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Workers from EU countries have the right to same treatment as locals - Ombudsman summarizes recommendations for authorities, municipalities, regions and ministries

December 30, 2021 News

The Public Defender of Rights set his recommendations on the basis of extensive research among EU citizens living in the Czech Republic. More than a thousand people, proportionally represented not only by nationality, but also by education or their residence in the Czech Republic, described their experiences in dealing with the authorities, health care or education. Above all the participants commented on issues related to work and employment — and this is the area where most of the Ombudsman's recommendations are directed. Ombudsman's remit has been extended to include the right to free movement of EU citizens since 2018. According to the Ombudsman Czech authorities, with whom foreigners most often deal, should improve communication and, for example, regularly update their Czech and foreign language websites with information specifically for foreign workers. He also sees the role of the State Labour Inspection Office as crucial.

Lottery for the date of meeting at Czech embassies is transparent way to the receipt of visa applications

December 1, 2021 News

People who fail at least twice in the lottery for the date of meeting for submitting their visa application at Czech embassies abroad can submit their application without attending in person. These are, for example, applicants for long-term stays and visas for family reunification, study or seasonal employment. Drawable registrations have been introduced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in recent years at some embassies to increase transparency in the receipt of applications. At the same time, the system is intended to prevent suspicions of corruption in the granting of appointments, according to the MFA. Monika Šimůnková, the Deputy Ombudsman, examined the rules and said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not make any mistakes in introducing the draw of dates.

Swedish Teacher Asked the Czech Labour Office for Several Months to Confirm his Earnings. He did not get Information until the Deputy Ombudsman Intervened

November 8, 2021 News

Even after several urgencies from the Swedish Unemployment Office, the Czech Labour Office did not provide necessary information for the assessment of unemployment benefits to the Swedish teacher. According to the Deputy Ombudsman Monika Šimůnková, the Labour Office erred by not providing the necessary data without undue delay. Due to the lack of information from the Czech Republic, the man was left without unemployment benefits for almost 8 months.

Visegrad hosted meeting of V4 ombudspersons

October 22, 2021 News

Representatives of ombudsman institutions of the V4 countries met at the invitation of the Hungarian Ombudsman in the city that gave its name to this group of Central European countries. At the two-day meeting, they presented how they deal with selected problems in their countries.

In 15 years, Czech Ombudsman has inspected 504 facilities where people are deprived of their personal liberty - pushed for the abolition of cage beds and improved conditions for thousands of people

October 6, 2021 News

By systematically visiting places where people are or may be deprived of their personal liberty, Ombudsman strengthens their protection against ill-treatment. Since 2006, Czech Ombudsman has been carrying out the tasks of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

Public Defender of Rights of the Czech Republic publishes the Annual Report 2020

September 17, 2021 News

The Annual Report 2020 brings comprehensive information about the activities of the Public Defender of Rights of the Czech Republic in all areas of his mandate. It includes the Defender’s activities in legislative matters and in relation to the Constitutional Court, the main achievements and activities in the areas of discrimination and equal treatment, monitoring of rights of people with disabilities and supervision over restrictions of personal freedom (National Preventive Mechanism). It also offers an overview of the main activities in all other areas of the ombudsman’s work – social security, public policy, family, healthcare and labour, rules of construction procedure, judiciary, migration, and finance.

Only systematic monitoring and analysis is the way to find out how the Czech Republic is doing in implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, agreed participants of the international seminar

September 15, 2021 News

There are more than 1.1 million people with disabilities living in the Czech Republic. While some data on their situation are already available from various sources, others are not tracked yet in the Czech Republic. That is why the Deputy Ombudsman proposed a set of indicators that, taken as a whole, could illustrate how the Czech Republic is doing in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Unusual Name Can Cause Problems in Registration for Vaccination against COVID-19

August 30, 2021 News

Thanks to the case of a complainant, whose identity could not be verified in the population record by the registration system for vaccination against COVID-19, we have found out that it might prove problematic in more than solely in an individual case. Despite the complainant disposes of both the Czech citizenship and personal identification number, and she filled in the data in the first step of registration correctly, the system did not allow her to continue. She was left without the PIN2 code and could not succeed in choosing the vaccination date. According to the Ombudsman´s findings, she is not the only one with a similar problem – the cause might have rested in her unusual name.

Majority of Czech libraries treats EU citizens equally, however, there are challenges, notes the Ombudsman in an analysis

June 10, 2021 News

The Ombudsman looked into the services of libraries in relation to equality of conditions for EU citizens coming from other Member States and Czech citizens. “It is important that not only Czech citizens have access to library services, but also citizens of EU Member States do while respecting the principle of equality and the principle of non-discrimination,” said the Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček. However, the analysis of the 22 most important Czech libraries showed that this is not always the case. Certain libraries implement problematic conditions for EU citizens when registering, but especially when borrowing books and documents.

Prague and the Ombudsman Křeček ask the Ministry to change the approach of building offices in the case of apartments being used to shared accommodation

June 3, 2021 News

The current practice of providing temporary accommodation services in apartments determined to permanent living is not in accordance with the legislation and the process of re-utilization of structures of such apartments to appropriate kind of establishment shall be required. The Ombudsman, Stanislav Křeček, presented to representatives of the capital city of Prague the extent and goals of his investigation concerning this issue, which he managed to initiate.

The monitoring of the current pandemic measures in prisons

May 18, 2020 News

The Deputy Ombudsman, Monika Šimůnková, being entrusted with the supervision of places where personal freedom is restricted, is regularly monitoring the current situation in prisons. As it is not possible to carry out personal visits in prisons under the current circumstances, Ms. Šimůnková and her colleagues conduct a research on the COVID-19 protective measures taken in prisons.