The court in Brno must once again address the costs of the dispute over the zoning plan

Brno - The Regional Court in Brno must re-evaluate the high costs of proceedings in the dispute over the update of the Brno zoning plan. The court annulled extensive changes in the planning documentation last January based on a lawsuit from 15 individuals and associations. Instead of the requested 428,000 crowns, the regional court ruled that they should receive only about 96,000 crowns as compensation for the costs of the proceedings from the City of Brno, the unsuccessful opposing party.

According to today's ruling by the Constitutional Court (ÚS), the decision of the regional court shows signs of arbitrariness and contradicts the principles of justice. The regional court based its decision on the reasoning that while the legal services formally related to the 15 plaintiffs, the argumentation was uniform.

According to the constitutional judges, the regional court arbitrarily decided not to apply the provisions of the attorney's tariff, according to which for joint actions representing multiple parties, the attorney is entitled to a non-contractual fee for each represented person, reduced by 20 percent. The court must apply legal regulations as a whole and is not entitled to selectively refuse the application of a specific provision, stated the constitutional judges.

The regional court also allegedly did not sufficiently consider the specific nature of the judicial review of the zoning plan. This is a dispute that potentially affects hundreds of thousands of individuals and legal entities residing, based, working, or owning property in the city of Brno. The change in the zoning plan consisted of 10,000 pages of text plus hundreds of maps, thus constituting an extraordinarily extensive and serious agenda.

At the same time, the ÚS reminded that it already annulled the so-called award regulation in 2013. Doubts about the costs might not arise if the Ministry of Justice had issued a new regulation with flat rates. "The Ministry of Justice is legally required to adopt new regulation and should consider whether this new regulation, unlike the annulled award regulation, should also apply to proceedings in administrative courts, including proceedings on proposals for annulment of a general nature with multiple applicants," hinted the ÚS.

The lawsuit of individuals and the association against the update of the zoning plan was based, for example, on the claim that the changes allow for the legalization of illegal constructions, construction on green areas, increase the floor area index, and favor certain developers. The Brno city council agreed in February this year to begin work on a new zoning plan.