This text presents a broad range of aspects of Austrian law and legal culture for the purpose of comparison with other legal systems. In its second revised and enlarged edition it treats the following subjects: political history, the constitution, sources and interpretation of law, the political system, Austria and the European Union, legal education and legal professions, the courts, administrative adjudication, constitutional review, fundamental rights, criminal procedure, civil procedure, the Austrian civil code, private law, labour law, and the civil law tradition. These characteristic features have been selected in order to acquaint the foreign observer with some of the defining elements of Austrian law and legal development. Austrian students and practitioners, too, may find this approach helpful when it comes to explaining their law to others.