CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Robert Němec, Michal Sylla, Viktor Glatz and Adéla Šmahelová, PRK Partners
Prior to the assessment of the proposed settlement and its approval, registered group members shall be allowed to raise objections against a settlement pro- posal within 15 days after it was published in the col- lective proceedings register or after they received the settlement proposal from the claimant (as confidenti- ality of the settlement may be arranged by the parties). However, if the court approves the settlement despite any registered group members’ objections, the set- tlement shall have the effect of a final judgment and all registered group members, including those who objected, will be bound by that settlement. There are no specific rules governing settlements in proceedings for the protection of collective interests of consumers. Standard rules under the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply here. 3.13 Judgments and Enforcement of Judgments The nature of judgments issued in the collective pro- ceedings is the same as for any other judgment issued in regular civil proceedings; in most cases, this will be a judgment imposing a payment obligation on one of the parties and having a binding effect on the parties to the dispute only. As the Collective Proceedings Act only adopted the opt-in regime, judgments will not be binding on parties who did not join the claimant group. At the same time, a judgment issued in collec- tive action proceedings may be of relevance for the assessment of similar claims raised individually. Judgments issued in cases regarding actions for the protection of consumers’ collective interests are bind- ing only on the defendant with respect to all custom- ers and/or competitors. Judgments concerning claims for damages or adequate consideration in takeover bids or squeeze-outs are binding on the defendant with respect to all the minority shareholders who were involved in the transaction, despite not being parties to the proceedings in question. Similarly, standard means of post-trial enforcement should be available against parties who fail to comply with the obligations imposed on them by a final and enforceable judgment.
Both the Collective Proceedings Act and the Code of Civil Procedure also set out fines that may be imposed on defendants who fail to comply with a verdict of a judgment issued in collective or representative pro- ceedings (ie, if a non-financial obligation is imposed by the judgment). The fines imposed in enforcement of judgments issued in collective or representative proceedings may be higher than the standard fines issued in enforcement of judgments issued in regular civil proceedings, and may reach up to CZK5,000,000 (EUR200,000). The current Czech regulation of collective redress was introduced in 2024. Therefore, the implementation of new policies is not currently being discussed in the Czech Republic. 4.2 Legislative Reform As mentioned in 5.1 Policy Development , no addi - tional amendments to the current rules are currently being considered by the Czech legislature. Further legislative changes may be expected once there is some practical experience with the newly introduced collective redress mechanisms. A little over a year since the Collective Proceedings Act entered into force, only two entities have been registered on the list of qualified entities and one collective action for redress measures has been filed as of October 2025. The first collective proceedings action involves only 56 consumers claiming unjust enrichment against a chil- dren’s furniture manufacturer and so far has resulted in a first instance judgment ordering the defendant to pay a total of CZK1,608,136 (approximately EUR66,000) to 52 of the represented consumers. 4. Legislative Reform 4.1 Policy Development 5. Key Trends 5.1 Impact of Key Trends As the currently pending case is relatively minor, the legal community is still awaiting the first large-scale collective dispute that would set the direction for how collective actions will develop in the Czech Republic.
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