The Constitutional Court (ÚS) will today announce a ruling on the right to adequate housing. The court ruled on a complaint by tenants of a municipal flat in Olomouc. They filed a lawsuit with the regional court seeking a declaration that the city committed illegal intervention by failing to take steps to desegregate the excluded locality and contributing to the perpetuation of social exclusion through its housing policy. They were unsuccessful before the Regional Court and the Supreme Administrative Court.
The litigants are of Roma origin and have lived at several addresses in Olomouc municipal flats. They pointed to the poor technical and hygienic condition of the flats. The administrative courts, when considering the action, focused mainly on the question of whether the applicants had a public subjective right to housing. According to the Regional Court, no, because the law does not expressly provide for such a right.
However, the writers of the constitutional complaint refer, for example, to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international documents. They ask the Constitutional Court to overturn the decisions of the Regional Court and the Supreme Administrative Court on the grounds of violation of the right to protection of human dignity, the right to assistance in material need, the right to protection of health, and the right to a fair trial.
Source: ÚS and CTK
