The Institute
The Austrian Human Rights Institute
The Austrian Human Rights Institute (Österreichisches Institut für Menschenrechte – ÖIM) is a center at the University of Salzburg and stands for the well-founded, research-based promotion of human rights in the German-speaking world. The ÖIM was founded in 1987 on the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Mission and goals
The Austrian Human Rights Institute sees itself as a hub of expertise for protecting human rights, especially within the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU), and the United Nations.
The institute’s main tasks include:
- Spreading and promoting the idea of human rights
- Documenting and sharing case law from European, international, and Austrian courts and tribunals in the field of fundamental and human rights
- Documenting relevant literature
- Conducting research and publishing on human rights
- Offering training and professional development on human rights
- Monitoring human rights
Six times a year, the Institute publishes the journal Newsletter Menschenrechte (Human Rights Newsletter), which provides timely information and German translations of judgments and decisions of the ECtHR. These translations are accepted as official German versions and are included in the HUDOC Database, which gives access to the Court’s case law. The Institute also runs human rights training and continuing education programs for various organizations (e.g., the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, universities of teacher education, city administrations).
We see it as our responsibility to support and strengthen social development in the spirit of human rights.
