The House supported the new heritage law despite criticism

Prague - The Chamber supported a new heritage law in its first round of approval, which, according to the Ministry of Culture, will enable more effective care for the heritage fund. The law is also intended to provide authorities with the tools to act in cases where a heritage object is not being maintained by its owner. Today, the proposal withstood the opposition's attempts to reject it or to return it to the government for revision.

The law, which is now to be discussed by the cultural and regional development committees, has many critics among heritage experts and various professional associations. Some MPs from the governing parties have also joined them, such as the Christian Democrat Jiří Junek. According to him, the draft does not address the care of the surrounding area of the heritage object. Archaeologists are also concerned that they must prepare a project for their research, even though they will be unable to fulfill some of its elements due to the nature of their work.

According to Minister of Culture Daniel Herman (KDU-ČSL), the draft emphasizes the public interest in the protection of the heritage fund and makes it more transparent. The minister also mentioned the possibility of compensating property owners for costs incurred due to various restrictions related to the location in heritage areas, even if the properties are not protected. According to Herman, the administrative burden during the restoration of the heritage fund should be reduced.

However, according to ODS MP Jana Černochová, the new rules will increase bureaucracy. Marta Semelová (KSČM) criticized the draft for, among other things, limiting the heritage fund, complicating the documentation of architectural heritage, and providing legally ambiguous interpretations.

The Association of Associations for the Protection and Development of Cultural Heritage and the Association of Professional Heritage Care Workers criticized the proposal for not protecting the most valuable and simultaneously most endangered part of the domestic cultural heritage - historical cities. The Ministry rejected the criticisms mostly by stating that the critics did not understand the law.

According to the ministry, the new law defines and emphasizes the public interest in the protection of the heritage fund more precisely. An important change, according to the ministry, is "the possibility to compensate costs incurred in connection with the limitation of ownership rights for owners of properties that are not cultural monuments but are located in heritage reserves and heritage zones." In practice, this means that even owners of such properties will be able to apply for state subsidies for their care, which is currently not possible.