Recent Austrian practice in the field of international law

Abstract This selection from Austria’s recent practice in the field of international law has been prepared, once again,¹¹For the four previous reports, see Tichy Helmut/Schusterschitz Gregor/Bittner Philip, Recent Austrian practice in the field of international law. Report for 2011, ZÖR 67 (2012) 157–193, henceforth “Report for 2011"; Tichy Helmut/Schusterschitz Gregor/Bittner Philip, Recent Austrian practice in the field of international law. Report for 2012, ZÖR 68 (2013) 139–181, henceforth “Report for 2012"; Tichy Helmut/Schusterschitz Gregor/Bittner Philip, Recent Austrian practice in the field of international law. Report for 2013, ZÖR 69 (2014) 177–220, henceforth “Report for 2013"; and Tichy Helmut/Bühler Konrad/Bittner Philip/Köhler Ulrike, Recent Austrian practice in the field of international law. Report for 2014, ZÖR 70 (2015) 123–172, henceforth “Report for 2014". by members of the legal service of the Austrian foreign ministry²²Short for “Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs" (Bundesministerium für Europa, Integration und Äußeres, BMEIA), renamed in 2014. (“Office of the Legal Adviser", “Völkerrechtsbüro", VRB) and our colleague Philip Bittner, who is now the legal counsellor of the Austrian Permanent Representation in Brussels. We see our report as a contribution to our fruitful dialogue with academics and with other practitioners interested in public international law. The highlight of this dialogue is the annual Austrian international law conference (“Österreichischer Völkerrechtstag"); the contributions made at its 40^th session (Bozen, 11–13 June 2015) will be published soon.³³The publication will contain the following contributions of international law practitioners from the foreign ministries of Austria, Switzerland and Germany: Tichy, Recommendations des Europarats; Zellweger, Das Verhältnis zwischen Völkerrecht und Landesrecht als Politikum; Hector, Hybride Kriegführung: eine neue Herausforderung?; Bühler, Aktuelle Entwicklungen in Österreich: Die Völkerstrafrechtsnovelle und der neue Tatbestand der Aggression. Concerning the European