The Supreme Court will open the case of the construction of the Brno Justice Palace

Olomouc - Today, the former chairman of the Regional Court in Brno, Jaromír Pořízek, will stand before the High Court in Olomouc. He is being prosecuted in connection with the allegedly overpriced construction of the Brno judicial complex. According to the prosecutor, Pořízek caused the state damages exceeding 35 million crowns by awarding part of the construction project to a company without a tender. The Regional Court in Ostrava previously acquitted the judge, reasoning that it found no guilt or intent on his part. The prosecutor has appealed the verdict.

The judicial complex in Brno was completed in 2009. According to estimates from 2005, the construction was supposed to cost 805 million crowns. After precisely calculating the costs, the price rose to 1.674 billion crowns, an investment approved by the Ministry of Justice. However, the total costs ultimately reached 1.938 billion. As early as 2008, the Supreme Audit Office issued a report stating that the construction and preparation of the investment were overpriced.

The former chairman of the Regional Court in Brno has been charged with abuse of public office, violation of duties in the management of foreign property, and violation of binding rules of commercial dealings, for which he faces three to ten years in prison if found guilty.

The case has been in proceedings for several years. The police charged Pořízek, the long-time head of the Brno regional court, in the fall of 2012. The Ostrava court considered the case in 2014, when in December it halted the criminal prosecution in a non-public session. However, the High Court in Olomouc overturned the decision in May 2015 and ordered the case to be reconsidered. The appellate matter opens after more than a year; the Regional Court's verdict was delivered in November 2016.