The proposed building law should be withdrawn, says the heritage council

Prague - According to experts on cultural heritage, the draft construction law is so bad that it cannot be improved with partial comments and should be withdrawn. This was agreed upon by the Czech National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which has long criticized the shape of the law. The draft law resigns from protecting public interests in the preservation of cultural and natural wealth and prioritizes the unilateral interests of the construction lobby, represented by the drafter of the law, namely the Chamber of Commerce, states the memorandum that is available to ČTK. According to the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR), the protection of monuments and public interests will remain preserved, and the panic is unnecessary.

Other experts on heritage care and cultural heritage also criticize the draft law, speaking of the death of heritage care in the Czech Republic. Among the critics are leading figures from the academic sphere, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Culture. "The new construction law completely ignores the entire area of heritage care due to its construction of decision-making competences," states the council. According to ICOMOS and the Ministry of Culture (MK), the draft law is in contradiction with valid Czech laws and with the obligation to respect international conventions, by which the Czech state confirmed its responsibility to preserve the cultural legacy of past epochs.

The most criticized parts of the law include the introduction of a presumption of consent in the construction procedure, whereby if the relevant authority does not express its opinion within 30 days, the so-called presumption of consent will apply, and the construction will be permitted. However, according to experts, it is not possible to process statements for larger constructions or projects affecting monument-protected areas within this period. The cancellation of binding opinions (from heritage protectors) and subordinating heritage care to the decision-making of the building authority will, according to them, end the independent activities of heritage protection authorities.

According to MMR spokesperson Vilém Frček, the protection of monuments is the subject of the monument care law. "The subject of the construction law is, among other things, the regulation of the placement, permitting, and removal of buildings. Both regulations are part of the legal order, and therefore they must correspond with each other. In the new construction law, monument-protected objects are addressed specially, in accordance with the valid law on state monument care," Frček told ČTK.

The goal of the new construction law is, according to him, to speed up the permitting of constructions. He further stated that heritage protectors are a relevant authority during permitting, therefore they are subject to a uniform regulation to express their opinion on the proposal within 30 days and the presumption of a binding opinion will also apply to them. "This presumption is already part of the government proposal for the amendment to the currently valid construction law, and the new draft construction law merely adopts this institute," Frček added.

The statutory wording of the law is in a commentary procedure, which will last for four weeks and will end on December 23. ICOMOS also criticizes what it sees as an unreasonably short time allocated for comments.

ICOMOS stated today that it is essential for the law to be redrafted, and not by the Chamber of Commerce, but by the Ministry for Regional Development. "In cooperation with professionally relevant entities, in accordance with the government's legislative rules, constitutional order, and international commitments of the Czech Republic, so that the protection of heritage wealth for future generations is guaranteed," stated ICOMOS.