In the eleventh episode of the legal podcast “Wo Recht lebt” (Where Law Lives), Georg Miernitzki and Christian F. Schneider discuss the far-reaching implications of the new Freedom of Information Act (IFG) on administration and legal protection with host Roman Tronner.
21 November 2025. The discussion focuses on the implementation of the constitutional right of access to government information, the handling of trade and business secrets, and questions of legal protection for third parties whose confidentiality interests are affected. Special attention is also given to the challenges for municipalities, outsourced institutions, and private entities, which may also be subject to disclosure requirements in the future.
The two experts critically examine those aspects that are already considered particularly sensitive in practice: the lack of legal standing of affected third parties, the influence of existing confidentiality agreements, and several enforcement issues that remain unsolved. The podcast episode thus offers a concise guide for anyone who wants to understand how transparency should be implemented after the abolition of the official secrecy.
About the experts:
Dr. Georg Miernitzki is deputy head of the Municipalities Department at the Lower Austrian State Government. He publishes regularly on constitutional and administrative law topics, in particular on the right of access to information, and is the author of the commentary IFG – Freedom of Information Act (NWV/Verlag Österreich 2024). His statements in the podcast reflect his personal opinion only.
Priv.-Doz. DDr. Christian F. Schneider is a partner and head of the Public Economic Law department at bpv Huegel. His areas of expertise include energy, telecommunications, environmental, and public procurement law, as well as European law. He has also published a commentary on the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) (Verlag Österreich, 2025).
Podcast: The new Freedom of Information Act
Design & moderation: Dr. Roman Tronner – tronncom.at
Recording & editing: Michaela Hatzenbichler – visualpony.com
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