TITLE I
General Provisions
General Reservation
§ 2. A foreign request may only be complied if this does not violate public order or other essential interests of the Republic of Austria.
Reciprocity
§ 3. (1) A foreign request may only be complied if it is ensured that the requesting State would also comply with a similar request by Austria.
(2) A request under this federal law may not be filed by an Austrian authority if it were not possible to comply with a similar request by another State, unless a request appears to be needed urgently for specific reasons. In this case, the requested State shall be notified of the absence of reciprocity.
(3) In the event of doubts concerning compliance with reciprocity, the opinion of the Federal Minister of Justice shall be obtained.
(4) Another State may be assured of reciprocity in connection with a request made under this federal law, provided that there are no intergovernmental agreement and that it would be admissible under this federal law to comply with a similar request of this State.
Conditions
§ 4. There shall be compliance with the conditions that another State imposes on the occasion of granting an extradition, transit or surrender, when providing judicial assistance, or in connection with taking over a case for criminal prosecution, surveillance, or execution, and which were not rejected.
TITLE IV
Judicial Assistance to Foreign Countries
CHAPTER TWO
Competences and Procedure
Form and Content of a Request for Judicial Assistance
§ 56. (1) Judicial assistance may only be provided if it is possible to gather from the request the facts and the classification of the punishable act underlying the request. A reference to the criminal-law stipulations applicable or applied in the requesting State shall suffice in the case of requests for the service of documents.
(2) A request for ordering and performing one of the investigative measures governed by Chapter One to Chapter Eight of Title 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall comprise a copy, a certified copy or a photostat copy of the order of the competent authority. If this is not a court order, the authority requesting judicial assistance shall present a statement explaining that the prerequisites required for
such measures are met under the law applicable in the requesting State.
3. À la demande de la Cour, un État Partie tient avec celle-ci, soit d'une manière générale, soit à propos d'une question particulière, des consultations sur les conditions prévues par sa législation qui pourraient s'appliquer comme prévu au paragraphe 2, alinéa e). Lors de ces consultations, l'État Partie informe la Cour des exigences particulières de sa législation.
Lorsqu'un État Partie est saisi d'une demande au titre du présent chapitre et constate qu'elle soulève des difficultés qui pourraient en gêner ou en empêcher l'exécution, il consulte la Cour sans tarder en vue de régler la question. Ces difficultés peuvent prendre notamment les formes suivantes :
a) Les informations ne sont pas suffisantes pour donner suite à la demande ;
b) Dans le cas d'une demande de remise, la personne réclamée reste introuvable en dépit de tous les efforts, ou les recherches ont permis d'établir que la personne se trouvant dans l'État requis n'est manifestement pas celle que vise le mandat ; ou
c) L'État requis serait contraint, pour donner suite à la demande sous sa forme actuelle, de violer une obligation conventionnelle qu'il a déjà à l'égard d'un autre État.