Denial of legal aid to challenge deregulation of name change procedures as lacking prospects of success

The Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) dismissed an application for legal aid, thereby denying the applicant the means to file an individual constitutional complaint; consequently, no ruling on the merits was issued, and the challenged legislative provision remains in force. The dispute concerned the applicant’s intent to challenge Paragraph 2, Article 3 of the Deregulation and Adjustment Act 2016, specifically its deletion of certain provisions of the Name Change Act regarding name modifications. The Court found the intended complaint lacking prospects of success, determining that the applicant could not establish a sufficient likelihood of success against the constitutional standards required for such a challenge, and thus refused the procedural assistance.