<translation>Judicial Palace in Ústí nad Labem may be built within five years</translation>

Ústí nad Labem - The new judicial palace in Ústí nad Labem could be built within five years. After negotiations with the leadership of the Ústí regional court, Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil told reporters today. He added that it also depends on whether the government supports his ministry's plans for financing the construction from private sources at their meeting in Teplice on Wednesday.
    The Ministry of Justice assumes that a private investor would build the new courthouse in the Bukov district of Ústí and then operate it for 25 years. The ministry would pay 4.36 billion crowns for it over the entire period, which is reportedly 401 million crowns less than if it were funded from the state budget. In addition to the Ústí court, the ministry plans to pay for a new prison in Rapotice in South Moravia, which would cost 2.64 billion crowns.
    The Ústí judicial palace could accommodate 600 employees from the regional and district courts, the public prosecutor's office, and the probation and mediation services. According to the chairman of the regional court, Milan Kohoutek, this would resolve the spatial issues that the justice system in Ústí nad Labem is facing. "Today we have not a single free office," he said.
    Pospíšil stated today that it will be necessary to keep the current courthouse operational until the completion of the judicial palace. According to him, the ministry is ready to allocate funds for the necessary repairs.