Submission of initiatives, petitions and complaints
The Czech Environmental Inspectorate handles initiatives about damage to or endangering the environment, complaints against inappropriate behavior of officials or against the procedure of an administrative body, according to the legal framework provided by Act No. 500/2004 Coll., Administrative Code, as amended (hereinafter also "Administrative Code").
Note: The legislation prior to the issuance of Act No. 500/2004 Coll., Administrative Code, did not distinguish between the terms "initiative" and "complaint". Complaints, notices and initiatives were discussed, and Government Decree No. 150/1958 of Official Gazette was used as a legal framework for the investigation. The legal framework, procedure and deadlines were uniform.
The current legislation makes a precise distinction between "accepting initiatives to initiate proceedings" and "complaints".
Acceptance of initiatives to initiate proceedings (§ 42 of the Administrative Code)
According to this provision of the Administrative Code, the administrative body is obliged to accept initiatives in order to initiate proceedings ex officio. The initiative can be submitted by any natural or legal person, but also anonymously (no formal requirements are required for initiatives). The initiative can be submitted in writing, orally in the protocol, by telephone, via data box or electronically to the e-mail address of the filing office, even without a guaranteed electronic signature. It should be clear from the content of the initiative what the initiative is about and what the submitter is demanding. If the submitter wants to be informed about the result of the investigation, they must explicitly request it in the initiative and state at least the address for delivery. The deadline for handling the initiative is 30 days from the date of its delivery to the administrative body.
Key for the investigation in the matter of the initiative and possibly for the management of the administrative or of the misdemeanor procedure is that the CEI is competent to act in this way. The Czech Environmental Inspectorate is a professional supervisory body of the state administration in the field of the environment. It is a tool for environmental law enforcement in five areas: air protection, water protection, waste management, nature protection and forest protection. You can find information on the competences of the CEI in individual components of environmental protection here.
Information on the situations in which you can contact the CEI with an initiative can be found here.
Receiving complaints (§ 175 of the Administrative Code)
According to this provision of the Administrative Code, the persons concerned have the right to appeal to the administrative authorities with complaints against the inappropriate behavior of officials, i.e. employees of the CEI, or against the procedure of the administrative body, i.e. the CEI, if this law does not provide another means of protection. Each complaint must contain the requirements established by the administrative regulations:
- The natural person shall state the name, surname, date of birth and place of permanent residence or different delivery address in the complaint.
- The legal entity shall state its name or business name, identification number or similar information and address of the registered office or different delivery address in the complaint.
Complaints can be submitted verbally to the protocol, in writing, via a data box (with the requirements in accordance with the provisions of Section 18 of Act No. 300/2008 Coll., on electronic actions and authorized conversion of documents) or electronically to the e-mail address of the filing office with a recognized electronic signature. The deadline for processing such a complaint is 60 days from the date of its delivery to the administrative body.
If the complainant believes that the complaint they filed with the competent administrative authority was not properly handled, they can ask the superior administrative authority, i.e. the Ministry of the Environment, to investigate the manner in which the complaint was handled.
Acceptance of petitions (Act No. 85/1990 Coll. on the right to petition)
It is also possible to submit petitions to the CEI pursuant to Act No. 85/1990 Coll. on the right to petition. The petition must contain the text of the petition with the request to be addressed, petition sheets for citizens to sign and information about who compiled the petition. If the petition is created by an individual, the petition must include the first name, last name and place of residence. If the petition was created by a petition committee, the petition must contain the names, surnames and residences of all members of the petition committee and the name, surname and residence of the person authorized to represent the members of the committee in this matter. If the petition was created by a non-governmental organization, the petition must contain the name, registered office, ID number and the name, surname and residence of the person authorized to act on behalf of the organization.
The CEI will assess the content of the petition and respond in writing within 30 days to the person who submitted it or to the person representing the members of the petition committee. If the matter does not fall under the competence of the CEI, the petition will be forwarded to the relevant state authority within 5 days and the person who submitted the petition will be notified.
It is also possible to compile a petition electronically in the tool of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic at the web address https://portal.gov.cz/e-petice.
Initiatives and complaints can be submitted to the headquarters and individual territorial inspectorates of the CEI.
Contact information can be found in the Contacts section.