Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens) surprisingly announced in May the division of the section that was merged ten years ago. The move was tantamount to the disempowerment of Pilnacek, who had been responsible for both the criminal law and the specialist supervision of criminal proceedings since 2010. Pilnacek had come under fire because he met with ÖVP suspects in the casino affair and had a public conflict with the corruption prosecutor.
In the application process for the new criminal law section, Pilnacek prevailed, he was rated as the most suitable by the assessment committee. Likewise Göth-Flemmich, she was previously head of the “International Criminal Law” department. Zadic forwarded the proposals to Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, who has already signed, according to the APA request from his office.
“With this reorganization in the Ministry of Justice, we want to implement the internal separation of powers structurally and at the same time ensure the independence of the public prosecutor’s investigative work and promote major reforms in criminal law,” said Zadic.
–
