Conflicting prison release dates: sentence calculation and complaint in Austria

Different dates may reflect different stages of processing, different calculation inputs or an error. The letters alone do not reveal which explanation applies. Compare who issued each document, its date, how and when it was delivered, the release date stated and the basis cited.

It also matters whether the document records a decision or order or merely provides a calculation for information. The heading "sentence calculation" does not settle that legal question. This article concerns a disputed release date and the possible remedy against a specific prison act. It does not recalculate time during a sentence interruption or provide a general guide to credit for pre-trial detention.

Keep both complete calculations, their attachments and proof of delivery. Make a short chronology that records the issuer, date, delivery method and release date stated in each letter. Add the available court enforcement documents and any later decision by the prison.

Mark the specific inputs or intermediate results that differ. Ask which document supports each calculation and whether the prison issued a decision or order. A calculation made from incomplete records cannot reliably identify the reason for the difference.

Section 120(1) StVG allows a complaint against a decision or order affecting a prisoner’s rights and against conduct by prison staff that violates those rights. The complaint must identify the challenged decision, order or conduct and state the grounds unless they are obvious.

Not every letter with a release date is automatically a challengeable decision or order. Its wording, legal effect and issuing authority must be checked. A request for clarification should not be treated as safely filing a complaint or preserving a time limit.

A complaint against a decision must be filed no later than the fourteenth day after it is announced or served. If a written copy is requested by the third day after announcement, that deadline runs from service of the written copy. For all other complaints, unless there is danger in delay, a complaint may be lodged no earlier than the first day and no later than the fourteenth day after the day on which the prisoner became aware of the reason. A complaint is no longer admissible if the prisoner expressly waived it after announcement or service of the decision.

The complaint is filed in writing or orally, at the time set by the head of the prison, with the prison officer responsible for receiving it. Identify the act being challenged, explain how the two calculations differ and state which rights may be affected. Have the start of the deadline checked against the actual events.

Section 16(3) StVG assigns complaints against decisions or orders of the head of the prison, rights-violating conduct by that head or a failure by that head to decide to the enforcement court at the seat of the Higher Regional Court in whose district the sentence is being served. The author of the letter and the act being challenged must therefore be identified first. The competent court cannot be identified without knowing where the sentence is being served.

A ruling about non-crediting under section 99 StVG is a separate issue with its own jurisdiction rule. This article does not address that calculation. The linked section 99 article discusses a draft amendment and must not be read as a statement of new law already in force.

If the earlier date has passed or is close, have both letters, the enforcement documents and service dates reviewed urgently by a lawyer. Ask the prison to confirm which calculation it applies, and at the same time check whether a specific prison act can be challenged. Do not wait for an informal response before checking a possible complaint deadline.

Under section 120(3) StVG, a complaint has no automatic suspensive effect. The head of the prison or the court hearing the complaint may grant it on request or on its own initiative if no compelling public interest prevents this and immediate execution would cause the prisoner a disproportionate disadvantage after the interests involved are balanced. Whether those conditions are met depends on the case. Neither an earlier calculation nor a pending complaint guarantees a particular release date.