Disabled parking in Brno

Since 2015, the Czech Ombudsman has been dealing with complaints filed by applicants for disabled parking permits in the city of Brno against being denied a permit (“permit for a special use of road” under Czech laws) by a city ward.

Following consultations with the individual city wards, Brno City Hall (hereinafter the “City Hall”) issued a recommended methodology; some city wards then adopted their own methodology while others chose to use the one recommended by the City Hall.

While dealing with the cases concerning the above mentioned problems, the Ombudswoman concluded that the practice of some city wards was at variance with the Anti-Discrimination Act and with the Recommendation of the Public Defender of Rights on equal treatment in establishing reserved parking spaces on local roads (2012) because it was based directly on the City Hall’s methodological guidelines. The Ombudswoman issued her recommendations in this matter in June 2018. The purpose of the recommendations was to inspire the City Hall to revise the methodological guidelines and to bring them into compliance with the Anti-Discrimination Act.

Already in July 2018, the Ombudswoman received a response from the City Hall that the individual city wards will be asked to disregard the original methodological guidelines they had been using since 2015 and to follow the Ombudswoman’s recommendations from June 2018. Such a prompt and positive cooperation between the public authority and the Ombudsman is highly appreciated.