Prague, Aug 16 (CTK) – Insolvency cases will be assigned to judges based on an automatic and random system in Czech courts under a government-proposed amendment to the Civil Court Order the Senate passed on Wednesday.
The government originally proposed that the random system apply to all court proceedings, but the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, previously narrowed its impact to apply to insolvency cases only.
To take effect, the legislation still needs to be signed by President Milos Zeman.
At present, cases are distributed regularly to one judge after another. As a result, it can be anticipated beforehand which judge or panel of judges will deal with the next case to appear.
The change, initiated by the Justice Ministry, lies in cases being randomly allotted to judges by a computer system.
The government’s proposal met with criticism from both the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, as well as the Judges’ Union. The lower house mostly complied with the critics’ reservations and passed the bill in a modified form.
The amendment also lowers a fee for those filing anti-discrimination lawsuits.
On the other hand, it introduces fees for those claiming a compensation for the damage caused to them by an unlawful or incorrect step or decision by public bodies.
The bill cancels the Prague 2 District Court’s task to solve traffic offences committed all over the capital city, and newly assigns the power to all district courts.