EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION / Alla Tymofeyeva (ed.)

2. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT AGENT Pursuant to Act No. 2/1969, on the Establishment of Ministries and Other Central Bodies of the State Administration, the representation of the State before the Court falls within the scope of competence of the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the Government has established the function of its Agent, which they appoint or remove based on the proposals made by the Minister of Justice and after consultation with the President of the Constitutional Court. Professional qualification, position, authority, and activities of the Agent are governed by the Statute approved by the Government (Annex to the Government’s Resolution No. 1024 of 17 August 2009). In 2002, the Government appointed as their Agent Mr Vít A. Schorm who performs this function until nowadays. At the same time, the Government Agent stands as the head of the Office of the Government Agent. From the institutional point of view, the Office is one of the departments of the Ministry of Justice. At present, it is composed of 10 experienced lawyers specializing in various branches of law. In addition to excellent knowledge of both domestic, international law and case law, the legal staff must be proficient in at least one, but ideally both, of the official languages of the Court. Given its agenda and high professional standards, the Office is managed as a law firm sui generis acting exclusively on behalf and in the interest of the State. The Agent annually reports on his activities to the Government. These reports contain detailed information on the handling of applications lodged against the Czech Republic with the Court and other international human rights bodies. They are publicly available on the website of the Ministry of Justice. 3. LITIGATING BEFORE THE COURT Throughout the years, the Court has received more than 13,500 applications directed against the Czech Republic. The overwhelming majority of them were declared inadmissible or struck out of the list of cases without official notification being given to the Czech Government. By the end of 2020, the Court had rendered 235 judgments, in which it found at least one violation of the Convention by the Czech authorities in 191 cases. The most frequently violated provisions included the right to a hearing within a reasonable time (81 cases), other aspects of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the Convention (70 cases), the right to liberty and personal security under Article 5 (32 cases), the right to respect for private and family life, home, or correspondence under Article 8 (20 cases) and the right to property under Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the Convention (13 cases). Proceedings are commenced upon the delivery of an application to the Court. The application should be submitted on the prescribed form and may be written in Czech language. The Court’s Registry then assigns the application a unique registration number and allocates it to one of its decision-making bodies (single judges, committees, chambers, or the Grand Chamber) for further consideration. If, after an initial examination, it is not found to be manifestly inadmissible, the respondent Government is given an official notice of the application. From that moment, the applicant must be duly represented by a lawyer and communicate with the Court’s Registry in English or French only. After communication, the proceedings are split into two consecutive stages. The first, non- contentious phase, allows the parties to explore the room for a friendly settlement. In practice, the Court invites them to discuss and consider within the period of 12 weeks the possibility of a friendly settlement, if need be, with the assistance of the Registry. Contents of negotiations between the parties are strictly confidential. Where an applicant has refused the terms of an amicable settlement proposed by the Government, the latter may file with the Court a so-called unilateral declaration. This request shall contain a declaration clearly acknowledging that there

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION

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