CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Robert Němec, Michal Sylla, Viktor Glatz and Adéla Šmahelová, PRK Partners
will then be required to create a list of registered group members. According to the Collective Proceedings Act, the list must include at least ten registered group members at the end of the deadline for registration and throughout the entire duration of the proceedings on the merits; otherwise, the court will terminate the proceedings. Should the collective action proceedings be terminat- ed without a decision on the merits, the participating members concerned may automatically become par- ticipating group members in another collective action proceeding on the same matter or they can opt out and retain the right to exercise their claims in court individually. The collective action proceedings under the Collective Proceedings Act may be concluded in several ways. In the event that the action has defects (ie, incomprehen- sibility, lack of clarity or failure to meet formal require- ments), which were not removed by the claimant even after the court instructed the claimant to do so, the court will reject the claim. Should the collective action fail to meet the conditions of admissibility, or should the claimant lose its legal capacity (and not have a legal successor) or withdraw the collective action, the court will terminate the proceedings by a resolution. Otherwise, the court will decide on the merits by a judgment either awarding the relief sought or dismiss- ing the action. Provisions of the Code of Civil Proce- dure concerning a default judgment “for recognition” do not apply. The judgment must, in addition to the requirements set out in the Code of Civil Procedure, include identi- fication of the registered group members by reference to the list of registered group members attached to the judgment and deemed to be part of the judgment, a quantification of the awarded amount to each group member, the deadline for performance (if any), and the claimant’s remuneration (if any). An appeal as well as extraordinary appeal against a decision on the merits is admissible and follows the standard procedural rules set out in the Code of Civil Procedure. The only notable distinction is the exten- sion of the appeal deadline from 15 days to 30 days if the appeal is filed by the claimant; this is because the
claimant must allow the registered group members to comment on the question of submitting an appeal within 15 days after the judgment has been published. Publicity of proceedings Representative action proceedings are required to be more transparent than regular civil court proceedings. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Repub- lic set up a register of collective proceedings where all relevant information on collective proceedings shall be published. The register is administered by the court and details basic information about all pending rep- resentative proceedings. Actions under the Code of Civil Procedure Proceedings on actions for the protection of collec- tive interests of consumers are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure as amended by the Ancillary Act. When seeking protection of collective interests of consumers, it is thus necessary to proceed through regular civil proceedings. This means, as previously mentioned, that the claimant acts on behalf of an indefinite group of consumers, who are not parties to the proceedings and do not have any procedural rights. However, some elements of the proceedings are similar to those in collective action proceedings. This includes qualification requirements concerning the claimant, exclusive jurisdiction of the Municipal Court in Prague, information duties, transparency of the proceedings and the potential fines for failure to comply with the rules. The action for the protection of collective interests of consumers must be identified as such and contain a sufficient description of the consumers concerned to make it recognisable that they are affected by the claim. The current wording of the Code of Civil Procedure also indicates that the claimant shall have a pressing legal interest in bringing the action for a declaration to establish an infringement of a legal obligation. This means that such a claim would only be successful if it was proven that the consumers’ right or legal posi- tion would become uncertain without the determi- nation being sought. The requirement of a pressing legal interest would significantly reduce the chances of a successful action for a declaration to establish
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