In the Aupark Brno case, architects Dokoupil and Kobza were found guilty

On Friday, March 9, 2012, a meeting of the Chamber of Architects' disciplinary court took place regarding the disciplinary proceedings against authorized architects Jaroslav Dokoupil and Radoslav Kobza, in which their activities related to the development of the territorial study "Conditional Acceptability of Sales Areas in the Aupark Brno Location" were evaluated.

The disciplinary court found the architects guilty of violating § 23 of the Professional and Ethical Code of the Chamber of Architects, which states, among other things, that "an architect prevents the emergence of a conflict of interest in relation to both the lay and professional public, and particularly avoids situations in which, while performing professional administrative activities, they would decide on matters for which they themselves have prepared relevant documents for the client or for which they have prepared an expert opinion necessary as a basis for this decision".

Due to the conflict of interest, the architects were found guilty and were subjected to a disciplinary measure - a fine of 50,000 CZK (according to § 20 of Act No. 360/1992 Coll., on the exercise of the profession of authorized architects and authorized engineers and technicians engaged in construction: "For serious or repeated violations of duties by an authorized person, the Chamber may impose on the authorized person, unless it is a criminal offense, one of the following disciplinary measures: - a) a written reprimand, b) a fine of up to 50,000 CZK, c) suspension of authorization for a period not exceeding three years, d) revocation of authorization).

This is a first-instance decision. The ruling of the disciplinary court from March 9 has not yet become legally binding. Currently, the reasoning of the decision of the Chamber of Architects' disciplinary court is being finalized. After that, the written version of the ruling will be sent to the disciplinary defendants.

If the architects appeal, the procedure would be as follows:

The architects can appeal against the ruling of the disciplinary court within 15 days of its delivery through the chairperson of the disciplinary court to the board of the Chamber of Architects. If the defendants do so, the chairperson of the disciplinary court will submit the appeal along with the disciplinary file to the board of the Czech Chamber of Architects within ten days of the delivery of the appeal. The board of the Chamber of Architects decides on the appeal based on the report of a three-member appellate senate appointed from the members of the board. The board may decide to overturn the disciplinary court's ruling and acquit the disciplined defendants, or it may return the case to its senate for further consideration, or it may return the case to the disciplinary court for reconsideration. The fourth option is for the board of the Chamber of Architects to confirm the ruling. There is no remedy against the decision of the board.

If the ruling becomes final:

The architects could independently design, but they would not be able to apply for public contracts. Among the qualification requirements according to § 53 of Act No. 137/2006 Coll., on public contracts, is also the fact that the architect has not been finally disciplined according to special legal regulations in the last 3 years. If the ruling becomes legally binding, the architects would not be able to demonstrate this qualification requirement.