Czech Republic - V.P. v Ministry of Interior - damages claim

The Court ordered the Ministry of Interior to pay damages to an applicant to the statelessness determination procedure for experiencing delays in the procedure and excessively detaining him while awaiting a statelessness determination decision. 

 

Case name (in original language)
V. P. proti ministerstvu vnitra - žaloba na náhradu škody
Case status
Decided
Case number
Nr. 12 C 2/2019
Citation
V.P. v Ministry of Interior - damages claim Nr. 12 C 2/2019
Date of decision
Court / UN Treaty Body
District Court of Prague 7
Language(s) the decision is available in
Czech
Applicant's country of birth
Russian Federation
Applicant's country of residence
Czech Republic
Relevant Legislative Provisions

Act No. 82/1998 Coll., on Liability for Damage Caused in the Execution of Public Authority by a Decision or Incorrect Official Procedure

Facts

The applicant, a stateless man, applied for statelessness status. The Ministry of Interior did not respect the legal deadline of 6 months to issue a decision, in fact the deadline was exceeded by more than 18 months. In the meantime, he was repeatedly detained, could not work and did not have any rights, lived on the street and was afraid to be detained again or put in prison and deported. He asked for non pecuniary damages for his difficult situation and also pecuniary damages because he was charged for all the time spent in detention.

Decision & Reasoning

The court granted pecuniary damages because he was charged for all the time spent in detention, and also non pecuniary damages for the trauma he faced in detention and for the fear of being deported. The  court pointed out it was the delays in the statelessness determination procedure that caused his protracted detention, emphasizing the causal link in the non pecuniary part of the claim.

Outcome

The Court ordered the Ministry to pay damages. The Ministry accepted and paid damages.

Caselaw cited

V.P. v Ministry of Interior, no. 10 A 155/2017 - this case concerned the same applicant and was addressed the obligation to decide the statelessness status determination case in 6 months, analogically to asylum cases.