CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Eva Nováková, Michaela Šmotková, Martin Sztefek and Kateřina Chizzola Bardonová, JŠK, advokátní kancelář, s.r.o.
them the court cannot decide on a technical factual issue. Civil proceedings end with the judgment. Court pro- ceedings are in two instances, and it is therefore gen- erally possible to appeal against the judgment. Once it is no longer possible to appeal against the judgment, it becomes legally binding. It is also possible to file an extraordinary remedy against a legally binding judg- ment (an extraordinary appeal to the Supreme Court or a constitutional complaint to the Constitutional Court for interference with constitutionally protected rights). The success rate of extraordinary remedies is usually low, as there are strict conditions and the Supreme Court must be convinced that the lower court decision was incorrect in terms of legal analysis (ie, the Supreme Court does not review the evidence because it is actually bound by the factual findings of lower courts). 9.4 Enforcement of Judgments Domestic judgments are enforceable at the moment when the judgment is legally binding (if the judgment does not state earlier enforceability) and the deadline for compliance with the judgment has run out (usually 3 or 15 days). The judgment becomes legally bind- ing when it can no longer be appealed. An appeal may be filed within 15 days from the date of delivery of the judgment of the court of first instance, unless the appeal is excluded on substantive grounds (in the case of minor disputes or only in relation to the rea- soning of the judgment). A domestic judgment may be enforced by the bailiff or by judicial enforcement of decisions. From a practi- cal standpoint, the enforcement by the bailiff is more common and also more effective. In the case of foreign judgments, the Czech Republic is party to the Brussels I Regulation and the Hague Choice of Court Convention. The domestic legal regu- lation is set out in Sections 14–16 of the Act on Private Law. Under Czech law, confirmation from the relevant foreign authority is required that the judgment has become final and has been recognised by the Czech public authorities. The grounds for non-recognition
of a foreign judgment include, for example, non-rec- ognition of a foreign judgment due to a conflict with the public policy of the Czech Republic, the exist- ence of a final decision issued in the Czech Republic or a final decision from another country having been recognised, or the fact that proceedings in the mat- ter have already been initiated in the Czech Republic, prior to the foreign judgment. 9.5 Enforcement of Arbitration Clauses The Czech Republic is also party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention). In addition, the Czech Republic is a UNCITRAL Mod- el Law jurisdiction, or more precisely a jurisdiction whose arbitration legislation is predominantly inspired by the UNCITRAL Model Law. The relevant domestic framework is set out in Czech Act No 216/1994 Coll., on Arbitration and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (the Arbitration Act), which deviates from the UNICITRAL Model Law in certain local aspects. Therefore, the Czech Republic is arbitration friendly and arbitration clauses are in general enforceable. However, under Section 106 of Act No 99/1963 Coll., Civil Procedure Code, if a case is brought before a civil court, potential court proceedings shall be suspended and the matter referred to an arbitral tribunal only if the defendant draws attention to the existence of the arbitration clause and the matter can be resolved by arbitration under Czech law (eg, in consumer con- tracts and disputes within insolvency proceedings). The courts do not examine the existence of an arbitra- tion clause ex officio. 9.6 Enforcement of Awards Domestic arbitration awards are enforceable if there is no possibility to annul them. The arbitration award may be annulled in an annulment procedure under Section 27 of the Arbitration Act. The grounds for annulment mirror those set out in the UNICITRAL Model Law. Czech law also allows annulment proceedings to be initiated on the basis of newly discovered facts or evi- dence. For foreign arbitration awards, the Czech Republic is party to the New York Convention, which obliges con-
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