Minister Jandák: The new heritage law will be in place by the elections

PRAGUE - Minister of Culture Vítězslav Jandák today initiated a public discussion on the reform of heritage preservation. He would like to know the results in three months. He also wants to prepare a new heritage law and transfer some state castles and chateaus to the regions. "The heritage law will be ready before the elections to be presented to the parliament," the minister told reporters today.
The minister began discussing the reform of heritage preservation at the moment he dismissed all directors of the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) at the beginning of December. He then announced a selection procedure for new directors on December 5, with the application deadline on December 9. The short timeframe for candidate selection was criticized by the professional public. The commission did not recommend any candidate to the minister, and the next application deadline is January 10.
Today, the minister apologized for the short timeline. "I thought that everyone in this country understands art and heritage, so it wouldn't be difficult to quickly select the best candidates," said Jandák. "With this perhaps somewhat drastic action, I did what I had in my subconscious to finally start a discussion about heritage in this country," he added.
Jandák's considerations about the need for drastic changes in heritage preservation are driven by his alleged findings about opaque selection procedures at NPÚ and spending waste. Between Christmas and New Year's, he wants to ask the Supreme Audit Office to investigate four or five specific cases.
Heritage preservation is governed by a law from 1987. It enshrines, for example, the principle that expert opinions produced by NPÚ are advisory in nature; on the other hand, there is self-government with its heritage offices, which often do not respect the decisions of experts. Jandák offers four solution variants - from maintaining the current state to creating a state heritage office with executive powers.
A month ago, Jandák discussed with regional governors whether they would like to take state castles and chateaus in their regions under their administration. Jandák wants to keep only what he considers to be the most significant properties, including Karlštejn, Konopiště, and Hluboká. Regions would receive only properties, while collection items would be subject to the same regime as items in state museums. According to Jandák, governors are not very eager to manage the castles, fearing they would not have the money. "Only the governor of the Zlín Region, Libor Lukáš, has approached me, wanting to transfer three to four properties," he said.
Contributions to the discussion on heritage preservation can be sent by interested parties to the address pamatky@mkcr.cz, which will be activated on Friday at 08:00. After each month, the ministry wants to make a "summary of opinions."