News & Updates

14/09/2023

We represented a client in obtaining a landmark decision from the Czech Supreme Court regarding compensation for damage caused by unlawful anti-COVID restrictions. This concerned lost profits due to the closure of a retail store as a result of anti-COVID governmental orders. While lower courts had dismissed the damage compensation claim, we managed to achieve a breakthrough at the Supreme Court. In its decision No. 30 Cdo 63/2023-71, the Supreme Court held that from the wording of the Crisis Act, it is evident that the concept of liability for damage arising in a causal connection with governmental crisis orders is a special compensation title that establishes government’s liability regardless of fault. Therefore, the government is liable for damage under three conditions: the implementation of a crisis order, the occurrence of damage, and the causal connection between the crisis order and the occurrence of damage. In conclusion, the Supreme Court addressed the previously unresolved question of when the implementation of a crisis restriction is considered one of the conditions for the government’s liability for damage. It argued that the government’s obligation to compensate for damage arises already at the moment when the effects of the crisis order leading to damage occur. In the case under consideration (restriction of retail sales), the very moment of issuing the crisis order in question shall be considered as the time of implementation. Our colleague Michaela Pechová Vosátková managed the case.

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