The Minister of Finance promised 800 million for the judicial complex in Ústí

Ústí nad Labem - Finance Minister Jan Fischer promised 800 million crowns for the construction of a new judicial complex in Ústí nad Labem, with the funding to be incorporated into the next budget. Justice Minister in resignation Marie Benešová told journalists this today during a visit to the Ústí region. The old court building from the 1970s is in a state of emergency after floods, with damaged foundations and insulation.
    "It was possible to prioritize the construction of a building in a non-flood zone in the budget. Therefore, the new building of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office in Brno had to be postponed," Benešová explained. According to the director of the court administration, Jan Tobiáš, the Ústí complex, which houses the regional and district court and the public prosecutor's office, has been flooded three times in 11 years. Each time, this resulted in the suspension of operations at the institutions for several weeks, in 2002 even for half a year.
    According to the president of the regional court Milan Kohoutek, the building is unsuitable for the court not only due to flood damage. When it was built, fewer employees were considered, and the electrical installation does not meet the current usage of computers. "We cannot install air conditioning in the courtroom. The judge, when it is 30 degrees outside, has to sit in a gown and cannot open the windows," Kohoutek mentioned as an example. Additionally, the number of toilets does not correspond to the number of employees.
    No decision has yet been made on the future use of the old building, but according to Benešová, the police are interested in it. The director of the court administration claims, however, that its further use would require hundreds of millions in investments. "It is nearing the end of its lifespan, and the foundations are damaged. We are unable to prevent water seepage," he added.
    The new building is to be located in the Bukov district of Ústí. "The allocation of funds will be spread over three years. In the first year, 50 million will be allocated," the minister added. According to her, it will likely be necessary to add a parking lot and a cafeteria to the proposed project because there are no restaurants near the planned complex.
    The construction of a new complex for the Ústí courts and public prosecutor's office has been discussed for many years. As early as 2006, the court announced that employees could move to a new one within five years. At that time, the new building was to cost 550 million crowns. The construction on an area of 10,800 m² was to be financed from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project. The government approved the construction in 2008. The Ministry of Justice’s plan at that time anticipated that the investor would operate the facility for 25 years. The ministry would pay 4.36 billion crowns for the building over this entire period, which is reportedly 401 million crowns less than if the construction was funded from the state budget. Currently, the project in Bukov already has a building permit valid until 2015.