Austrian constitutional court: foreign cryptochats usable, subject to fundamental rights
Three convicted defendants challenged statutory rules governing encrypted evidence. The court rejected their applications on 29 September and explained the decisions on 8 October.
The cases concern non-final drug convictions based on decrypted foreign chats. G 180/2025 involved Sky ECC and ANOM. The applicant argued that adequate statutory limits on their use were missing.
The court held that foreign evidence need not automatically be excluded merely because the same investigative method would have been prohibited in Austria. That does not itself make the evidence rules unconstitutional.
Fundamental rights can still require exclusion, including where a trial would be unfair. The court reviewed statutory rules rather than finally deciding every individual conviction; appeals before the Supreme Court can continue.
