In civil proceedings, either the regional courts (courts of first instance) or the district courts decide in the first instance. These differ in some respects with regard to the course of proceedings (see below). Only in Vienna is there additionally a separate commercial court or district court for commercial matters for commercial disputes and a separate labor and social security court for labor and social law matters.
As appellate courts, the regional courts decide against judgments of the district courts in the second instance. A higher regional court decides against first-instance judgments of a regional court in the second instance. In the third (and final) instance, the Supreme Court then decides in each case.
