The controversial Bauhaus in Brno is now also being addressed by the Constitutional Court

Brno - The dispute over the future of the controversial hobby market Bauhaus in Brno-Ivanovice has also reached the Constitutional Court (ÚS). On Friday, the judges received the expected complaints against last year's decision of the Municipal Court in Prague regarding the so-called suspensive effect. This was stated by ÚS spokesperson Vlastimil Göttinger. Due to the suspensive effect granted to the lawsuit against the building certificate by the municipal court, Bauhaus cannot yet open to customers.
    The construction of the hobby market in Ivanovice was permitted by a certificate issued by authorized inspector Milan Teigiser. Activists who have long protested against the construction filed a lawsuit against the certificate. Until the Municipal Court in Prague rules on it, Bauhaus will remain closed due to the granted suspensive effect. The constitutional complaints against the decision on the suspensive effect were filed by Teigiser and also by the company Heršpická - property management, which is connected with Bauhaus.
    The Austrian company Bauhaus announced last December that it is preparing arbitration against the Czech Republic due to the halted project in Ivanovice. Before the suspensive effect was issued, Bauhaus had already hired employees and was delivering goods to the hobby market. The legal dispute is causing significant losses for the company. Bauhaus has estimated the damage associated with the potential complete failure of the investment at 2.24 billion crowns.
    Activists claim that Teigiser issued the certificate secretly and in violation of the law, bypassing the homeowners of the neighboring family houses and environmental advocacy organizations in Ivanovice. Local residents have been protesting against the construction for many years, supported by activists from the Nesehnutí movement and civic associations. Despite the protests, construction continued, and now Bauhaus, including parking lots and access roads, is practically finished.
    The institute of authorized inspector was introduced by the new building law. The inspector is allowed to issue a certificate that effectively replaces a building permit. This way, the builder can avoid the often lengthy and cumbersome building proceedings. Legislators expected that inspectors would mainly approve constructions against which no one protests. However, activists argue that certificates often serve precisely to circumvent the objections of local residents. The current practice has also been recently criticized by the office of the ombudsman.
    The Czech legal community was long unsure whether people can defend themselves against certificates in any way. From last year's decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court, it follows that one cannot appeal against a certificate to any superior administrative body. Only a direct lawsuit to the court is possible. Based on this opinion of the Supreme Administrative Court, the Municipal Court in Prague began to deal with the lawsuit against the Ivanovice certificate substantively and granted it a suspensive effect.