The construction of the judiciary palace in Ústí nad Labem will become more expensive; the government will discuss it

Prague/Ústí nad Labem – The construction of the judicial palace in Ústí nad Labem, which was originally expected to cost 1.7 billion crowns, will be approximately one billion more expensive. This follows from documents that Justice Minister Marie Benešová (for ANO) will present to the government on Monday. The construction has been awaited for 19 years. The current building is insufficient for the regional court and it rents space in the city center.

During the preparatory works and the development of project documentation, which cost more than 80 million crowns, the parameters of the project changed. The changes primarily concern the increase in the number of employees from the original 745 to 828, which is associated with the expansion of usable space. It is also expected that the average office space per person will decrease. The complex will become the second largest judicial palace in the country in terms of the number of employees. The only larger complex will be the one at Na Míčinkách in Prague, which employs approximately 1,000 people.

It is planned that the complex will have 248 offices, five meeting rooms, and 30 conference rooms. The palace will also include restrooms, kitchenettes, mailrooms, document storage, and storage rooms. It is also expected to have a kitchen and dining room or a cafeteria. There will be parking for 316 cars.

Plans for the construction of a new judicial complex for the Ústí court and the state prosecutor's office have been discussed since 2002. The current building, which has been in operation since 1974, does not meet the needs of the court. It is located in a flood zone. During floods, the building has been submerged several times. The new judicial palace is set to be built in the Bukov district.

Due to a lack of space, the regional state prosecutor's office and the district state prosecutor's office have already left the regional court building. Both institutions are currently renting space in private buildings in the city center. The new building is intended to house the regional and district court along with the state prosecutor’s office, the Probation and Mediation Service, a branch of the Ministry of Justice, and the Ústí regional office of the Office for Representation of the State in Property Affairs.

The building by the Elbe can no longer accommodate the entire regional court. Last year, it rented office space in the Palace Zdar in the city center for administrative judiciary needs. Significant investments are still needed in the building on Střekov due to its poor condition, for example, air conditioning needed to be installed in several meeting rooms.

In October 2013, President Miloš Zeman and Minister Benešová, who was then a member of Jiří Rusnok's government, laid the cornerstone of the non-existent judicial palace in Ústí. The completion date was estimated at that time to be 2018.