Respect: Developers' lawyers wrote the construction law and the assessment of it

Prague - The drafting of the intent of the building law and the positive opinion of the governmental legislative council regarding the intent was contributed by the law firm Havel & Partners. This was reported today by the weekly magazine Respekt, which stated that the firm is connected with developers. The government approved the intent on Monday. The former Minister of Justice and now Deputy for Legislation at the Office of the Government, Jan Kněžínek, addressed the opinion with Havel & Partners lawyer František Korbel, who is also a member of the council. The law firm's statement is being verified by ČTK.

"We will give it to the Minister (of Justice Marie Benešová from ANO) for signature once we have the text mutually fine-tuned," Kněžínek wrote to Korbel in an email published by Respekt. According to Korbel, this is a normal procedure.

Minister Benešová told reporters today after a meeting with representatives of the civic platform Reconstruction of the State that she has little to do with the matter. "We were only asked to provide certain comments. We provided them, but it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for Regional Development. I have already read it (the article in Respekt), and I would say it is an exaggerated reaction. I know František Korbel, he is involved in various things, but it is practically outside my purview," she stated.

The draft intent of the building law, which is the responsibility of the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR), was prepared by the Czech Chamber of Commerce, which hired the Havel & Partners law firm for this purpose. The firm is located in the same complex as the chamber. In the past, the firm has had many developers and companies from the construction sector among its clients, including Penta Investments, the logistics company Schenker, the investment fund RSJ Private Equity, the studio Zaha Hadid Architects, and Central Park Prague.

The same law firm also participated in drafting the opinion of the government council regarding the intent. "I am sending a draft opinion in the attachment and please provide any comments if necessary. It is essential that the conclusion states approval," wrote government legislative deputy Kněžínek to the firm’s lawyer Korbel. Both expert committees of the governmental legislative council that dealt with the intent evaluated it critically according to Respekt, and one recommended that the discussion of the intent be suspended. They pointed out the vagueness of the intent and the failure to address hundreds of comments related to it. According to the server, the intent also does not consider the comments of MMR officials. "We have basically been relegated to the role of servants of the (Czech Chamber of Commerce)," one of them anonymously told the server.

According to Korbel, it is normal for a law firm to help draft the opinion of the legislative council. "The draft opinion of the LRV (Legislative Council of the Government) is always sent to the proposer for comments," he told the server. "The Legislative Council is supposed to prepare an independent opposition, not to let the proposer correct their opinion. Moreover, that comes from the Ministry for Regional Development, not Mr. Korbel," said Petr Svoboda from the Faculty of Law at Charles University, who, according to Respekt, initiated a letter from hundreds of academics questioning the planned amendment to building law.

The unusual process of drafting the law intent was also criticized by the Supreme Administrative Court and the Security Information Service (BIS), according to Respekt. The court wrote in its oppositional statement for the government that the final form of the draft intent is marked by "non-standard procedures in its preparation," which has resulted in a strengthened position for construction investors at the expense of the rights of affected and neighboring property owners and territorial self-governments or public interests, the server reported. According to Respekt, BIS noted that the newly proposed building procedures introduce corruption risks.

The proposed law foresees that territorial proceedings, building proceedings, and environmental impact assessments (EIA) will be merged into a single permit process. A Supreme Building Authority is to be established, which will be part of the state administration. The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Vladimír Dlouhý, stated at a press conference on Monday that the new building law does not favor large developers. The so-called fiction of consent, which is included in the law, according to Dlouhý does not allow for corruption, and the statements of affected authorities of state administration, such as firefighters or heritage protectors, will not be restricted.