The Constitutional Court has agreed with the arguments of KSB in the continuation of the DELTA PEKÁRNY case18/02/16 / News

The Czech Constitutional Court issued a decision on the inspection of the office space of DELTA Bakery, by the staff of the Office for Protection of Competition (UOHS). It agreed with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which assessed the case in the autumn of 2014 and which concluded that the aforementioned unannounced inspection (ie.-Dawn raid) by the Office without effective judicial control was illegal.

"It is good that after the Strasbourg court proceedings, the entire case is now clearly and similarly expressed by the Czech Constitutional Court. Its decision, which we welcome, repeals the decisions of the administrative courts, which were contrary to the decision of the ECHR, meaning that the case of the alleged cartel client will now return for consideration by the Supreme Administrative Court," said Pavel Dejl, a partner at law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík, who represented DELTA PEKÁRNY in the proceedings.

The sudden inspection by the UOHS staff at the premises of the DELTA PEKÁRNY took place in 2003. The illegality of the procedure by the Office was challenged before domestic courts and after exhausting all possible remedies locally,  in 2010 the company turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In its final decision the ECHR sided with the plaintiff, since it concluded that the procedure conducted by the Office grossly violated the applicant's rights guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms.

The decision of the Constitutional Court  has once again called into question the legality of such inspections carried out without effective judicial review of the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition in offices and other premises of companies.

The Consitutitional Court also commented on its decision in a press release (see attached, in Czech only).