Czechia

ENTRY INTO FORCE of the European Convention on Human Rights

1 January 1993

Number of implemented cases*

219

Examples

Law changed after man was illegally held in a social care home

Jaroslav Červenka was held against his will in a social care home after his public guardian decided he was not fit to look after himself. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Jaroslav’s right to liberty was violated. Anticipating the court’s judgment, the Czech Republic introduced better protections for people placed in social care homes.

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Father wins battle to see his son - and rights for all Czech parents

When Vladimír Zavřel’s wife left the family home, she took the couple’s six-year-old son and stopped Vladimír seeing him. Vladimír got a court order for contact with his boy, but the authorities failed to enforce it. The European court ruled that this had violated the right to family life. Contact was re-established and the law was changed to prevent similar situations happening again.

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Reforms after children were taken away from their parents because they were poor

Emílie Wallová and Jaroslav Walla’s five children were taken away by the authorities, on the grounds that they did not have enough money to look after them. The European court ruled that taking the children away in these circumstances had breached the parents’ right to family life. New legislation banned putting children in care just because of the financial situation of their parents.

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Stronger protections for detainees after police mistreat dental technician

Vladimir Kummer was a dental technician. One night he was allegedly found urinating in the street. Police officers put him in a cell, where he was shackled to a wall and allegedly beaten. The Strasbourg court ruled that Mr Kummer had been subjected to degrading treatment and that there had not been a proper investigation. The incident led to significant changes to avoid such treatment in...

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* This figure includes all judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights (including friendly settlements) concerning which the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has decided that all necessary follow-up measures have been taken. Source: the database of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR, HUDOC-EXEC.