Ban on begging again before the Constitutional Court – salzburg.ORF.at
As early as June 2017, the Supreme Court abolished the no-begging zones in parts of the old town as unconstitutional. The city senate therefore decided in October 2017 to repair the regulation. But this is now being put to the test again.
“After the decision of the Constitutional Court at the latest, the city government should have reacted on its own initiative and also lifted the ban zone regulation,” comments Alina Kugler second from the Platform for Human Rights. “But that didn’t happen. Now the supreme court has to decide on the second prohibition zone regulation in its own case.”
Romanian woman was still sitting on the ground begging
A woman from Romania is affected, who in December 2020 had been begging sitting quietly on the ground in Schanzlgasse. They received a fine of 100 euros for this and objected to an appeal that was rejected by the police. Recently, the Salzburg State Administrative Court also rejected an appeal against the penalty. With the support of the Salzburg Platform for Human Rights, the case is now going to the Constitutional Court.
“The judgment of the state administrative court is in no way comprehensible,” explains Alina Kugler from the Platform for Human Rights. “The Constitutional Court has already clearly ruled that the absolute ban on begging in the defined zones violates human rights.” In order to cover the costs of the procedure, a legal aid fund was set up again, which is fed with donations.
Repealed in 2012 as a violation of the principle of equality
The attempt by city politicians to limit the number of mainly Eastern European beggars in the city has been going on for more than a decade. As early as 2012, the Constitutional Court found that the then absolute ban on begging in Salzburg violated the principle of equality.
The city reacted in 2015 by introducing spatially and temporally prohibited zones, based on the Salzburg State Security Act. This allowed communities to ban begging by ordinance wherever the unhindered use of public space is made more difficult for other people or where begging causes abuses.
Ban currently in effect in parts of the city
With its decision of June 28, 2017, the Constitutional Court came to the conclusion that although restrictions on the expected impending abuses could possibly be allowed, the city’s regulation (ban on begging daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in important parts of the city center) was factually unjustified . “According to the Constitutional Court, however, a ban on begging in the city and in the city cemeteries is legitimate,” notes the Platform for Human Rights.
After the “repair” of the regulation in autumn 2017, the begging ban currently applies, for example, in Getreidegasse and in the adjacent streets up to the Salzach, on the Platzl, in parts of Linzergasse and during the festival in Hofstallgasse. At that time, the SPÖ, ÖVP and FPÖ voted for the restriction in the city senate. Greens and NEOS warn of the next legal guilt before the supreme court.