<UOHS>: The construction of the judicial palace in Brno was flawed

Brno - The chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition (UOHS) Petr Rafaj confirmed a fine of 200,000 crowns to the Regional Court in Brno for the construction of the judicial palace. This was discovered by ČTK from the collection of decisions on the UOHS website. The decision dates back to May of this year, but the office only published it on the website this past Friday. The tender was previously reviewed by the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) and the police due to the increase in construction costs from the originally estimated 786 million crowns to nearly two billion. The UOHS decision pertains only to the construction of the smaller of the two buildings.
    According to court spokesperson Miroslava Sedláčková, a lawsuit has already been filed against the UOHS decision. This has led to a somewhat paradoxical situation, because the Regional Court in Brno is the one that decides on appeals against the UOHS's final decisions. "However, it is expected that the administrative section of this court will not decide on this matter, but will refer it to the Supreme Administrative Court to determine which regional court will handle this case in administrative proceedings," Sedláčková stated.
    The Antimonopoly Office objected to the use of an option for additional work amounting to over 233 million crowns excluding VAT. According to the UOHS, the option was used in violation of the Public Procurement Act. The scope of additional work had increased by more than 100 percent compared to what the court had originally anticipated. "The contracting authority was not authorized to utilize the option right," is stated in the decision signed by UOHS chairman Petr Rafaj.
    According to the text of the decision, the increase in additional works must have been apparent to the Regional Court in Brno during the procurement process. By conducting negotiations only with the company IMOS Brno and not announcing a new competition, the court violated the Public Procurement Act. The UOHS argued that in the case of an open competition, the court could have received a more advantageous offer than the one that was ultimately realized.
    The UOHS began addressing the case based on conclusions from the Supreme Audit Office. The Regional Court in Brno has violated the Public Procurement Act for the second time in connection with the judicial complex, which was opened last year. The first error concerned the purchase of furniture.
    The financing of the palace, which is the largest construction investment in the justice sector in the region, also attracted the interest of the police and the state prosecutor's office. Suspicions of a criminal offense were not confirmed. Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil filed a disciplinary complaint last year against Jaromír Pořízek, the head of the Brno Regional Court, primarily because the court did not finalize the amendment to the original contract with the construction company and also exceeded the specified budget. He was unsuccessful in his complaint.