Restriction of access to the Supreme Administrative Court to reduce its burden (via expanding the institution of inadmissibility of a cassation complaint in the Czech Republic)

Abstract

The article deals with the current change in the concept of a cassation complaint filed with the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic. The Supreme Administrative Court’s core activity is deciding on cassation complaints. They challenge previous final decisions of regional courts in the administrative judiciary. An amendment was adopted in February 2021. Since April 2021, it has been introducing (or rather substantially expanding) a certain “filter” of cassation complaints. This “filter” consists of restricting access to the Supreme Administrative Court, aimed at reducing the Supreme Administrative Court’s workload through cassation complaints. The essence of this “filter” is that it will be easier for the Supreme Administrative Court to reject a cassation complaint without dealing with it on the merits and in detail. The article briefly describes the realities of the Czech administrative judiciary and the reasons that led to this relatively controversial solution. The key reason was the growing number of cassation complaints and the related length of proceedings before the Supreme Administrative Court. The paper focuses on the analysis of the new legislation and an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages it brings.