The present study deals with an amendement to the Austrian Code of Penal Procedure from 1999, BGBl I 55,
which came into force on January 1st, 2000. It may be considered as the most important reform of the Austrian
Criminal Justice system since 1975. The study is focusing on the new chapter IXa of the Austrian Code of Penal
Procedure ( 90a - 90m Strafprozessordnung), which is called "Diversion". This chapter contains a set of new
measures for minor and less severe crimes. These measures may lead to a termination of criminal proceedings,
provided that the suspect is willing to show some effort requested by the public prosecutor or the court. On these
premises, criminal proceedings may end without the suspect being found guilty and without him being registrated
as a convict in criminal records. Particular rules exist each for victim-offender-reconciliation, payment of a
proposed money amount, determination of a probationary period and community service. A separate provison deals
with the care of the victims, requiring reparation of damages in the first place. The described rules bear an
enormous practical significance. With about 40.000 in the first year, the number of settlements approximately
equaled the number of convictions in the same period of time. In addition to a detailled analysis of the legal
conditions for such proceedings, one of the main study objects is to elaborate the principles on which decisions
according to chapter IXa of the Austrian Code of Penal Procedure should be based on. With regard to this new way
of dealing with crimes, the relationship between the two main ideas of sanctioning, the principle of proportionalty
and the principle of rehabilitionism, is discussed. Another rising issue is the changing role of the public prosecutor,
who, instead of the court, now frequently decides which kind of reaction is selected. Reflections are also made on
the conditions that should be observed to avoid a conflict concerning the principle that any suspect must not be
seen as guilty before conviction. The main results are lined out as practical guidelines in a final summary.