Published on 17 June 2024
FIFTH SECTION
Applications nos. 40764/21 and 1557/22
Magdalena BYSTŘICKÁ against the Czech Republic
and Antonín ČÍŽ and Lenka LINDOVSKÁ against the Czech Republic
lodged on 4 August 2021 and 28 December 2022 respectively communicated on 29 May 2024
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASES
The applications mainly concern the repercussions on the applicants’ right to education of the measures taken by the Czech authorities in response to the spreading of the SARS‑CoV‑2 virus that causes Covid-19 in the context of the state of emergency in autumn 2020. In particular, on 30 September 2020 the Government of the Czech Republic declared a state of emergency on the basis of Constitutional Law no. 110/1998 on Security of the Czech Republic (ústavní zákon o bezpečnosti České republiky). This was followed by crisis measures repeatedly ordered by the Government under Law no. 240/2000 on Crisis Management (zákon o krizovém řízení), restricting and prohibiting in-class lessons.
Domestic courts refused to review these measures on the procedural grounds. The Constitutional Court decided on the applicants’ constitutional complaints on 13 April 2021 (Pl. ÚS 103/20), on 12 October 2021 (I. ÚS 2541/21), on 30 November 2021 (Pl. ÚS 38/21 and III. ÚS 2896/21).
The applications raise issues under Articles 6 § 1 and 13 of the Convention and Article 2 of Protocol No. 1.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
Application no. 40764/21:
1. Has the minor applicant been denied the right to education, guaranteed by Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 on account of the crisis measures restricting and prohibiting in-class school education in the period from 2 to 20 November 2020?
2. Did the minor applicant have at her disposal effective domestic remedies for her Convention complaints, as required by Article 13 of the Convention? If so, did she exhaust those remedies in order to comply with requirements of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
Application no. 1557/22:
1. Has the minor applicant been denied the right to education, guaranteed by Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 on account of the crisis measures restricting and prohibiting in-class school education in the periods from 14 October to 29 November 2020 (full restriction) and from 30 November to 12 December 2020 (alternative presence)?
2. Did the minor applicant have at his disposal effective domestic remedies for his Convention complaints, as required by Article 13 of the Convention? If so, did he exhaust those remedies in order to comply with requirements of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention?
3. Was Article 6 § 1 of the Convention under its civil head applicable to the proceedings initiated by the applicants? If so, did they have access to a court for the determination of their civil rights and obligations, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?