| name | ris-search |
| description | Use when searching Austrian legal sources - OGH/VwGH/VfGH decisions by Geschäftszahl, federal laws (Bundesrecht konsolidiert), state laws (Landesrecht), or keyword searches in judicature. Covers RIS (Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes) at ris.bka.gv.at. |
Skill: ris-search
What This Does
Searches Austrian legal resources via the official RIS (Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes) at ris.bka.gv.at using WebFetch. Covers court decisions, consolidated federal/state laws, and the Bundesgesetzblatt.
When to Use
- User cites a Geschäftszahl (e.g. "5 Ob 105/24p", "4 Ob 12/23s")
- User references a paragraph (e.g. "§ 16 WEG", "§ 879 ABGB")
- User wants case law on a topic ("OGH zu Klimaanlage WEG")
- User asks about a Bundesgesetzblatt entry
URL Patterns
1. OGH/Court decision by Geschäftszahl
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Ergebnis.wxe?Abfrage=Justiz&GZ=<URL-encoded GZ>&SucheNachRechtssatz=True&SucheNachText=True
Example: 5 Ob 105/24p → GZ=5+Ob+105%2f24p
The result list contains links of form /Dokumente/Justiz/JJT_YYYYMMDD_OGH.../...html — fetch that next for the full decision.
2. Keyword search in judicature (Justiz)
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Ergebnis.wxe?Abfrage=Justiz&Suchworte=<keywords+url+encoded>&SucheNachRechtssatz=True&SucheNachText=True&ResultPageSize=50
Also available: Abfrage=Vwgh (Verwaltungsgerichtshof), Abfrage=Vfgh (Verfassungsgerichtshof).
3. Federal law paragraph (Bundesrecht konsolidiert)
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<law ID>&Paragraf=<n>
Gesetzesnummern für häufige Gesetze:
10001622 — ABGB20001921 — WEG 200210002296 — MRG10002062 — StGB10005387 — UGB
Unknown Gesetzesnummer? Search title first:
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Ergebnis.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Titel=<title+keywords>
4. State law (Landesrecht)
Replace Bundesnormen with a state-specific Abfrage:
LrVbg (Vorarlberg), LrW (Wien), LrT (Tirol), LrStmk (Steiermark), etc.
5. Structured API (optional, returns JSON)
https://data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Judikatur?Applikation=Justiz&Geschaeftszahl=<GZ>
Use this when you need many results programmatically. For ad-hoc reading, the web URLs above are simpler.
Workflow
- Build the search URL from the pattern above.
WebFetch it with a prompt like "Extract the document URL(s) and case summary for this decision/topic."- If a document link is returned,
WebFetch that URL for the full text.
- Cite the Geschäftszahl and the RIS URL in your answer.
Tips
- Geschäftszahlen encode the slash
/ as %2f, spaces as +.
- Full-text decisions are usually under
/Dokumente/Justiz/JJT_... — the .html version is easiest to parse.
- "Rechtssätze" (RS-numbers, e.g.
RS0135294) are extracted legal principles — useful to cite alongside the full decision.
- For consolidated law, the displayed text is always "geltende Fassung" at the request date — note the "In Kraft seit" line.
- If a Gesetzesnummer lookup fails, fall back to
Abfrage=Gesamtabfrage with keywords.
Limits
- RIS has no authentication; rate-limit yourself to a handful of requests per search.
- JUSLine, LexisNexis, RDB are paywalled and not covered by this skill.
- For older BGBl entries (pre-2004) use
Abfrage=BgblAlt instead of BgblAuth.
