuality, contraception, AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases in all first-year classes of Viennese vocational training schools. In addition, the City offers a youth counseling centre in Heiligenstädter Straße 82 in the 19th district, which provides gynecological examinations and personal counseling on the above questions. An out-patient centre by the name of "First Love-Ambulanz" which is also addressing these issues is available in the municipal hospital Rudolfstiftung.

School physicians from the Municipal Department 15 hold lectures on the topic of HIV/AIDS as part of their health education training programme in the 4th year of Viennese secondary schools.

Information provided by the Vienna-based AIDS support organisation (AIDS-Hilfe Wien) for the purpose of juvenile prevention is available in two different forms: either by hiring specially trained adults to supply information about the disease to adolescents, or by having young people themselves inform their peers ("peer education"). These programmes are made available in all places where young people can be reached, such as schools, youth centres and youth organisations.

For some years now, it has been one of the main aims of Austrian health policy to improve the health of the population through a comprehensive prevention system and to promote health awareness by means of education and information. In accordance with the concept defined in the 1986 Ottawa Charta of the WHO, health promotion has recently come to be understood not only as related to specific issues (e.g. in terms of certain diseases or risk factors) but increasingly with regard to the personal setting of each individual citizen. However, the boundaries between these two approaches are not fixed, given that many issue-related prevention programmes, e.g. to reduce the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol, are being implemented in specific settings like schools or workplaces.

In March 1998, a federal law on measures and initiatives for health promotion, education and information took effect, which provided additional funds of ATS 100 million per year for the implementation of a "Health Promotion Initiative" ("Initative Gesundheitsförderung"). These extra funds are intended as a supplement to the existing prevention measures and will be used to promote and carry out practical activities and concomitant scientific studies in the field of health promotion and at the same time facilitate the creation of a sustainable support structure. As provided by the law, the carrier organisation of the "Initative Gesundheitsförderung" will be a public-weal organisation known as "Austrian Health Fund" ("Fond Gesundes Österreich").

At the initiative of the Ministry of Health, model projects with cooperation structures to build up a health promotion scheme have in the past few years been launched in the relevant societal systems, i.e. community, school, hospital and workplace. These networks have in part been created in cooperation with WHO, EU and the Council of Europe and combine health promotion measures both on the national and international level.

Among the various networks including "Healthy cities" - which also covers communal drug policies, "Health-promoting hospitals" und "Health promotion in the workplace" - aiming to address adolescent employees in connection with measures to prevent alcohol and nicotine abuse, special mention should be made of the network "Health-promoting schools".

This network is designed, for one, to support and enhance the personal ability of pupils to live a health-conscious life and, for another, to address the issue of the teachers' health. The projects are carried out by teams involving the entire school community (teachers, parents, pupils).

As regards preventive health measures and health promotion activities for children and adolescents, the following measures should be specifically noted:

Created to provide special assistance for pregnant women, new-borns and infants, this medical care scheme has been in existence since 1974 and has contributed significantly to the reduction of infant and mother mortality during the past two decades.

- Family Midwives: Since 1987, (in some of the Laender, e.g. Vienna Provincial Government) family midwives have given free counselling to high-risk pregnant women to prevent infant and maternal mortality, reduce the number of premature births and infant morbidity.

- Development diagnostics: In the Laender, there are programmes for high-risk children for the early diagnosis and support of children who are high-risk patients after birth or show impaired development.

- Parent Counselling: Parent counselling services provide medical advice and prevention measures in the medical, social and pedagogic fields. Parent-Child Centres give young families a wide range of ways to improve communication and cope with every-day problems.

For school children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 - with the school doctors being increasingly assigned tasks in the field of psychosocial care, especially as regards the prevention of addictive substances; and

For adolescents aged 15 to 19 years who are already pursuing a gainful activity.

All of the above examinations have been available for pregnant women, children and adolescents for decades.

A nationwide vaccination programme established in January 1998 provides free access to all vaccinations generally recommended by the Supreme Sanitary Council for all Austrian children until the end of mandatory schooling, i.e., immunisation against poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenza type b and hepatitis B. Another information campaign starting in autumn 1998 is expected to further raise the awareness level with regard to vaccination.

Adolescents are still a major target group for information campaigns since the likelihood of cigarette smoking habits being continued at an adult age is the greater the earlier a person starts to smoke. Empirical studies conducted among 13-18-year olds indicate that first activities related to nicotine begin as early as age 11½.

That is why, in 1998, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs has launched a large-scale campaign entitled "SMOKE SUCKS", which is conducted by the association "youth and non smokers". This campaign is based on a partnership concept involving cooperation with commercial and non-profit companies, media enterprises, youth organisations and organisers of concerts and sporting events. Its aim is to revert the way of thinking with regard to the symbolism and significance of cigarette smoking in order to counteract the first attempts and habitual smoking of young people.

In order to increase awareness with regard to alcohol, various information activities including brochures, films and classroom materials are being conducted on a regular basis. Additional attempts are made to have setting-related groups of young people who are specifically at risk addressed by company doctors and in schools with a view to integrate them as soon as possible into the existing network of counseling and care facilities.

In 1996, a study by the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute for Addiction Research with the title "Consumption of alcohol and psychoactive substances in Austria, taking into account problematic use patterns (representative survey 1990/91)" was presented to the public. The study whose short title is "Study on Drinking Habits" has been distributed to all interested parties and - by showing the specific Austrian situation concerning the consumption of alcohol - is intended to serve as a basic information and decision-making tool for future prevention measures.

Final preparations for a so-called Alcohol Handbook (Alkoholhandbuch) commissioned by the Health Ministry are also underway. The Handbook is designed to provide useful information on all relevant data, research results, statistics, counseling and therapy centres as well as legal framework conditions in connection with alcohol for all institutions and authorities involved in media work, prevention and therapy in the field of alcoholism.

To curb the demand for psychoactive substances and illegal drugs, the Austrian drugs policy is mainly geared to primary prevention, i.e. including measures designed to prevent the development of addiction. In agreement with the WHO health promotion programme, the main focus of national policy is on information campaigns in different areas of daily life.

With special addiction prevention centres already existing in all federal provinces, numerous activities are currently being undertaken in cooperation with schools and the Federal Ministry of Education both on the federal and regional levels.

The Federal Ministry of Health also issues a series of publications including brochures on addiction entitled "Zum Thema: Sucht" for youth and youth counselors.

A special new Addictive Drugs Act (Suchtmittelgesetz), which entered into force on 1 January 1998 and which extended the substantive scope of the already existing principle "Therapie statt Strafe" (therapy instead of punishment), explicitly laid down the possibility of treating addicts with substitute substances.

Institutions offering counseling and therapy services for drug abusers continue to receive substantial amounts of money from the Ministry.

The mandate for the Federal Minister of Health to carry out measures to provide AIDS information and prevention of HIV infections is laid down in the AIDS Act 1993 (last amended in 1998), with information campaigns being conducted since its entering into force. Particular efficacy was achieved by the campaigns of the years 1994 - 1996, which featured music video clips including interviews with VIPs and victims and which were broadcast by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) as a cinematic contribution to awareness-raising activities. These AIDS information clips helped a lot to diminish the taboo against condomes and to improve general knowledge (especially among pupils) of HIV infection and AIDS and public understanding for people affected by the disease.

In addition, a number of information brochures, in particular target-oriented ones designed to reach the young population, were released to ensure the continuity of dissemination of the basic facts on AIDS.

In 1998, a new campaign was launched which relied on the successful performance of the previous measures.

Special emphasis should be given to a series of school information folders for pupils from year 8 and, in autumn 1998, to the release of new brochures for school from year 8, and of movie spots.

In addition to its central coordinating task, the Federal Ministry of Health also supplies information material to the regional AIDS support organisations and their central information office as well as to a number of self-help institutions. Apart from continuous counseling and assistance including psychosocial care, the spectrum of care services also includes prevention-oriented activities, especially for young people.

In August 1998, the Austrian Crisis Intervention Centre has completed its preparatory work for a "Handbook for Suicide Prevention" on commission from the Ministry of Health. The aim of the project was to provide a register of all Austrian institutions and facilities as well as a comprehensive documentation on statistics and epidemiology, an overview of the practical and scientific aspects of suicide prevention and, in summarising the three preceding chapters, a general outlook in a sense that the publication will help to develop future-oriented strategies in order to increase the efficiency of preventive activities.

Among the target groups which are specifically addressed by the Handbook are children and adolescents. The Handbook is soon to be published and will serve as a basis for further activities on all levels.

In the 1997 and 1998 budget years, the Federal Government granted the provinces and communes a total of ATS 600 million in ear-marked funds for the provision and promotion of child care facilities provided that the latter contribute equivalent amounts from their own budgets.

For the allocation of funds and the evaluation of projects, a commission consisting of representatives of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family, the Federal Chancellery (represented by the Federal Ministry of Womens' Issues and Consumer Protection), the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Association of Cities and Communes and the federal provinces concerned. As a result of the financial contribution by the Federal Government, close to 19,000 new care places for children under 6 were created in 1997/98.

In 1999 and 2000, the Federal Government will again provide the provinces and communes with ATS 600 million in ear-marked funds for the establishment and promotion of child care institutions.

The City of Vienna gives great priority to the further provision of child care facilities in order to enable parents to combine family and professional life. This endeavour comprises both the management of municipal, and the promotion of charity-run, day nursery schools. The distribution rate of care places in day nursery schools is 34% for children aged 1 ½ to 3, and over 85% for children aged 3 to 6. (last revised: end-1997).

The information on human rights and the dissemination of information to pupils concerning the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child are part of the civic education syllabus in Austrian schools.

An annual amount of ATS 100,000,000.- is provided by the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family to promote youth and youth (garbled text in conversion) of various leisure or cultural projects for young people such as the Federal Youth Singing Contest (Bundesjugendsingen).

As regards work with young people from fringe groups, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family organised a summer camp for young people at risk of impoverishment (especially youth from single-parent families and homes) in 1998 which was conducted as an integration-oriented model project together with a special international summer camp of the Catholic Juvenile Workers' organisation. It is planned to repeat this project, which emerged from the Youth Leader Project (Jugendleiterprojekt, see Question 31), subject to the availability of budget funds.

A project entitled "Pedal Contact" (Pedalkontakt), which was also organised by the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family, offers tandem biking tours for adolescents who are blind or visually impaired together with seeing young people. (see annex).

In particular, the competences of the federal provinces in this respect should be noted.

The Laender in general, and the City of Vienna in particual, offer a number of extramural leisure activities both for families ("family days") and for children ("vacation games"), which are easily accessible for all children. For groups of children at risk, some special measures such as streetwork initiatives are provided. The Municipal Department for Youth and Family Matters, in cooperation with the association "Wiener Jugenderholung" (Vienna Youth Recreation) organises vacation and recreation trips for children aged 5 to 15, especially for those coming from needy families. These children are eligible for price reductions and even free admission. Families in need may also apply for two-week summer vacations together with their children at an extremely reduced price.

Under current legislation, aliens may be arrested and taken into custody if this is required to safeguard residence ban or expulsion proceedings until the outcome is enforceable, or to ensure deportation, refoulement or onward transport in transit. Aliens staying legally in Austria may only be taken into custody pending deportation if there is reason to assume, due to certain facts, that they will evade proceedings.

Pursuant to sec. 21 of the 1997 Asylum Act, asylum seekers with a temporary residence permit who have not filed the application for asylum as a response to Aliens' Police action must neither be expelled nor banned from residence due to destitution, nor taken into custody pending deportation.

There is an absolute prohibition to reject and return asylum seekers who have no temporary residence permit to the country of origin, and refoulement and deportation are also prohibited. Asylum seekers may only be taken into custody pending deportation or continued to be detained if they filed the application for asylum after having come to the notice of Aliens' Police (sec. 21 of the Asylum Act).

Since the 1997 Aliens' Act entered into force, the authorities are obliged to use more lenient means when minors are involved; this means that minors are to live in accommodations determined by the authorities and report to the authorities at regular intervals.

More lenient means will only be refrained from if the authorities have reason to assume that the purpose of custody pending deportation will not be served that way.

As far as conditions for custody pending deportation for young persons are concerned, please refer to the order to use more lenient means as described under item 25.

Aliens under 16 years of age must only be held in custody pending deportation if accommodation and care can be ensured that corresponds to the age and state of development of the persons concerned.

Minor and adult deportees must be detained separately. If a parent or guardian of the minor is also detained pending deportation, minors must be held together with these unless it is in the interest of the minor that they be held separately.

As regards the situation of young persons serving a sentence in detention centres or being held in custody with a view to their deportation, the Republic of Austria would like to refer to the pertinent provisions of the Code of Administrative Offences (ss. 53c, 53e, 54 and 58 et seq.), the House Regulation for Police Detention Centres (s.4 para.3), the Aliens Act 1997 (s. 68) and the implementing provisions thereto (s.8), which are enclosed in Annex 5..

The principle of separating juvenile prisoners from adult prisoners, which is described in para. 456 of the Austrian Report, finds its legal basis in the Juvenile Court Act 1988, which contains, inter alia, special provisions on the enforcement of sentences on juvenile offenders and the structuring of the law.

As regards the implementation of Art. 40 para. 4 of the Convention, we should like to refer to paras. 450 to 453 of the Austrian Report, which give a detailed description of the alternatives to traditional criminal procedures laid down in the Juvenile Court Act 1988.

To help juvenile prisoners in the prison of the Juvenile Court in Vienna's 3rd district, Rüdengasse 7-9, a support class of the Sonderpädagogisches Zentrum (special pedagogical centre in the 9th district, Galileigasse 3) has been established in order to repair deficiencies in general schooling. For juveniles in vocational schools, the Vienna Board of Education has supplied a special vocational school trainer.

Ratification of the ILO Convention (No. 138) on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment

The question whether it is planned to ratify the ILO Convention (No. 138) on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment must at present be denied.

Although some obstacles to ratification in agriculture and forestry have been removed by the most recent amendment to the Agricultural Workers Act, Federal Law Gaz. I No. 101/98, one ratification obstacle still remains in that Article 7 para.1 of Convention No.138 only permits the employment in minor jobs of persons aged 13 and over, whereas Austria allows children who have reached the age of 13 to be employed to perform minor work both in commercial enterprises and in agriculture or forestry.

As mentioned in reply to Question 15, a working group for the revision of the Code of Sexual Offences was established by the Federal Minister of Justice with the specific task of addressing the issue of adequate protection of the right children and adolescents to sexual self-determination. In addition to the amendments to the Code achieved in summer 1998, which were elaborated by this working group, it is now above all the question of effective protection of minors aged between 14 (age of sexual protection) and 19 (age of majority) that is being discussed.

To improve the protection of children from sexual exploitation, especially in countries without an adequate set of instruments to combat related offences, the provisions of the Penal Code concerning international criminal law were extended by the Penal Code Amendment Act 1996, which entered into force on 1/3/1997, in such a way that sexual offences against minors (ss. 206 and 207 of the Penal Code), including child pornography (s. 207 of the Penal Code), regardless of the law applicable at the site of the offence if committed abroad - i.e. especially if the offence is not punishable in the country where it was committed - can be dealt with by Austrian courts and under domestic law (s 64 para. 1(4) a of the Penal Code); this applies to Austrians having their ordinary residence in Austria, while the existence of a suitable penal norm in the country where the offence was committed is required for expatriated Austrians and foreigners, with a non-extradition clause applicable to the latter).

In addition to para. 447 of the Austrian Report, the following information is provided:

On 1 October 1998, the Penal Code Amendment Act 1998 entered into force, which, inter alia, provides for a partial reform of the law on sexual offences in connection with the sexual abuse of children (see Question 19).

•the period of limitation for certain sexual offences committed to the detriment of children and young persons only begins when the child or young person has come of age;

•so-called acts of abuse "similar to sexual intercourse" committed to the detriment of minors under the age of 14 are held equivalent to sexual intercourse, which results in a doubling of the sanction and the period of limitation;

•to improve the status of victims of sexual offences in criminal proceedings and to achieve more meaningful prosecution, the range of possibilities for "victim-friendly hearings" for victims of sexual offences has been increased (it is mandatory to hear victims under the age of 14 in victim-friendly circumstances, and minor victims over 14 years of age must be heard in such a way on request).

This reform of the Code of Sexual Offences constitutes one of the steps taken by Austria to combat the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.

As for the school sector, the instructional principle of "sexual education" should be noted (see Question 15).

In connection with the Plan of Action requested in the Stockholm Declaration, regard should be had to the Action Plan of the Austrian Federal Government, which is enclosed in Annex 2.

On the basis of the EU Year against Racism and Xenophobia in 1997, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family and the Regional Youth Office of Burgenland offer a youth leader training programme geared specifically to the Roma ethnic group. In the interest of integration, however, youth work multipliers from other ethnic groups are also participating in the programme. The first course was finished in autumn 1998 with projects by participants and is to be offered again if the requisite budget is available.

At the initiative of the current Secretary General of the Romany Association of Oberwart a project to record and teach Romanes was launched in co-operation with the Linguistic Department at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz. The project is supported by the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Science and Transport, the provincial government of the Burgenland, the Austrian National Library, the Austrian Association of University Students and the European Union (DG XXII). It is a project of the Romany ethnic group in which scholars participate as experts and work for the whole ethnic community on a par with participants from that ethnic community. This working method - with the people for the people - the project is a paradigm for meaningful co-operation between research and ethnic groups or minorities in general, which also reflects the relevancy of the project for all of Europe.

In the meantime, the organisational structure has been streamlined: what started out as several individual projects specific of associations and variants, has now become a single Romanes project. The ultimate goal is to prepare records for Romanes to the extent that the ethnic group will be able to counter the threatening extinction of the language and (at least partial) loss of identity. This includes putting down the language in writing, preparation of a grammar, dictionary as well as texts and didactic material for future Romanes instruction which is foreseen in the Austrian Ethnic Minorities Act.

The socio-political relevancy of the project is reflected in the fact that, by supporting the concern of the ethnic group to preserve their language and the search for their own identity and values, the self-awareness and self-esteem of this minority, marginalised until today, is furthered, which increases their chances for social integration.

Another project of the Romany Association supported by the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs concerns tutoring for Romany children. When work started, many Romany children went to Special School because -and this was made clear by the project work - they could not get any assistance in school matters at home (this was due to the fact that most parents had automatically been sent to Special School and therefore never had any formal vocational training while they were young). Moreover, the children had no place to study quietly because of the lack of space at their homes, and because parents did not consider schooling important. Since the tutoring project started, none of the children has attended Special School, since 1995 no child has been a repeater and since the school year 1997/98 seven children have attended higher secondary schools. Those who have completed general secondary school are now apprentices receiving vocational training.

Proposal to the Council of Ministers

against violence in society.

Banning corporal punishment

Austria belongs to the few countries in which the absolute prohibition of violence against children prevails in the entire legislation. In 1989, Parliament finally renounced any type of physical or psychological abuse of children as a means of education; the legal provision (Section 146a of the Austrian General Civil Code) is perfectly clear: "... the application of violence and the infliction of physical or mental harm are unlawful."

By prohibiting the "infliction of mental pain", the legislator explicitly banned repressive education. Neither parents nor other legal guardians are now able to justify the physical "ill-treatment" of children - such as for example physical injury or the infliction of physical pain - by invoking their right to custody. Provided the application of force is not serious, violations of this ban are not immediately liable to punishment. However, according to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (OHG 24.6.1992, 1 Ob 573/92), violations of the ban on violence and/or corporal punishment as contained in Section 146 a of the ABGB are to be taken into account when assessing the legal relationship between children and parents, for example when custody is awarded (Section 176 of the ABGB):

"According to the findings of the Family Court, the father practised a strict discipline, requiring of his children respect and unconditional obedience as well as stoic endurance of pain; he employed physical violence to discipline the children when they disobeyed and got into mischief. Through the use of physical discipline in the upbringing of his children, he had violated the absolute prohibition of violence as a form of education as set out in paragraph 146a of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB), as amended by Art 1 Z5 KindRÄG, in effect since 1 July 1989. _The foregoing stipulates that the use of violence and the causing of physical and/or psychological pain is forbidden, and further prohibits every unreasonable treatment which is harmful to the well-being of the child. This applies not only to bodily harm and the causing of physical pain (gsunde Watschn - compare with Pernhaupt - Cermak, Die Gesunde Ohrfeige macht krank, 1980, 81ff), but to every other treatment that violates human dignity, even if such treatment is not perceived by the child to be negative (Schwimann in Schwimann, ABGB, Rz 3 to paragraph 146a).

In this connection, the court of appeal decided, in accordance with the ruling of the court of first instance, that it must be assumed that the father would continue to use physical means to discipline his children and ensure that their behaviour corresponded to his will. Furthermore, in light of this fact there was a need for expert psychological examination of the children, to determine whether it would be possible for them to grow up in an environment free of violence.

The court of appeal was, in adopting this line of argumentation, rather contradictory in its nevertheless accurate considerations. In its opinion on the highly authoritarian father regarding his tendency to discipline physically when his children got into mischief, it ruled that it could not be assumed that he would cease to apply such disciplinary methods as forbidden by paragraph 146a of the Civil Code. Equally correctly, the court of appeal also noted in this context that the negative (psychological/emotional) effects of this disciplinary method might first manifest themselves in some years time (possibly when the children reached puberty).

Consequently, there was no need for further inquiry into this matter, as the endangerment of the well-being of the children must already be assumed in view of the disciplinary behaviour of the father to date, illegal in the sense of paragraph 146a of the Civil Code, non-violent upbringing being the specific aim of the aforementioned legal amendment. The father insisted on the absolute respect of his person as an authority figure and on unconditional obedience, and had a tendency to react violently, all of which are inherently associated with the causing of physical and psychological/emotional suffering. There was no reason to assume, even on the basis of his initial testimony at the court of first instance, that the father had come to a new perspective and would in the future refrain from his illegal disciplinary methods.

In concurrence with the assessment of the court of first instance, the court of appeal ruled there was, in regard to the question of the transfer of custody to the other parent, good reason to assume the endangerment of the well-being of the children in the sense of paragraph 176 of the Civil Code, as a consequence of an ongoing damaging discipline on the part of the father in violation of the prohibition of violence in the sense of paragraph 146a of the Civil Code. The issue here was not a single occurrence, which would not justify the withdrawal of custody (compare here ÒA 1990, 52). In this connection, the court of second instance also recognised that the opinion of the two children, neither of whom had yet attained ten years of age, could constitute a decisive factor (OGH 24.6.1992,1 Ob 573/92,JBI 1992, 639, ÒJZ 1992. NRsp 1992/259, 1993, 85/13, ÒA 1993, 26)." (quote)

A study commissioned in 1991/92 by the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family and other studies concerning violence within the family, and in particular the study "Causes and Consequences of Violence against Women and Children" indicated the extent of violence against children within families: 67.5 % of mothers and 68.8 % of fathers categorically reject serious corporal punishment (beatings) as a means of education, 28.5 % of mothers and 26, 0 % of fathers occasionally resort to violent means, and 4.0 % of mothers and 5.2 % of fathers frequently resort to stronger measures of violence in order to enforce their educational aims. There is a clear gender-specific difference in the use of violence against children: boys are beaten significantly more frequently than girls.

On the basis of the mentioned study "Causes and Consequences of Violence against Women and Children", sponsored by the Federal Minister for Women's Issues, the Federal Chancellor's Fund "Against Violence" and the Jubilee Fund of the Austrian National Bank, specific information material was prepared on the topics "How to counteract violence against women and children." In addition to providing information about rights, possibilities of the victims of violence to get assistance and about their social environment, as well as of professions confronted with violence, the focus on the causes and consequences of violence is to contribute towards reducing prejudice and sensitizing those affected and the professions dealing with violence against women and children.

By bolstering the absolute prohibition of violence (Section 146 a of the ABGB) through the specific assistance tools of the "Jugendwohlfahrtsgesetz" (Youth Welfare Act) 1989 and the "Landesjugendwohlfahrtsgesetze" (regional youth welfare laws), a decisive step was taken in the direction of enforcing non-violent education as a basic principle.

Since children are entitled to a non-violent upbringing - above all if their parents do not meet their child rearing obligations properly - specific contact services for parents and children were set up: child rearing counselling services in the Youth Welfare Departments, social services for parents and children, child protection centres, the child helpline, and children's and adolescents' ombudsmen. Since the foundation of the first child protection centre in Linz in 1985, further seven have been set up in the meantime in Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, St. Pölten, Klagenfurt and Wels, and project groups are preparing to set up further child protection centres in several larger cities.

In order to provide a first point of contact for children and adolescents who are at risk, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family has set up a "federal ombudsman for children and adolescents". This agency publicly propagates a child-friendly society, stands for the idea of non-violent education, and can be contacted by children, adolescents and their custodians who want to make suggestions and lodge complaints about alleged violations of children's and adolescents' rights. Using the so-called "red telephone", one can contact the agency from anywhere in Austria at local call rates. For children in need, there is by now a whole network of child lines: for example the Child Emergency Telephone, the Child Worries Telephone and the so-called "Kinderkummernummer" (for children in trouble) (also see the chapter on "Hot lines for Children and Adolescents").

The combination of penal provisions with a clear deterrent effect and preventive interventions on the part of protection agencies should discourage any use of violence against others at the earliest possible time, and not merely serve as the reaction to violence which has already occurred. Preventive protection of people - irrespective, of course, of extreme youth or old age - is one of the central tasks of the security forces. The police must intervene for example in cases where a person expects a dangerous attack on his/her physical safety.

Upon the joint initiative of the Federal Minister of the Environment, Youth and the Family, the Federal Minister for Women's Issues, the Federal Minister of Justice, and the Federal Minister of Interior, a innovative tool against violence in the family and against any kind of violence directed against children was introduced by the "Violence Protection Act" of 1 May 1997. According to the Violence Protection Act police and/or court intervention is directed against the person exercising violence and may lead to the removal of that person from the home: the family member who is exposed to a threat of severe violence or any behaviour that may have a considerable negative impact on the physical or psychological health of this person, is entitled to request the removal of the threatening family or household member by a police or court order. The obligation to leave the home and to stay away from it must not exceed 14 days maximum if issued by the police, if issued by the court it must not exceed three months maximum or the duration of a divorce proceeding.

For immediate implementation of a non-violent education, children who have been exposed to violence should receive appropriate counselling, immediate aid or long-term legal and social support required in their particular situation, without any bureaucratic or other obstacles. For this purpose, the availability and accessibility of child protection centres and crisis centres, common households for children with special needs, emergency overnight accommodation and therapy places are being extended.

Moreover the committment of the Austrian government to combat any kind of violence resulted in the Proposal to the Council of Ministers of 30 September 1997 (see below).

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and the Family (No. 41 1045/10-.IV/1/97); The Federal Minister for Women's Issues and Consumer Protection; The Federal Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs; The Federal Minister of the Interior; The Federal Minister of Justice

Violence in society, violence in the family, maltreatment of children, sexual abuse of children, violence among teenagers. violence in the media

Proposal

to the Council of Ministers

Violence, especially violence directed against women and children, but also violence against handicapped and elderly persons, is a burning social problem. Women and children, handicapped and elderly people of all social classes and age groups, regardless whether they live in the countryside or in urban areas, may be affected by violence directed against them. Although the tight against violence inflicted on women and children has for quite a long time been one of the focal points of the policies of the Ministers of the Federal Government responsible for these

matters, violence In our society remains a widespread phenomenon calling for sustained and determined action by all competent forces.

Violence against women - in our view an intolerable display of crude power in inter-gender relationships - must, in addition to all the necessary concrete measures for directly combating violence, be generally countered on an increased scale by eliminating existing discriminations against women. Where social and economic dependence leads to endemic violence, and where traditional ideas relating to norms and roles mean that violence in the private sphere is still regarded as a "peccadillo", it is the task of those politically responsible to counteract this tendency in the most strenuous way.

Moreover, more respect must be ensured for the absolute outlawing of violence as a fundamental principle in the relationship between parents and guardians, teachers, educators and the children and adolescents entrusted to their care. As resorting to force against children and inflicting physical and mental pain as a means to educate them has been explicitly illegal since 1989, neither parents nor other educators can justify such physical maltreatment of children as a means of educating them.

Violence by and among teenagers should be countered by focussed action to promote youth projects emphasising the prevention of violence.

In order to ensure the protection of physical security in the family sphere, the Protection against Violence Act (Federal Law Gazette 75911996), which entered into effect on 1 May 1997, created new structures: above all, cooperation between the courts and the security authorities In cases of violent incidents in the family was improved and public security officers were given additional powers to intervene where violence occurs * in a family. This law was the result of a joint proposal to the Council of Ministers concerning measures to combat violence in the family entered by the Federal Minister for Women's Issues, the Federal Minister of Justice, the Federal Minister of the Interior and the then Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and the Family on 28 June 1994 with a view to give people an enforceable right to protection against violence in the family, a widespread phenomenon which occurs in a variety of forms.

As a back-up to these legislative steps, major efforts have been made to sensitise the public. Thus, for instance, more than two decades of public education pursued primarily by the feminist movement and by committed feminist politicians have succeeded in creating a public awareness of the problems of violence against women. in addition, the Anti-Violence Campaign launched at the end of 1992 by the Federal Government, the foundation of the "Platform against Violence in the Family" by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and the Family, the Parliamentary Hearings on "Violence in the Family" and the Public Inquiry into 'Women and the Law" constituted very clear statements by the country's political decision makers against violence in society. We would also recall that the international community undertook a pronounced commitment to combat violence against women at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Peking.

And not least, the intensive debate on the UN Convention on the Rights of Children (E 156 NR-XVIII. GP on. the National Assembly's Agenda) encouraged by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and the Family has led to increased awareness among social policymakers and to a new understanding of children's need for and legal rights to protection against the manifold forms of violence.

There are signs that the sustained discussion of the theme of violence and the strengthened perception of political responsibility for these problems have been reflected inter alia in a greater readiness to inform the appropriate bodies of incidents of violence which have happened in the private sphere or even report them to the authorities. This interim assessment of the situation is reason enough to persist in drawing the public's attention with sustained emphasis to the continuing problem of violence in our society and to emphasise the authorities' growing readiness and determination to adequately respond to such complaints.

Nevertheless, certain recent events show only too clearly how imperfect the existing instruments still are despite the progress achieved in some respects in the fight against violence, and how much action is still required at various levels.

In view of the continuing virulence of these problems, the Federal Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and Family are currently conducting a media offensive to sensitise the public to the theme "Violence against Children as the National Assembly required them to do in its Resolution E-22 NR/XX.GP.

In the same vein, the members of the state governments in charge of family matters at their conference an 25 May 1997 welcomed the current policies against violence in the family, especially the new Protection against Violence Act, and called for additional activities, in coordination with the state governments, to prevent violence and to enhance awareness.

If the phenomenon 'Violence" is to be perceived in its full dimensions, it must also be analysed, in an information society like ours, in the context of the new information technologies and of the daily display of violence in the media. The government's responsibilities in this area have come to be reflected in the various pieces of media legislation and in the protective provisions for young people enacted by the country's constituent states. As the latest advances of technology have opened up new possibilities, unthinkable until recently, for spreading information of all sorts through the media, it is necessary to review and extend the existing machinery for prevention and control by appropriate new appmaches in order to mount a suitable response to materials which tend to incite or banalise violence, while fully safeguarding the constitutional freedom of thought and of the press.

As the fight against violence threatening women and children or other groups such as handicapped or elderly people has long been one of the centrepieces of the work of the Federal Ministers responsible for these

matters, they intend to maintain this policy by Initiating further measures and supporting projects to prevent and check violent behaviour. As violence manifests itself in a wide range of social contexts and forms, steps will be taken in addition to the various activities specific to each Ministry to expand cooperation between the Ministries concerned, a type of cooperation which has already led to constructive results in the past, and to involve private bodies and NGOs - of whose significance the Federal Government is well aware - concerned with these issues.

For the reasons and considerations stated above, the Federal Govern-ment resolves to counteract violence in society through the following coordinated cluster of preventive, interventionist, , thera-peutic and publicity measures.

At the same time, an appeal goes out to state legislatures and gov-ernments, municipalities and local authorities to support these aims within their own spheres of action.

1. More attention should be paid to the aspect of the protection of victims especially where sexual violence against children and women is concerned. As a complement to the existing machinery of intervention under the Protection against Violence Act, the setting up and extension of intervention services manned by qualified personnel should be pursued. Intervention services are to counsel victims and

help them to avail themselves of the services offered by public authorities; they should also assist in coordinated activities by security, justice and other authorities as well as private bodies -especially by channelling a continuous flow of information to the latter. Their role includes the provision of counsellors to see victims through official proceedings.

2. Minors exposed to violence will receive more of the required immediate help and social chaperoning by expanding the system of child protection and crisis centres, (non-residential) psychological counselling services for children and teenagers, placement with foster parents, therapeutical pedagogic residential communities and emergency sleeping places as required.

In order to rehabilitate children and teenagers who have been victims of mental, physical, emotional, social and sexual violence, therapy places should be offered in sufficient quantity.

3. Other services specialising in dealing with the problems of violence in the family (counselling services for women and families, emergency assistance services for women and girls who have been raped, counselling services for girls and boys who have been sexually abused) should be placed at the disposal of all persons wanting their assistance and support in all regions of Austria. Moreover, steps should be taken by all state governments to provide the required additional battered women's refuges.

4. By Resolution E-22 NR/XX. GP of 19 September 1996, the National Assembly has asked the Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and the Family for the early submission of a Government Bill by which a central agency is to be created by the youth welfare authorities to receive reports and complaints of Injuries, with the required arrangements to ensure the necessary security arrangements for such reports in the light of data protection legislation. In response to that resolution, the Minister has opened a (general) legislative consultation process for an amendment of the Youth Welfare Act 1989 (Section 2a). The object of this parliamentary initiative was to afford children better protection against violence (especially repeated violence) by intensifying the existing cooperation between public youth welfare services and those organisations and/or persons who in the course of their professional duties are likely to receive trustworthy reports or other information about violence perpetrated against children.

5. In order to be better able to diagnose injuries and/or physical or mental abnormalities in children as effects of maltreatment, a catalogue of symptoms ("How to recognise signs of violence In children") is being prepared which systematically describes social, mental and physical conditions indicating ill-treatment, sexual abuse or neglect. This catalogue of signs of violence perpetrated against children will be distributed to doctors, other medical personnel as well as other professionals who work with children.

6. In order to meet the fundamental and comprehensive information requirements of physicians on the subject of violence in the family and possibilities to intervene, an additional training curriculum for doctors is being developed. Inter alia it will give detailed explanations of immediate and delayed physical and mental effects and indicators pointing to violence undergone as well as a survey of possible interventions and their likely implications for the victims and their families.

7. The various professionals concerned with victims of violence have different terms of reference in their work (obligation to treat the matter as confidential; discretion to report it to the authorities; obligation to report it). In order to reduce the uncertainties to which this sometimes leads in the dilemma between protecting the victims and keeping an informer's trust, the authorities are reviewing the possibilities for optimising the various official and non-official functions.

8. An issue to be reviewed is how far the possibilities for first interventions in cases of sexual abuse of children need to be improved.

9. (a) The extent to which Parliament's wish that children who have been victims of violence (including sexual violence) should be treated with the greatest possible consideration in criminal proceedings has been met is to be reviewed to see whether this objective has been achieved - especially by avoiding repeated interrogations.

(b) Arrangements for children and their reference persons to be "seen through" criminal proceedings by legal, psychological and social counsellors will be tested in the framework of a pilot project.

11. "Work with offenders" should be done by developing and supporting offender-centred activities against violence (e.g. various forms of group work, anti-violence training, psychotherapy) as well as by setting up "anti-violence centres"; for this purpose, strategies and concrete pilot projects for anti-violence training sessions for offenders as well as conflict training programmes for persons prone to violence should be developed and supported with the help of experts and in the light of the experience of other countries. Intensive exchanges of information and experience between services "working with offenders" and the intervention services are desirable.

12. In the framework of the reforms envisaged, the working party appointed by the Federal Minister of Justice for the purpose of reforming sexual penal law will

(a) in the area of material penal law, take into consideration the special gravity of offences perpetrated against children and other minors and their spiritual mental, physical and, in particular sexual, integrity (e.g. by reviewing the relative severity of criminal sanctions for various forms of sexual violence against children, including an extension of the statute of limitations until after the victim attains majority, accompanied by the required supporting measures);

b) in the area of criminal procedure, pay due regard to the special need for protection of victims of sexual offences, especially minors.

13. Trade In human beings, especially trafficking in women and children for the purpose of their sexual exploitation, constitutes a massive violation of human rights. In order to counter this phenomenon, concrete specific measures should be taken such as offering counselling facilities, creating institutions to shelter victims and developing programmes to protect potential victims of this kind of traffic. By intensifying international cooperation against traffic in children and women, every form of inhuman exploitation, especially the sexual exploitation of children, adolescents and women, should be fought with the utmost determination. in all these efforts, particular attention should be paid to the special situations created by violence against members of minorities, especially migrant women, handicapped persons and the elderly.

14. In order to prevent as far as possible the misuse of arms and weapons to attack the physical integrity of human beings,

(b) clear rules on the proper safe keeping of arms should be enacted and monitored,

(c) persons holding a permit under arms legislation should be reminded of their responsibilities as to the safe keeping of their arms, and where these responsibilities are neglected, this should lead to the withdrawal of the permit on the ground of the holder's lack of discipline,

(d) a requirement should be introduced for buyers of arms to furnish proof that they have been properly instructed or trained in handling their arms.

15. In order to enhance parental educational competence, prevent difficulties in parent-child relationships and defective development of children, and in particular as a primary step towards preventing all forms of violence against children, methods and models for non-violent education will be promoted with increased emphasis in the area of "parental education".

16. Existing special training programmes on violence in the family for police officers, public prosecutors and judges of criminal and family courts should be intensified and the specific continuous training programmes for professionals concerned with victims of violence (in the family sphere) such as school teachers, social workers, kindergarten teachers, therapists and leisure and social educators should be expanded.

The inclusion of specific training elements on the subject of "violence In the private sphere" in the appropriate basic professional training syllabuses is a desideratum.

17. Federal police directorates and regional gendarmerie commands should set up specialised service functions to deal with violence in the family (in addition to the emergency intervention units).

18. (a) The effects of the "Law for Protection against Violence in the Family" will be evaluated by the methods of empirical social research.

(b) The causes of and background to violence in general and of sexual violence as well as of the different forms of sexual exploitation of children, adolescents and women should be made the subject of thorough scientific studies.

(c) Another subject to be studied and verified (or falsified) by comparison with the experience of other countries should be the various methods of dealing with offenders and persons prone to resort to violence.

19. The public should be further sensitised to the problems of violence. All types of violence should be ostracised by public opinion through anti-violence information campaigns; regional education authorities will, each in their area, point out ways to handle conflicts without violence, and youth welfare institutions will step up their efforts to publicise the services of psychological counselling bodies for children and young people.

20. In order to encourage coordinated approaches, networking should be Intensified In the various areas of cooperation between governmental and nongovernmental organisations whose role is to prevent violence, intervene and provide aftercare, with due regard being paid to existing structures and initiatives (such as the "Platform against Violence in the Family", the Advisory Council on the Prevention of Violence, the "Take Action against Violence" campaign), European integration and the role of state governments and local authorities.

21. (a) more should be done to promote non-violent and educationally valuable computer and video games (by awarding them quality ratings);

(b) existing legislation should be used to the full, and if necessary reinforced, to curb the dissemination through the mass media of images, texts and games which are violent or Incite to violence as well as video and computer games of this type;

(c) more should be done to after facilities to encourage counselled and critical ways of using the new media (such as access to the Internet in youth centres);

22. voluntary instruments of self-control created by media workers, producers, dealers and Internet providers for such products should be supported and flanking measures should be stepped up in the area of media education; In particular, steps should be taken to en-sure that showings of films which are suitable for children and teenagers, or which are rated unobjectionable, are not preceded by trailers which are unsuitable or even harmful to such audiences

23. in addition the voluntary self-discipline practised by media workers producers and distributors of "brutal media" should be complemented by national and international efforts such as the introduction of a rating system and a legal obligation imposed on media technology industries to equip receivers with devices barring access, blocking devices or so-called V chips:

24. initiatives to draft a European or international "Convention to Encourage Media Culture and for the Protection of Children and Adolescents from Harmful Media Contents should be prepared and/or supported;

25. special attention will be paid at the national level to introduce appropriate measures, where necessary through legislation, to ensure that Internet providers take care to keep their networks free from harmful material such as "child pornography"; at the same time, similar steps will be encouraged at the international level; strong efforts should be made, especially in schools etc., to publicise the work of the monitoring service for harmful materials set up by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

In pursuing these policies, special care will be taken to coordinate them with the activities of state governments, municipalities and local authorities as well as with international bodies and NGO's

ACTION PLAN AGAINST CHILD ABUSE AND AGAINST

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN THE INTERNET

Recognising that incidents of sexual child abuse and the commercial exploitation of children and young persons are by no means a national phenomenon, and in the knowledge that such a conduct violates in the most outrageous manner the human rights of the most vulnerable group of society, a number of measures have already been taken at the international, Community and national levels to ensure that children and young persons are protected from any form of sexual exploitation.

In Article 34 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 191 States Parties, including Austria, have committed themselves to protect children from all forms of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. Within the meaning of the Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted at the World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Stockholm, 1996) the individual states have been called upon to prepare an action plan against the sexual exploitation of children.

At the Community level, the Joint Action of 24 February 1997 to combat trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children, lays down common rules for combatting trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children and for improving judicial cooperation in criminal cases. By adopting the Council Resolution of 9 June 1997, the EU Member States have also agreed to exchange DNA data.

On the basis of the Council Resolution on illegal and harmful contents in the Internet of 28 November 1996, the European Commission has submitted an "Action Plan on Promoting the Safe Use of the Internet", to be implemented by the Member States (for example, in the form of introducing classification systems, filtering and search software; settling questions of liability and promoting international cooperation between the police and judicial authorities).

The Council Recommendation of 28 May 1998 on the development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity, contains possibilities of self-control for audiovisual services and online information services to be effected in cooperation with those involved, such as users, consumers, companies and public authorities and in accordance with the guidelines for establishing systems of self-control.

In late 1996/early 1997, the Federal Minister of Justice set up an interministerial and inter-disciplinary working group on "the law on sexual offences", whose aim it is, inter alia, to review the law on sexual offences with regard to the substantive rules and procedural provisions governing the protection of victims in order to determine whether it is suitable to secure an adequate and effective protection of children and young persons against sexual offences.

In anticipation of a comprehensive reform of the law on sexual offences, the possibility of prosecuting an offender outside the national territory was extended as of 1 March 1997 to apply also to the offences of sexual intercourse with minors (s. 207 of the Penal Code (Strafgesetzbuch), sexual abuse of minors without having sexual intercourse (s. 206 loc. cit.) and child pornography (s. 207a loc. cit.). Moreover, the statutory range of punishment for the production and distribution of child pornography was doubled and even raised to three times the amount if committed for commercial purposes or by a member of a gang (Federal Law Gazette No. 762/1996). The above-mentioned offences can be prosecuted in Austria irrespective of the lex loci delicti, even if the offence has been committed abroad, provided the offender is an Austrian citizen and has his ordinary residence in Austria.

On 30 September 1997, the Council of Ministers adopted a catalogue of measures to combat "Violence in Society, Violence in the Family, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse of Children, Violence against Women, Violence among Juveniles and Violence in the Media". In this catalogue, the Federal Goverment has adopted a number of measures with regard to the protection of victims, the law an sexual offences, human trafficking, the weapons law, work with offenders as well as training and research.

The 1998 Criminal Law Amendment Act (Federal Law Gazette I, No. 153), which entered into force on 1 October 1998, has extended the limitation periods for sexual offences against children and adolescents by providing that they shall begin with the day the victim has come of age. Moreover, it has amended the provisions governing sexual offences that come close to sexual intercourse, and has also extended the possibilities and requirements for a "gentle questioning" of victims.

Aware of the fact that being victims of sexual offences and child pornography distributed via the Internet, children suffer from an exploitation and a destruction of their personality that goes beyond the harmful effects resulting from the abuse as such and is accompanied by the moral decline of those involved in the "consumption", and in view of the fact that global problems of this kind cannot be solved by individual states alone, we are taking further initiatives to step up international cooperation, to promote a policy approach comprising the society as a whole, including the legislature and the executive, and to encourage the media to adopt a policy that is geared towards counteracting those socially harmful phenomena.

Within the framework of the enquete "Child pornography in the Internet", organised by the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family, the basis was laid on 2/3 September 1998 for a cooperation between public authorities and industry (ISPA - Internet Service Provider).

With the above measures that have already been implemented and with the present action plan, the Federal Government - in compliance with the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action and its obligations as a Member State, undertakes the task of vigorously counteracting the phenomenon of sexual violence against children, especially in the form of child pornography in the Internet, having regard to the human rights and fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Austrian Constitution. By relying on the support of industry, central importance is being attributed in this respect to a cooperation with the Association of Austrian Internet Providers (Verband österreichischer Internet-Provider; ISPA).

Having signed this statement, the three members of government therefore welcome the measures to be taken on the part of industry (points 1 - 3) and undertake the task of implementing the following objectives:

The Association of Austrian Internet Providers (ISPA) agrees to see to it - insofar as this is technically possible and economically feasible - that the network of its members is kept free from illegal contents, such as child pornography, thus facilitating the work of the security authorities and the courts in prosecuting offenders; it will do so by

1. introducing a voluntary and effective self-control system; by establishing and communicating the existence of an independent "provider hotline" and by cooperating closely with the Report Processing Unit at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the judicial authorities;

2. preparing a code of conduct for Internet providers in order to ensure - in coordination with the bodies concerned - that Internet providers take suitable measures to keep their network free of illegal contents, such as child pornography in their specific sphere of action ("code of ethics"); such a code for Internet providers is intended to enable a flexibe adjustment to the rapidly changing technical situation;

The Austrian Presidency, the chairmen of the Council of the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs have proposed a Joint Action by the European Community to Combat Child Pornography in the Internet. Its aim is to intensify within the European Union the efforts made so far for preventing the dissemination of child pornography, stepping up criminal prosecution and pinpointing pertinent offers in the Internet.

4. Prevention and sensitisation through information provided by the Counselling Service for Crime Prevention; making the general public aware of the existence of a Report Processing Unit on Child Pornography at the Federal Ministry of the Interior; cooperating with the Federal Ministry of Justice and ISPA;

5. establishing report processing units on child pornography at central authorities that can rely on adequate technical equipment and staff and on a suitable organisational structure. These units will be availabe on a 24-hour basis and linked to other units in Europe and world-wide (through ICPO (Interpol) and Europol);

6. providing the investigation services with an effective technical Internet infrastructure in order to enable a direct backbone integration into the Internet;

7. defining and creating the necessary basic legal provisions for a adequate use of undercover investigation methods.

It is to be examined on the basis of the Telecommunications Act and the Data Protection Act to what extent the objectives outlined below can be realised without infringing existing legal provisions. In doing so, regard must also be had to securing the secrecy of telecommunications and the fundamental right to the protection of data as well as to Directive 97/66/EC on data protection in the field of telecommunications:

8. storing and filing protocol data that is necessary on the one hand for a smooth operation of the Internet service and on the other, for police in the fulfillment of their tasks and for the courts in order to prosecute pertinent offenders, in particular for establishing the user's identity if he/she is under suspicion of having committed a criminal act; measures should be taken for an amendment to the above-mentioned acts, if this is necessary and does not constitute an interference with a fundamental right.

9. making effective use of and improving existing instruments with a view to preventing and punishing under administrative law the misuse of telecommunications systems in connection with the Internet (s. 75 of the Telecommunications Act);

11. The aim is to institutionalise the cooperation between the national authorities, industry and Internet users through an "INTERNET Advisory Board" to be established at the Federal Chancellery.

12. For the purpose of coordinating national and international efforts and police activities that are aimed at a collection and systematic evaluation of pornographic material involving children in the Internet, international cooperation is being thought in the following fields:

(a) exchange of experience between experts in computer-related forensic analysis;

(b) joint further education and training programmes to detect and trace child pornography in the Internet.

13. There are plans to organise in cooperation with the ministries concerned and with business representatives, an inter-disciplinary conference on issues of child pornography involving the new media. This international event is scheduled to be held in mid-1999 in Vienna.

The amendments contained in the 1998 Criminal Law Amendment Act , Federal Law Gazette No. 153, which entered into force on 1 October 1998, constitute a partial amendment to the law on sexual offences. The considerations for a reform will continue both in the field of substantive law and with regard to the protection of victims in criminal proceedings.

14. The working group on the "law on sexual offences" set up by the Federal Minister of Justice will also consider in its continued discussion possibilities for an adequate protection of children and adolescents from sexual abuse. In reviewing the existing legal situation, special importance will be attached to the problematic sexual exploitation of children and adolescents with regard to pornography and the new media.

15. Increased emphasis will be placed on the new media in basic and further training programmes for judges and public prosecutors. Continued efforts will be made to make judges familiar with suitable investigation methods in practical seminars with the assistance of experts in the fields of paediatric psychology and psychiatry.

16. It should be stressed that persons who - for the sole purpose of informing the criminal authorities thereof - obtain pornographic material depicting children, shall be deemed to be exempt from punishment under the present legal system and that offenders who cooperate with the criminal authorities in a specific manner, shall be eligible de lega lata to an extraordinary mitigation of the sentence.

17. The procedural rights of victims having suffered serious personal injury or a violation of their sexual integrity as a result of a criminal act, shall be extended. They shall in particular be entitled to legal aid (defence counsel) free of charge. Possibilities for an optimal treatment of minor victims of sexually-related acts of violence within the framework of providing legal aid, will be considered in cooperation with the Austrian Bar Association.

18. Arrangements for providing children and their persons of confidence with legal, psychological and social assistance in criminal proceedings, are currently being tested within the framework of a number of model projects in order to examine to what extent the results of these projects can be implemented in practice.

19. The federal law amending the Victims of Violence Act provides for payment of the costs incurred by victims of acts of violence undergoing causal psychotherapeutic treatment if a contribution towards the costs is made by the respective health insurance board.

20. In order to improve the level of performance of psychiatric experts required for a qualified treatment of the victims and offenders, the following measures shall be taken:

(a) In order to ensure high-quality forensic-psychiatric expert opinions, in particular with a view to risk prognoses, it is intended to create basic legal provisions for determining content standards that are in line with international standards for enabling and adequate remuneration for the preparation of such opinions.

(b) Moreover, suitable measures are to be taken to promote scientific investigations and a specialisation in in the course of the training programme.

21. It is intended to clearly defined and create the basic legal provisions for undercover investigations. There will be increased cooperation with the Federal Ministry of the Interior and ISPA.

PROTECTION OF VICTIMS AGAINST SEVERE FORMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE (IN PARTICULAR THROUGH "WORK WITH OFFENDERS)

22. Victims of (sex-related) acts of violence are currently not sufficiently supported by public authorities in their psycho-social recovery. Where a (sex-related) act of violence or another act violating his/her sexual identity has been committed against a minor, a form of treatment that is conducive to his/her psycho-social recovery should be used.

23. Systematic assistance should be provided to minor victims of (sex-related) acts of violence by preparing/implementing a comprehensive programme that is tailored to the minor's specific needs (this could be done by youth welfare organisations, which will discuss with teachers and educators, if necessary the possibility of taking additional pedagogical measures at school).

24. Extension of the psycho-social treatment in general by offering problem-specific counselling services, special forms of group work, anti-violence training, psychotherapy);

25. Development of quality standards for a comprehensive work with offenders in order to

• enable an orientation of the institutions involved in such work (securing high-level performance)

26. Preparing/promoting a concept of psycho-social treatment in case of "conspicuous behaviour" (outside a criminal law context);

27. Intensifying the psycho-social/-therapeutic treatment of (suspected) sexual offenders (within the meaning of ss. 206 et seqq. of the Penal Code (Strafgesetzbuch)):

If someone is suspected of or has committed a "pertinent" criminal offence, he shall receive to the extent required suitable psycho-social/-therapeutic treatment by an expert during the entire period (custody, execution of sentence (usual form of execution), release on probation/probationary period). This should be done by:

(b) preparing "treatment programmes for offenders" tailored to their specific needs (therapy scheme)

INSTALLING/OPERATING A DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM FOR THE SYSTEMATIC IDENTIFICATION OF VIOLENT AND SEXUAL OFFENDERS

28. The following measures shall be taken for a systematic collection of data and identification of violent and sexual offenders:

(a) The "Viclas System" (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System) introduced in 1997; and the central "DNA file" are new tools for identifying violent and sexual offenders and thus for a more effective detection of crimes.

(b) The basic legal provisions for the "DNA file" (ss 64, 65 of the Security Police Act) will be improved and new ones created.

29. The reasons and the background of youth prostitution are examined in order to develop ways of enabling and assisting young persons in abandoning prostitution.

30. In order to denounce the exploitation of children through sex tourism and to prosecute this offences internationally, a number of measures will be taken against the sexual exploitation of children including international cooperation to combat child-related "sex tourism" (e.g. in the form of documentations/production of an in-flight video and information material on the extraterritorial prosecution of offenders for sexual offences committed abroad).

In addition to the central issue of protecting children and young persons against sexual exploitation and preventing the dissemination of illegal contents in the Internet, which is is considered an absolute must, there is also a strong need being felt by parents and educators to secure adequate standards for the protection of young persons against harmful contents, inter alia, in the new media, including the Internet. For this purpose, measures should be taken to ensure the protection of young persons in this field.

31. Within the meaning of the EU "Action Plan on Promoting the Safe Use of the Internet", the following preventive measures should be taken:

(a) informing parents, young persons, children, teachers and others on the safe use of the new media;

(b) taking additional measures to sensitise teachers in further training programmes to the issue of "child abuse, in particular in the Internet";

32. Establishing an "centre for rating and filtering" in order to promote the development of/information on state-of-the-art software for filtering out contents that are harmful to young persons ("safe Internet"); making recommendations for suitable filtering software and installing suitable software in areas that are sensitive to the protection of young persons (e.g. schools and youth centres);

33. Commissioning a feasibility task force to instal the proxy server "children+young persons-Internet";

34. In order to step up cooperation between child and youth protection centres and agencies in Europe for preventive purposes and to increase the effectiveness of the individual institutions, it is intended to examine the possibility of establishing outside the sphere of public authorities, a network of registration centres for missing children in cooperation with the non-governmental European institution "Child Focus - European Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children".

The Federal Government will make available the necessary funds for implementing the above objectives within its own sphere of competence; the governments of the Laender are requested to ensure the provision of the funds required for the implementation of objectives which are within their sphere of competence.

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and the Family, the Federal Minister of the Interior and the Federal Minister of Justice

Excerpts from the Study on the Constitutional Implementation of the CRC, Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut for Human Rights (see Question 3)

(This study has not yet been published. This excerpt was translated exclusively for the purpose of these Observations and is not authorised by the authors. Footnotes were not translated as they serve mainly scientific purposes.)

A special federal constitutional law on the protection of the rights of children and adolescents ... would "constitute a constitutional and social-policy signal that the state does not only count plurality, comprehensive environmental protection and comprehensive national defence among its fundamental aims, but also the comprehensive well-being of children and adolescents.

As regards the procedure for such a constitutional implementation of the Convention, it should however be noted that it must be viewed as unrealistic if one were to raise the Convention in its entirety to the Constitutional level (possibly even with retroactive effect). Distinction problems with regard to other provisions of domestic fundamental rights legislation also speak against the adoption of a simple apodictic - programmatic statement to the effect that - like in the Slovenian model - all fundamental rights are generally also applicable to children. Nor would this sufficiently take into account the comprehensive regulatory approach of the Convention because it would, in substantive terms, merely rely on the status quo in the area of fundamental rights. Likewise, a wording which were to introduce a mere national policy objective declaring the protection of children and adolescents as a function of the state would not be adequate.

It is therefore only a comprehensive reform via a special federal constitutional law on the rights of children and adolescents which would make it possible to consider most of the criteria listed in Chapter 4.3 (i.e. obligations under international law to fully implement the Convention; comprehensive substantive regulations by the Convention; relationship between the Convention and the existing Austrian fundamental rights legislation; function of Constitutional form). In particular, such a procedure enables the legislator to take into account the comprehensive regulatory approach of the Convention as well as the possibility of adequately integrating it into the current system of fundamental rights in Austria. As regards the detailed arrangement of the provisions, both subjective rights and instructions for the legislature and the executive to ensure certain guarantees may be considered. Although it must be noted that social rights are also generally eligible for being anchored as constitutionally guaranteed rights within the meaning of Art. 144 of the Federal Constitution Act (B-VG), for example, in the context of reviews of social-insurance-law decisions.

As against that, Pichler (an Austrian family law expert) in his expert opinion on behalf of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family argued against embedding the principles of the Convention in the Constitution. He argued his opinion mainly on the basis of a lack of implementability and clarity of the principles (of the Convention, Anm.). While the ability of the Constitutional Court to raise the issue of unconstitutionality of a provision in the ordinary courts may in fact be restricted, it must nevertheless be said that the importance of the protection of fundamental rights - as outlined in 4.3 - is not only limited to that issue being asserted in court. Moreover, the problem of lack of clarity, e.g., of the principle of 'needs of the child' does not only arise on the constitutional level, especially since Pichler himself presents numerous examples for its enactment in ordinary law.

A legal policy objection to the proposed federal constitutional law on the protection of the rights of children and adolescents could also relate to the fact that this would further contribute to much deplored fragmentation of constitutional law. It must however he argued against it that the fundamental rights commission, which has been commissioned to draft a comprehensive reform of fundamental rights has given up its work for a complete review of the code of fundamental rights in favour of several partial drafts. The constitutional provisions proposed here are moreover specifically oriented at the needs of children and adolescents and are, therefore, only a complementation of the existing list, without precluding a completely new codification of fundamental rights in Austria."

Resolution of the Council

and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council

Y O U T H P A R T I C I P A T I O N

-taking due account of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly of Articles 12 to 15;

-considering the conclusions of the European Council of Cardiff on 15 and 16 June 1998, which seek to bring the EU closer to the people and make it more transparent;

-recalling the Lisbon Declaration on Youth Policies and Programmes⁽) Adopted at the World Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth, Lisbon, August 1998.

which postulates that the active participation of youth shall be encouraged in all spheres of society and in decision-making processes;

-considering the Resolution on the Protection of Minors, adopted by the European Parliament on 12 December 1996, which calls upon the Member States to promote the political participation of young people and, in particular, to support the establishment of representative youth parliaments at the local, regional and national levels, and to encourage the participation of children in democratically governed organisations and associations;

-bearing in mind Recommendation R(97)3 of 4 February 1997 and Recommendation 1286 of the Council of Europe of January 1996 which advocate a change in attitude to young people as individuals with rights of their own and favour their active and responsible participation in the family and in society;

-taking note of the debate which took place at the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Youth in Cork in 1996, which put the inclusion of youth in institutions of social, political, cultural and economic life and the promotion of personal development in the foreground,

NOTE that both the substance and the time horizons of the decisions taken at the Community level and at national levels have a long-term impact on the future prospects and opportunities for the young generation;

REGARD the increased active participation sought by young people as one of the central challenges in the process of shaping European society;

RECOGNISE the importance of young people having a say in all aspects of society, in particular in political, social, economic and cultural affairs;

therefore CONSIDER it desirable to grant young people in the European Union a wider scope for active participation in European and national civic society and political affairs, the objective being to enable young people, on a step-by-step basis, to assume their share of both opportunities and responsibilities and to encourage them to become active citizens;

ENCOURAGE the European Institutions and the Member States of the European Union to consider how to associate the citizens more closely with the shaping of European policies, to enable young people to participate in all aspects of active citizenship, including their political participation and their mobility within the European Union, thereby involving the young citizens in the process of further European integration;

CALL UPON young people to avail themselves of the existing participatory opportunities and to bring in their contributions to active citizenship;

expressly INVITE the youth associations and youth organisations as well as the young people themselves to forward their views in general and specific proposals for the promotion of participatory projects.

Considering the above, the Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council hereby adopt the following resolution:

-to focus on the young people's interests as a guiding principle for action to be applied to all relevant policy areas and, where appropriate, to assess the potential effects of measures to be launched at the Community level on the living conditions of young people, and to show up ways and means of taking the interests of young people into account;

-to promote the involvement of young people in the development, execution and evaluation of youth activities and programmes at the Community level by utilizing the interest young people take in shaping the Europe of today and tomorrow;

-to promote the performance of studies to examine the possibilities and conditions of participation for young people in Europe, the exchange of experience, information and the documentation of activities in this field;

-to dialogue with young people in the areas outlined above, and to take the opinion of young people into consideration in the development of Community programmes and activities in these areas;

-to enhance at Community level an exchange of experience on measures or projects aiming at promoting the participation of young people.

The Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council advocate the full participation of Europe's youth in the political, economic, social and cultural potentials of the Member States, and strive to ensure this within their respective scope of action. They welcome and support the efforts made in the Member States to involve young people to a greater extent in decisions of relevance to the development of politics and society.

In the further pursuit of existing efforts, having regard to the competence of the Member States and in the context of their own legal system as regards the reception and implementation of the following objectives, the Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council agree to the importance of:

-supporting the creativity of young people to develop different forms of participatory dialogues in the civic society;

-encouraging in the best possible way innovative participatory projects and structures;

-encouraging the participation of young people in democratic processes at local, regional and national level;

-promoting the integration of innovative participatory projects / learning opportunities in democratic decision making structures;

-encouraging the active participation of young people in the development of the local community, in particular for young people with little experience of such involvement;

-strengthening the social involvement of youth initiatives / innovative networks and young people outside of organised structures through non-official local interfaces so as to provide adequate access for young people to participatory opportunities;

-encouraging within existing youth associations and youth organisations opportunities for cooperation and participation with open access to all young people;

- recognising the valuable contribution provided by youth associations and organisations to the development of channels for youth participation at local, regional and national level.

The Member States are invited to focus on the young people's interests as a guiding principle of action to be applied to all relevant policy areas and, where appropriate, to assess the potential effects of measures to be launched on the living conditions of young people.

Excerpts from the pertinent provisions of the Code of Administrative Offences (ss. 53c, 53e, 54 and 58 et seq.), the House Regulation for Police Detention Centres (s.4 para.3), the Aliens Act 1997 (s. 68) and the implementing provisions thereto (s.8)

"S. 53c (1) Prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes and - without being required to do so - may occupy themselves in an appropriate manner. They can prepare their own meals unless - as a result of the available facilities- this would affect supervision and order or would lead to an excessive administrative burden. They must at any rate be separated from prisoners detained in accordance with other provisions than this federal law. Male prisoners shall in any event be separated from female prisoners.

(2) Prisoners shall be kept in rooms that are furnished simply and adequately, allowing for enough air and sufficient day light. The rooms shall be well aired and heated properly in the cold season. They shall be lighted sufficiently when it is dark, except for the period of night rest, so as to enable prisoners to read and work without running the risk of an impairment of vision. The prisoners shall be able to inform the warden at any time of any event which might require the immediate intervention of the latter.

(3) Their exchange of letters must not be restricted and may only be controlled through random checks. Letters which obviously serve the purpose of preparing or continuing with criminal acts or their concealment, shall not be handed out to prisoners. Cash remittances or parcels are free. Parcels shall be opened in the prisoner's presence. Objects that may endanger safety and order shall, however, not be handed out to the prisoner until he/she is released unless they are such as to require destruction.

(4) Prisoners are allowed to receive visits during office hours if this is possible in the light of the necessary supervision without endangering safety and order and without interfering with the requirements of prison administration.

(5) The exchange of letters with and visits by domestic public authorities and attorneys as well as by organs established by international conventions for the protection of human rights that are binding on Austria, must neither be restricted nor must their contents be controlled. The same is true of contacts between foreign prisoners and representatives of embassies and consulates.

(6) The highest authorities shall issue regulations for the execution of sentences in the detention rooms of the district administrative authorities or federal police authorities. These regulations shall define the prisoners' rights and duties, having regard to the maintenance of order and taking into account mutatis mutandis the principles of detention resulting from the Execution of Sentences Act as well as the conditions of space and personnel.

Ss. 76 et seqq. of the Execution of Sentences Act on accidents insurance apply to these prisoners mutatis mutandis. The highest authority shall determine the amount of benefits.

s. 53d (1) Unless provided otherwise in this federal act, the provisions of the Execution of Sentences Act governing the execution of prison sentences not exceeding one year shall apply mutatis mutandis to the execution of sentences in court detention centres or prisons with the exception of s. 31 para.2, s. 32 , s. 45 para.1, s. 54 para. 3, ss. 115, 127, 128, 132 para.4 and 149 paras. 1 and 4. Moreover, their application must not be out of proportion to the grounds for and duration of the sentence of imprisonment imposed by the administrative authority. The decisions of the execution court shall be taken by a single judge.

(2) Insofar as prisoners are to receive benefits for their work, the amountshall be credited to them entirely as pecuniary benefits after deduction ofthe contributions to be made by them towards execution costs (s. 32 para.2first case and para.3 of the Execution of Sentences Act).

(3) Where a sentence is served in a prison under s. 53 para. 2, anyprivileges and relaxations of detention conditions granted in the executionof the sentence shall be maintained also for the execution of a sentence of imprisonment imposed by an administrative authority.

(2) The provisions of the Juvenile Court Act 1988, Federal Law Gazette No. 599, governing the execution of sentences imposed on juvenile offenders shall apply mutatis mutandis to the confinement of young offenders in court detention centres or prisons.

s. 54. (1) Persons of unsound mind or suffering from a severe physical illness as well as young persons under the age of 16 must not be held in confinement.

(2) The execution of a sentence of imprisonment imposed on person who is pregnant or has given birth to a child shall be suspended for a period of eight weeks following the delivery and thereafter as long as the infant is in her care but no longer than for one year following the delivery. The sentence can, however, be executed if the sentenced person so requires.

(3) At the request of a military unit, the execution of prison sentences imposed on persons rendering military service , and - in case of a military mission (s. 2 para.1 of the Military Act 1990, Federal Law Gazette No. 305) or the immediate preparation for such a mission - also in respect of other soldiers, shall be suspended. At the request of the Federal Minister of the Interior, the execution of prison sentences imposed on persons performing substitute military service shall also be suspended."

s. 58. (1) In criminal proceedings against young persons the authorities shall if possible, rely on the assistance of public educational institutions and youth welfare offices as well as of persons and bodies engaged in youth welfare who are prepared to render such assistance to the authorities. They can do so, in particular, by ascertaining the young person's private situation, by showing adequate care for the person of the juvenile and by giving him/her the assistance he/she needs at the trial.

(2) No sentence of imprisonment shall be imposed on young persons who at the time of committing the offence were under the age of 16. A sentence of imprisonment of up to two weeks may be imposed on other juveniles if this is necessary for special reasons; this does not affect the execution of a prison sentence for failure to pay a fine, which must not exceed two weeks either.

s. 59. (1) If it considers it necessary and suitable in the interest of a juvenile defendant, the authority shall notify his/her statutory representative known to it of the institution of the criminal proceedings and the taking of the decision.

(2) At the request of a juvenile who has been arrested on suspicion of having committed an administrative offence, a statutory representative, a parent or guardian or a representative of the youth welfare authority or of the young persons court assistance service or a probation officer must be present at the juvenile's interrogation by the police or during his/her questioning by the authority unless this would cause an undue prolongation of his/her detention.

(3) A young defendant can call in two persons of his/her confidence not involved in the case, to be present at oral hearings.

(4) Young persons shall be informed about their right under para.2 after being arrested, and about their right under para.3 in the writ of summons.

s.60. The statutory representative of a juvenile defendant is entitled to file for the benefit of the latter and also against his/her will requests for the taking of evidence and may also within the time-limit granted to the defendant, file appeals, requests for leave to proceed out of time or a motion for a retrial.

s.61. Defence counsel may be appointed ex officio for a juvenile defendant if his/her statutory representative has been involved in the criminal act or if such an appointment is necessary or suitable in the light of the defendant's reduced mental capacity and if for some reason or other he/she cannot be represented by the statutory representative. A public official of the authority or any other suitable person may be appointed defence counsel.

s. 62. If the authority becomes aware of conditions requiring a measure to be taken by a special guardian or administrator, it must inform the special guardianship court thereof.

s. 4. (1) Prisoners shall be treated with respect for human dignity and with all feasible personal consideration. Only such restrictions as are necessary for maintaining safety and order in police detention centres and are as a rule an inherent feature of a deprivation of liberty, shall be imposed on them.

(2) Prisoners are entitled to wear their own clothes. If they are required to do some work for the authority or if for objective reasons (eg. hygiene, lack of care) they cannot wear their own clothes, they shall be provided with clothes, which they are obliged to wear.

(3)Prisoners shall as a rule be detained with others and shall be separated from prisoners not confined for the execution of prison sentences. Women shall be separated from men; juveniles from adults. If a prisoner wants to be separated from or held together with other prisoners or to be detained in a non-smoker cell, his/her wishes shall be taken into account, if possible.

(5) Prisoners who, in a state of self-dangerousness, exert violence against themselves, can be put in an especially safe (padded) and otherwise empty cell. The use of a straitjacket instead of hand-cuffs is permissible. The prisoner must be examined without delay to determine whether he/she is fit for further detention.

s. 68. (1) Section 53 c paras. 1 to 5 of the Code of Administrative Offences(Verwaltungsstrafgesetz) applies to the detention of aliens held in detention rooms of a district administrative authority or federal police authority with a view to their deportation, and s. 53 d of the Code of Administrative Offences to the confinement in court detention centres and prisons.

(2) Foreigners under sixteen may only be detained pending deportation if a suitable accommodation and care corresponding to their age and state of development is ensured.

(3) Minors who are detained with a view to their deportation shall be separated from adults. If his/her parent or guardian is also to be detained pending deportation, the minor shall be confined together with the parent or guardian unless a separate confinement is required in the interest of the minor.

(4) The Federal Minister of the Interior shall issue a house regulation for the confinement of persons in detention rooms of the district administrative authorities and the federal police directorates pending deportation. The regulation shall lay down the prisoners' rights and duties having regard to the maintenance of order and taking into account the conditions of space and personnel.

Federal Law Gazette No. 121/1995 as amended and published in the Fed.Law Gazette No. 517/1996

s.8. Unless provided otherwise in s. 47 of the Aliens Act, the House Regulation for Police Dentention Centres, Federal Law Gazette No. 566/1988, shall apply to the confinement of aliens with a view to their deportation, except for the following provisions:

s. 5 para.1 lit.2, s. 6 para.1, s.6 para.2, part of the sentence "who are presented for serving their sentences", s.7 para.5, s.16 para.2 part of the sentence "and [without having to make any contribution towards] the costs of execution (s. 54d para.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences)", s. 20 para.1 second sentence and s.26.

VIENNA EUROPEAN COUNCIL

11 AND 12 DECEMBER 1998

PRESIDENCY CONCLUSIONS

Member States and the institutions of the European Union also need to address the concerns of the young people of Europe in a more general fashion, thus sending a positive political message to the citizens of Europe. The European Council therefore welcomes the initiatives to put the issue of youth participation on the agenda of the EU institutions. The European Council invites the Council to arrive rapidly at a common position on the Youth Programme.

The European Council welcomes the initiatives on the protection of children. In particular child pornography on the Internet was recognised as a global problem requiring a coordinated approach also at international level, especially at the United Nations. The Council is called upon to ensure an effective follow-up to these initiatives at European and international level.