Public Defender of Rights

Eva Kostolanská

In office since 18 June 2026.

JUDr. Eva Kostolanská graduated in law from Jan Evangelista Purkyně University (now Masaryk University).

At the beginning of her professional career, she worked as a legal adviser at the South Moravian Regional National Committee. She later held several positions within the Czech Financial Administration, most recently serving, from 2016, as Director of the Legal Section at the General Financial Directorate.

Among other responsibilities, she provided methodological guidance to the Czech Financial Administration in her areas of competence and contributed to the drafting of legislation. She represented the Financial Administration in numerous proceedings before administrative and civil courts at all levels. During this period, she also worked closely with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Throughout her career, she has been committed to ensuring that the state acts fairly and justly. This commitment naturally led her to focus on the protection of human rights. In 2020, she left the Financial Administration to join the Office of the Ombudsman. There, she worked on both the investigation of individual complaints and the promotion of systemic improvements. She prepared recommendations for legislative amendments and contributed to advancing the principles of good administration, non-discrimination and the protection of vulnerable persons.

She has also been active as an author and lecturer. Her professional expertise has earned her recognition within the legal community. In addition to Czech, she is fluent in German. In her spare time, she is interested in history and architecture and has been a member of the Museum and Local History Society in Brno for many years.

Eva Kostolanská sees the role of Ombudsperson above all as a commitment to actively protect people’s rights and to strengthen public trust in a fair and effective state.