05. 02. 10. - 12:00

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05. 02. 10. - 12:00

Experts at odds after Brit accused of beating Austrian on AUA flight

Legal experts are at loggerheads over whether Austrian law can be applied in a legal battle after an Austrian beaten up by a Brit on an Austrian Airlines (AUA) plane has to take place.

An Upper Austrian launched legal action after he suffered broken ribs in the attack by the Briton on a flight from Thailand. The Pregarten resident claimed he was attacked by the man after he accidentally touched his sunburned skin.

A first court case held at the district court of Schwechat, Lower Austria where Vienna International Airport (VIA) is based was abandoned after the Briton – who lives in Denmark – failed to turn up.

The Upper Austrian then decided to demand 5,500 Euros in compensation, and his lawyer Peter Lindinger is determined not to let the attacker get off again.

Lindinger told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper judges in Schwechat passed the new case on to the court in Pregarten where his client lived.

Now a date for the trial has been set, and the defendant could be sentenced via a default decree if he failed to turn up again this time. Legal experts have said they there is a good chance of successful cooperation between Austrian judges and their Danish colleagues in the case.

It remains however unclear whether Austrian law would be the base for the trial in Pregarten despite a judgement by the Austrian High Court that the country’s law was applicable on AUA planes since they were "Austrian flagship carriers", according to judges.

But it has also been pointed out that the German aviation company Lufthansa acquired a major stake in the struggling firm – a move that probably saved AUA from going bankrupt.

Experts have said the situation could change completely if the Briton decides to get in touch with Pregarten judges, gives his side of the story and demands a relocation of the trial to Denmark or to the United Kingdom.

In that case, it would be the Austrian High Court’s turn to decide again.

Austrian Times

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