Environmental Governance in the Czech Republic

Environmental Governance in the Czech Republic Presented by: Dr. Vomáčka Date: April 27, 2025 Direct Application Of Eu Law By Administrative Authorities - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 4 May 2023, No 7 As 218/2021-21 • [19] It follows from the principle of the primacy of EU law that the administrative authorities are to ensure the full effect of EU law without first having to seek or await the removal of that national rule by legislative or other constitutional means. Any provision of national law or any legislative, administrative or judicial practice which would prevent this procedure in the application of EU law would be contrary to the very nature of EU law (CJEU judgment of 4.12.2108, C-378/17, Minister for Justice and Equality and Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, paragraphs 35-36 and case law cited therein). Derogatory Regime From Best Available Techniques (IPPC) - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 29 August 2023, No 10 As 20/2023115 • [72] It is true that the decisions of the administrative authorities do not contain a specific interpretation of the vague legal terms "serious environmental pollution" and "high level of environmental protection". However, according to the SAC, those decisions provide sufficient and careful individual reasoning describing how the administrative authorities assessed those concepts (i.e. according to the established criteria) and on the basis of which factual circumstances (cf. SAC judgment of 4 October 2018, Case No. 2 As 94/201854, No. 3819/2018 Coll., paragraphs 27-28). • [81] At the same time, the SAC states. that it respects and generally shares the approach of the Regional Court in the contested judgment, which was written with an emphasis on environmental protection. In the present case, however, it was necessary to take careful account of the assessment of the individual criteria in accordance with the methodology of the Ministry of the Environment and to consider, in the light of the specific rules of that methodology, whether a possible negative (neutral) assessment of some of the criteria would nevertheless not allow the applicant to be granted the requested emission exemption. That assessment had to be made also in the light of the main conclusions of the opinion of Advocate General Kokott in Case C-375/21 of 22 September 2022, which was subsequently endorsed by the Court of Justice in its judgment. Rights Of The Affected Foreign Citizens - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 29 November 2023, No 2 As 224/2022-105 • I. A citizen of a neighboring state who owns interconnecting real estate may, in proceedings for the annulment of a measure of a general nature (Section 10la et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure), challenge the illegality of the spatial development principles dealing with the interstate communication link only to the extent of the part of the principles which could affect his rights; the extent of such interference is also defined by the position of the persons involved in the proceedings (within the meaning of Section 34(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure); • II. If the Regional Court does not make a record of the delivery of the judgment in accordance with Article 49(13) of the Code of Civil Procedure on a durable medium, despite the fact that the conditions for doing so have been met, it constitutes a defect in the proceedings. However, in the absence of a contradiction between the oral delivery of the judgment and the written version, that defect does not affect the lawfulness of the judgment. Newly Established NGOs May Access The Court - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 21 March 2024, No 9 As 279/202345 • Active procedural standing to bring an action against a decision pursuant to Section 65(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure may, if other conditions are met, be established even in the case of an association that was established after the administrative decision against which it is challenging became final. NGOS May Challenge Animal Welfare Decisions (?) - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court No 5 As 94/2023-26 of 19 January 2024 • On a breach of veterinary regulations in livestock farming (the procedure for the disposal of a hen farm): In view of the content of the action, in which the complainant alleged a violation of the right to a favorable environment as a result of the unfriendly treatment of animals living in a breeding farm not in the wild the municipal court should have primarily addressed whether the provisions of the Veterinary Act and the Act for the Protection of Animals against Cruelty, which the complainant alleged, constitute a specification of the right to a favorable environment, of which living organisms are also a component (see above). The essence of the case, therefore, was simply whether the right to a favorable environment also covers the treatment of animals which are not wild species within the meaning of the Law on the Protection of Nature and the Countryside. The municipal court completely ignored that essence. Absence Of The EIA Should Be Reviewed In Relation To Participatory Rights - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 26 February 2024, No 8 As 277/2021-66 • The NGOs can challenge the lack of the screening procedure in a dispute regarding their participation in the permitting procedure: ...participation of the public concerned is directly dependent on a material assessment of whether the project or its modification is subject to an environmental impact assessment, i.e. whether it may have a significant impact on the environment. Therefore, the administrative authority must itself make a substantive expert assessment as to whether the project or its modification is (should be) subject to at least a screening procedure, unless it has been decided by an independent judicially reviewable decision that the project is not subject to an impact assessment... NGOS May Challenge Public Law Contracts - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 19 February 2024, No. 2 As 8/202333 • The Environmental NGO has active procedural standing to initiate proceedings under Section 142 of the Administrative Procedure Code and may seek a declaration of ineffectiveness of the public law contract replacing the zoning decision or a determination that the zoning decision cannot be replaced by a public law contract in the given case. • This applies even if the environmental association is not a person within the meaning of Section 168 of the Administrative Procedure Environmental NGOs Enjoy Broad Freedom Of Speech - Constitutional Court ruling of 10 January 2024, Case No. I. ÚS 2956/23 • Greenpeace published on social media a modified advertising spot by the complainant ČEZ, a. s. The association modified the advertisement entitled "Lighting of Christmas trees" by adding footage of damaged, dry and cut forests and forest fires. The images were accompanied by the text that the complainant's activities were damaging the environment. • However, neither parody, humour, exaggeration, irony, sarcasm or satire may exceed the generally accepted rules of decency. Here, too, it is important to assess the overall context of the matter under consideration, in particular whether it is, for example, a comic strip, a written text or a spot (as in this case), whether the person parodied is publicly known, whether the idea underlying the satirical or similar speech has a realistic basis, and whether it thus makes a contribution to the public discussion of general issues. A Right To Start Proceedings Ex Officio - Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 16 August 2022, No. 10 As 34/2022110 • A municipality may defend itself against the failure to commence proceedings for the removal of a building by means of an action for protection against unlawful interference, also on the ground that there is a building on the territory of the municipality which is contrary to the municipality's spatial plan; • An action for protection against unlawful interference may also be brought against the failure to commence proceedings for prohibition of use of a building. - CLIMATE LITIGATION? • Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 20 February 2023, No. 9 As 116/2022-166 • The collective commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, which the EU adopted in 2020 pursuant to Article 4(16) of the Paris Agreement, does not without more also imply an individual commitment of the Czech Republic in the same amount. No Review Of The Political Decision On The Underground Nuclear Waste Repository - Resolution of the Constitutional Court Pl.ÚS 39/22 of 14 March 2023 • The Government's resolution does not replace any of the procedures that have to be carried out in order to select an underground repository site, the outcome of which is yet to affect public subjective rights that the complainants will be able to defend against in the future. • Although the Constitutional Court does not dispute that the processes relating to the location of the underground repository are implemented in the long term, in its view, it is not entirely appropriate for the complainants to consider a deferred review of the administrative decisions by the administrative courts in the case at hand until after the underground repository has commenced operations, since the relevant administrative proceedings in which the complainants will be able to participate will take place earlier. One Dead Wolf Is Sufficient To Establish Criminal Liability - Resolution of the Supreme Court 4 Tdo 1362/2019 (the case concerned two inanimate specimens of the common wolf that the perpetrator imported from Slovakia and offered for sale on the Internet): • "...the social harmfulness of illegal handling of critically endangered species of animals or plants is generally high. This is because such behaviour usually (at least) encourages illegal trade in this area, which is one of the most lucrative sectors of international crime and is also one of the main reasons for the decline of populations of many animal and plant species. In an effort to eliminate this, measures have been taken at international and European level, in particular the CITES Treaty, to which the Czech Republic is also bound. Taking into account the seriousness of the problem and the obligations of our country, it is therefore very important to provide the object of the offence under Article 299(2) of the Criminal Code, i.e. the interest in protecting individuals or specimens of the most endangered species of animals or plants from certain methods of disposal, with the most effective protection."