Parliament limited the misuse of construction delays by lawsuits in the EIA process

Prague - The Chamber of Deputies, at the proposal of the Senate, has limited the possibility of abusing the suspensive effect of lawsuits in the process of assessing the environmental impacts of construction (EIA). This decision was made today after the amendment was supported by Environment Minister Richard Brabec (ANO). According to the minister, the European Commission also agrees with the change in the amendment, which aims to strengthen public influence in the permitting process due to EU requirements, and is pushing for its adoption. The norm will now be sent to the president for signature.
    The amendment concerns a provision according to which the mere filing of a lawsuit regarding the permitting procedure would originally mean an automatic suspension of the building decision. The Chamber of Deputies had previously determined that courts would decide on the suspension. Additionally, the senators supplemented this passage by stating that "the court may grant the litigation a suspensive effect or issue a preliminary measure if there is a risk that the implementation of the project may cause serious environmental damage."
    According to the senators, this addition will allow courts not to accept lawsuits in cases where they would have a "vexatious" character, reminded the members of the parliament by the chairman of the Christian Democratic senators, Petr Šilar. They aim to prevent situations where various associations would want to perpetually and purposefully stop construction in the Czech Republic with constant lawsuits. Conversely, environmental organizations in the Green Circle association had previously opposed this addition.