Austria

Forensic science in Austria

Inside the federal criminal police office, which serves the Land criminal police offices as a central body — and which says it does a large part of the examination work rather than all of it.

Fact-checkedSafety review clearedLast updated 19 September 2026Last reviewed 19 September 2026

Facts verified: September 2026

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Forensic examination in Austria sits inside the federal criminal police office. The Bundeskriminalamt began operating in 2003 on the basis of "das Bundesgesetz über die Einrichtung und Organisation des Bundeskriminalamts", and it describes itself as a central body that "unterstützt als Zentralstelle in Österreich alle Landeskriminalämter und nachgeordneten Polizeidienststellen durch Assistenzdienste, Supportleistungen und Controlling" — supporting all the Land criminal police offices and subordinate police units.

The forensic function is stated in two parts. Identification data — "erkennungsdienstliche Daten wie Fingerabdrücke und DNA" — are recorded at the federal office and compared in national and international databases. And traces recovered from a scene must be examined in laboratories, of which, in the office’s own words, "ein Großteil dieser Untersuchungen erfolgt im Bundeskriminalamt".

The Landeskriminalämter this page names have a position in the structure, and it is established from the ministry rather than from the federal office that supports them. Each is a specialist department subordinate to the management of a Landespolizeidirektion — listed there beside the Einsatz-, Grenz- und Fremdenpolizeiliche Abteilung, the Landesverkehrsabteilung, the Landesamt Verfassungsschutz, the Sicherheits- und Verwaltungspolizeiliche Abteilung, the Personalabteilung and the Logistikabteilung — and the ministry adds that the Landeskriminalamt, the Landesamt Verfassungsschutz and the Landesverkehrsabteilung "gelten als Dienststellen". There are nine Landespolizeidirektionen, one for each Land. WHAT A LANDESKRIMINALAMT DOES IS A DIFFERENT QUESTION, and the ministry page does not answer it: nothing read says whether any of them performs forensic examination, or of what kind.

Uncertainty

What we could not establish

Accreditation and quality standards are not established. The page states none, and none is claimed — which is a different thing from there being none.
WHAT FORENSIC CAPABILITY THE LANDESKRIMINALÄMTER HOLD IS STILL NOT ESTABLISHED. Their position is now stated from the ministry — a specialist department of a Landespolizeidirektion, counted as a Dienststelle — and a position is not a function. Nothing read says whether any of them performs forensic examination, or of what kind.
Where the remainder of the examination work is done is not established. The federal office says it does a large part; nothing read says who does the rest.
The internal organisation of the federal office, and which of its departments does forensic work, were not researched.
How a defence obtains an independent forensic examination in Austria was not researched.
Nothing on this page says anything about what a forensic technique can establish. That is a claim about evidence in criminal cases and needs a different kind of source.
The page carries a staffing figure and names the office’s director. Neither is published here.

Sources

Aufgaben — Bundeskriminalamt (Austria)
Bundeskriminalamt (Österreich) · Government publication · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: what the Austrian federal criminal police office is and that forensic examination happens inside it — nothing about the Land criminal police offices’ own capabilities, and nothing about technique. The office’s own page, read directly. Supports that its legal basis is "das Bundesgesetz über die Einrichtung und Organisation des Bundeskriminalamts", that it began operating in 2003, and that it "unterstützt als Zentralstelle in Österreich alle Landeskriminalämter und nachgeordneten Polizeidienststellen durch Assistenzdienste, Supportleistungen und Controlling". Supports that "im Bundeskriminalamt werden erkennungsdienstliche Daten wie Fingerabdrücke und DNA erfasst und in nationalen und internationalen Datenbanken verglichen", and that traces must be examined in laboratories, of which "ein Großteil dieser Untersuchungen erfolgt im Bundeskriminalamt". THE QUALIFIER IS LOAD-BEARING: "ein Großteil" is a large part, NOT all, so this page cannot support a claim that the federal office does all forensic examination in Austria. NO ACCREDITATION IS STATED anywhere on the page and none is claimed. The page also carries a staffing figure and names the office’s director; NEITHER IS USED. Establishes nothing about what any technique can show, nothing about the Länder, and nothing about defence access.
Landespolizeidirektionen — Bundesministerium für Inneres (Austria)
Bundesministerium für Inneres (Austria) · Government publication · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: where a Landeskriminalamt sits in the Austrian police structure — nothing about what one does, nothing about any capability it holds, and nothing about any case. The ministry’s own page on the Landespolizeidirektionen, read directly. Supports that the specialist departments subordinate to a Landespolizeidirektion’s management are "die Einsatz-, Grenz- und Fremdenpolizeiliche Abteilung (EGFA), die Landesverkehrsabteilung (LVA), DAS LANDESKRIMINALAMT (LKA), das Landesamt Verfassungsschutz (LV), die Sicherheits- und Verwaltungspolizeiliche Abteilung (SVA), die Personalabteilung (PA) und die Logistikabteilung (LA)", each further divided into Referate and Fachbereiche. Supports that "Landeskriminalamt, Landesamt Verfassungsschutz und Landesverkehrsabteilung GELTEN ALS DIENSTSTELLEN". Supports that there are nine Landespolizeidirektionen, named for Burgenland, Kärnten, Niederösterreich, Oberösterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg and Wien. ESTABLISHES A POSITION, NOT A FUNCTION: nothing on this page says what forensic or other work a Landeskriminalamt performs, and no capability is asserted from it anywhere.