RIGHTS OF FOREIGNERS: AUSTRIA
ANDREAS LEHNER
Dr., Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, University of Vienna
Austria has been a member of the European Convention on Human Rights since 1958. It assigned the Convention and its Protocols the status of Constitutional Law. As the rights guaranteed by the Convention are not only applicable to Austrian citizens but to all humans, nationals and foreigners in principle have to be treated equally by Austrian law unless there are good reasons for distinctions. If such distinctions concern citizens of other EU Member States they do not only have to be compatible with Austrian Constitutional Law but with European Law as well, like for example the assignment to some issues in the public administration. Third-Country nationals are subjects to restrictions referring to residence, settlement, employment and the participation in political life including the right to vote. Concerning the implementation of EU and domestic anti-terrorism measures there has been no extensive public debate; even though some of the measures would have been worth it, especially with respect to the principle of proportionality.
