March 24, 2022
At online meeting, Ukrainian ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova appreciated activities of Czech ombudsman regarding arrivals of people from war-affected Ukraine. She also asked ombudsman Stanislav Křeček to share his information leaflets and other materials and links to help people who flee Ukraine facilitate their stay in the Czech Republic.
March 23, 2022
Philippe Cori, UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, presented to Czech Ombudsman the UN Children's Fund's capacity to deal with the challenges of the arrival of people affected by the war in Ukraine. Majority of people arriving are children and their relatives. Over the next three years, UNICEF will provide support to the Czech Republic and other countries receiving people affected by the war. The Ombudsman, together with ministries and representatives of regions and municipalities, is one of the key institutions for UNICEF to identify where and in what form the aid to Ukrainian children should be directed.
March 15, 2022
In a joint statement, ombudsmen from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary condemned the Russian military attack on Ukraine. In their view, the Russian military actions constitute a gross and unprecedented violation of international law and an attack on the values of a democratic and civilised society.
March 3, 2022
In letters to the Ukrainian ombudsman and both Ukrainian consuls in Brno Czech public deffender of rights strongly condemned the invasion of their country by the Russian Federation. At the same time, he assured them that he would help Ukrainians in the Czech Republic to the maximum extent possible and provide them with support in their difficult situation.
February 25, 2022
Unilateral aggression against a sovereign state is in direct contradiction to the norms and social ethics of the 21st century. Protecting the rights and lives of people, as well as the future of the nation targeted by this extreme act, is a major challenge for the entire international community. Our sympathies are with all those directly affected by today's events and we deplore the unnecessary loss of life on both sides of the conflict. We stand with those who defend human rights anywhere in the world.
December 30, 2021
The Public Defender of Rights set his recommendations on the basis of extensive research among EU citizens living in the Czech Republic. More than a thousand people, proportionally represented not only by nationality, but also by education or their residence in the Czech Republic, described their experiences in dealing with the authorities, health care or education. Above all the participants commented on issues related to work and employment — and this is the area where most of the Ombudsman's recommendations are directed. Ombudsman's remit has been extended to include the right to free movement of EU citizens since 2018. According to the Ombudsman Czech authorities, with whom foreigners most often deal, should improve communication and, for example, regularly update their Czech and foreign language websites with information specifically for foreign workers. He also sees the role of the State Labour Inspection Office as crucial.
December 1, 2021
People who fail at least twice in the lottery for the date of meeting for submitting their visa application at Czech embassies abroad can submit their application without attending in person. These are, for example, applicants for long-term stays and visas for family reunification, study or seasonal employment. Drawable registrations have been introduced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in recent years at some embassies to increase transparency in the receipt of applications. At the same time, the system is intended to prevent suspicions of corruption in the granting of appointments, according to the MFA. Monika Šimůnková, the Deputy Ombudsman, examined the rules and said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not make any mistakes in introducing the draw of dates.
November 8, 2021
Even after several urgencies from the Swedish Unemployment Office, the Czech Labour Office did not provide necessary information for the assessment of unemployment benefits to the Swedish teacher. According to the Deputy Ombudsman Monika Šimůnková, the Labour Office erred by not providing the necessary data without undue delay. Due to the lack of information from the Czech Republic, the man was left without unemployment benefits for almost 8 months.
October 22, 2021
Representatives of ombudsman institutions of the V4 countries met at the invitation of the Hungarian Ombudsman in the city that gave its name to this group of Central European countries. At the two-day meeting, they presented how they deal with selected problems in their countries.
October 6, 2021
By systematically visiting places where people are or may be deprived of their personal liberty, Ombudsman strengthens their protection against ill-treatment. Since 2006, Czech Ombudsman has been carrying out the tasks of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).
September 17, 2021
The Annual Report 2020 brings comprehensive information about the activities of the Public Defender of Rights of the Czech Republic in all areas of his mandate. It includes the Defender’s activities in legislative matters and in relation to the Constitutional Court, the main achievements and activities in the areas of discrimination and equal treatment, monitoring of rights of people with disabilities and supervision over restrictions of personal freedom (National Preventive Mechanism). It also offers an overview of the main activities in all other areas of the ombudsman’s work – social security, public policy, family, healthcare and labour, rules of construction procedure, judiciary, migration, and finance.
September 15, 2021
There are more than 1.1 million people with disabilities living in the Czech Republic. While some data on their situation are already available from various sources, others are not tracked yet in the Czech Republic. That is why the Deputy Ombudsman proposed a set of indicators that, taken as a whole, could illustrate how the Czech Republic is doing in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
August 30, 2021
Thanks to the case of a complainant, whose identity could not be verified in the population record by the registration system for vaccination against COVID-19, we have found out that it might prove problematic in more than solely in an individual case. Despite the complainant disposes of both the Czech citizenship and personal identification number, and she filled in the data in the first step of registration correctly, the system did not allow her to continue. She was left without the PIN2 code and could not succeed in choosing the vaccination date. According to the Ombudsman´s findings, she is not the only one with a similar problem – the cause might have rested in her unusual name.
June 10, 2021
The Ombudsman looked into the services of libraries in relation to equality of conditions for EU citizens coming from other Member States and Czech citizens. “It is important that not only Czech citizens have access to library services, but also citizens of EU Member States do while respecting the principle of equality and the principle of non-discrimination,” said the Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček. However, the analysis of the 22 most important Czech libraries showed that this is not always the case. Certain libraries implement problematic conditions for EU citizens when registering, but especially when borrowing books and documents.
June 4, 2021
On 4 June 2021, the House of Representatives adopted the Act enabling victims of illegally performed sterilisations to claim one-time compensation of approx. 11.700 EUR (300.000 CZK). The Act relates to all victims of illegal sterilisations, who include, for example, people with disabilities.
June 3, 2021
The current practice of providing temporary accommodation services in apartments determined to permanent living is not in accordance with the legislation and the process of re-utilization of structures of such apartments to appropriate kind of establishment shall be required. The Ombudsman, Stanislav Křeček, presented to representatives of the capital city of Prague the extent and goals of his investigation concerning this issue, which he managed to initiate.
June 12, 2020
If an employee asks a hospital to issue an assessment whether he suffers an occupational disease the evaluation of his state of health is covered by the public health insurance – regardless whether the outcome is positive or negative.
June 3, 2020
The Public Defender of Rights receives around 250 complaints concerning the state administration of courts a year, one third of them addresses delays in court proceedings.
May 28, 2020
The Regional Court in Ostrava – Branch Office in Olomouc granted the action against the construction of the Šantovka Tower in Olomouc a suspensive effect. This means that until the final decision is given, the building permit may not be issued, and the construction must not be commenced.