From 1 January 2026, the rights of persons involved in proceedings will be significantly strengthened and there will be changes regarding the judicial review of binding opinions. The amendment to the Code of Administrative Justice could thus bring about a significant change also for the building permit process.
The amendment to the Code of Administrative Justice published in the Collection of Laws under No. 314/2025, strengthens the procedural rights of persons involved in proceedings.
“Persons involved in proceedings” are persons whose rights and obligations have been directly affected by the issuance of a decision challenged by administrative action, or who would be affected by the revocation of such a decision by the court. Where a decision on the approval of a construction project is being challenged by an administrative action, the “person involved in the proceedings” is typically the builder.
Under the current legislation, a person involved in proceedings has only limited procedural rights compared to a proper party to the proceedings. With effect from 1 January 2026, the Code of Administrative Justice grants a person involved in the proceedings the same procedural rights and obligations as a party proper. For example, the court will now be required to send procedural submissions of the parties to the proceedings also to the person involved in the proceedings and give them time to respond, or give the person involved in the proceedings the opportunity to express their opinion during court hearings. In short, the court should treat the person involved in the proceedings on an equal footing alongside parties to the proceedings.
Another change consists in the significant extension of the right of a person involved in the proceedings to claim reimbursement of their costs of proceedings. Today, a person involved in the proceedings is strictly entitled to the reimbursement of only those costs which they incurred in connection with the fulfilment of an obligation imposed on them by the court. Going forward, a person involved in the proceedings will be entitled to demand reimbursement of their costs of the proceedings from the unsuccessful plaintiff if they defended their right arising from the decision or other act challenged by the lawsuit. This change could help bring down the number of frivolous actions against decisions on the permission of construction projects, whereas until now there were essentially no risks associated with an unsuccessful action.
Another significant change brought about by the amendment to the Code of Administrative Justice is the possibility of seeking a separate judicial review of binding opinions. Under the current legislation, it is not possible to review binding opinions separately in court, as they do not qualify as proper decisions within the meaning of the Code of Administrative Justice. Judicial review of a binding opinion has only been possible as part of a review of a decision which is conditional on that binding opinion. The new Code of Administrative Justice will allow for the separate judicial review of binding opinions that prevent the issuance of a permit or consent. For the process of approving construction projects, the separate judicial review of negative binding opinions brings a significant change, as the builder will no longer have to wait for the building authority to issue a negative decision on the approval of the project, but will be able to immediately challenge the negative binding opinion itself, by means of an administrative action.
These changes brought about by the amendment to the Code of Administrative Justice could speed up and streamline the permission process for construction projects. It remains to be seen whether this will be the case in practice. The amendment to the Code of Administrative Justice will take effect on 1 January 2026.
Source:
Act No. 314/2025 Coll., amending Act No. 325/1999 Coll., on asylum, as amended
Act No. 326/1999 Coll., on the residence of foreigners in the Czech Republic and on the amendment of certain laws, as amended
and other related acts