NSS acknowledged the suspensive effect of Křeček's complaint regarding Šantovka Tower

Brno – The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) granted the suspensive effect of the cassation complaint filed by the public defender of rights regarding the Olomouc Šantovka Tower. Due to the suspensive effect, the Olomouc magistrate cannot issue a building permit to the investor until the proceedings on the cassation complaint are concluded. The spokesperson for the ombudsman, Markéta Bočková, informed about the NSS decision in a press release today. The building is set to be constructed near the city heritage reserve in Olomouc. The 74-meter-high Šantovka Tower has been the subject of discussion in Olomouc for years. Heritage protectors and some experts oppose it, claiming it would harm the historical panorama of the city. The project is backed by entrepreneur Richard Morávek, who argues that the panorama of the center of Olomouc is not threatened.

Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček filed a cassation complaint against the March decision of the Regional Court in Olomouc, which dismissed the ombudsman's office lawsuit against the zoning decision for the construction of the high-rise building. With the request for a suspensive effect, the ombudsman aimed to prevent the Olomouc magistrate from issuing a building permit to the investor before the court proceedings on the cassation complaint had ended. After the issuance of the building permit, the investor could start construction regardless of the potential success of the ombudsman's cassation complaint at the NSS. In such a case, according to the ombudsman, even a court victory would be practically worthless, as the second-largest city heritage reserve in the Czech Republic would suffer damage that could no longer be remedied.

"I am pleased that the Supreme Administrative Court granted my request for the suspensive effect of the cassation complaint and suspended the effects of the March resolution of the Olomouc Regional Court. The Supreme Administrative Court accepted our argument that the temporary harm that may arise to the investor because he currently cannot proceed with his construction project cannot outweigh the potential irreversible damage to the historically valuable area of the center of Olomouc," Křeček stated.

In the public interest lawsuit, the ombudsman sought the annulment of the zoning decision for the placement of the Šantovka Tower issued by the Olomouc magistrate before the Olomouc branch of the Ostrava Regional Court. According to him, the placement of the high-rise building near the city heritage reserve simultaneously violates several public interests. In addition to the interest in protecting the Olomouc City Heritage Reserve and preserving the values of the Olomouc area as protected by the Olomouc zoning plan, the ombudsman also identifies a public interest in environmental protection and a public interest in impartial decision-making by the state administration body.

However, the Regional Court did not address the substance of the lawsuit and dismissed it as inadmissible this spring. According to the court, the ombudsman, as the plaintiff, did not demonstrate the so-called significant public interest, and was therefore not entitled to file the lawsuit at all. It is against this ruling that the public defender of rights is now appealing with a cassation complaint to the NSS.