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Information portal on the abuse of the Beneš Decrees against the Liechtenstein family
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As of 20 December 2018, the lawyers of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation have delivered legal motions to twenty-six district courts requiring eviction and declaratory relief concerning the real properties which are owned by the Foundation and which the Czech state uses illegally and without any legal title.
The motions include only properties with the state registered as the owner in the land registry. The properties which are today owned by third parties like regions, municipalities, universities, non-profit organizations and private entities, are not affected by the motions. The motions also do not affect land plots which are, although illegally, used by the state but there are motorways on them today.
The motions follow all unsuccessful manifestations of a good will the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation has so far showed in trying to make the Czech state discuss the open issues of the past.
The Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation has remained consistent for many years and recently has even intensified its efforts to avoid legal proceedings with the Czech Republic. However, the deadline stipulated by the Civil Code of the Czech Republic was merciless even for the patience of the Liechtenstein family. The 31 December 2018 was the last day when it was possible to claim the illegally confiscated property. Despite that, the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation continues to be willing to negotiate with the Czech side.
Before the Foundation claimed the illegally confiscated properties or compensation for them at the Czech courts, the Czech Republic had initiated a motion against the Foundation. The Office for the Government Representation in Property Affairs sued the Princely Foundation in 2014 to deprive it of its ownership title to 600 hectares of forest near Říčany in Central Bohemia. After the district and regional courts, as well as the Highest Court, sided with the state, the Foundation filed a constitutional complaint in 2017.
The Constitutional Court only passed the verdict in February 2020: it rejected the complaint filed by the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation. Reporter judge Radovan Suchánek stated that a lawsuit seeking to determine property rights could not bypass the sense and purpose of restitution laws, and that the rights and freedoms of the complainant had not been harmed.
The Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation disagrees with the Constitutional Court verdict. “We find that this Constitutional Court verdict once again tramples on the rights to the protection of property of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation,” says Foundation spokesman Michal Růžička. The Liechtenstein side said immediately in February 2020 that it would use all means available to achieve justice at international courts and international institutions. And it did so: on August 19, 2020, the government of the Principality of Liechtenstein, not the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation any more, filed a complaint against the Czech Republic with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It was led to do so by concerns about the sovereignty of the principality, which has repeatedly been debased by the Czech Republic as it repeatedly labels the Liechtenstein head of state as a German national. A repeated application of the Beneš Decrees on the citizens of Liechtenstein, as late as in 2020, is tantamount to an obvious disrespect towards the sovereignty of Liechtenstein and the personal identity of its citizens.
August 2020 - Liechtenstein appeals to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
On 19 August 2020, the Liechtenstein government filed an international complaint against the Czech Republic at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to ensure the sovereignty of the country. As it is not sufficiently respected by the Czech Republic. On the background there are verdicts of Czech courts from 2015-2020 in which fundamental rights are denied to Liechtenstein citizens, including the head of the Principality of Liechtenstein.
February 2020 - Constitutional court delivered a verdict
In its verdict dated 20 February 2020, the Constitutional Court rejected the constitutional complaint filed by the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation in July 2017 concerning the ownership title to land plots near Říčany. The complaint, filed by the Foundation against the verdict of the Highest Court and the verdicts of the Regional Court in Prague and the District Court for Prague-East, was rejected by the Constitutional Court reasoning that illegality of the application of decrees can be only examined pursuant to special restitution laws and not pursuant to general laws.
Brno regional court rejects state’s arguments
The regional court in Brno expressed agreement with the “courageous” land registries and confirmed that the Czech state cannot declare itself the owner of Liechtenstein land in the land registry merely on the basis of reference to the Beneš Decrees. However, the Czech political representation still refuses any talks and insists on court disputes. The Constitutional Court has not been able to decide on the forest near Říčany for two and a half years. If nothing changes, the dispute is inevitably heading to an international court. However, the cooperation between the Liechtensteins and Czech institutions is developing: Mendel University in Brno has awarded the Gold Medal to Hereditary Prince Alois for his family’s historic contribution to science, education and the countryside in Moravia.
Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation files competency complaint
In their decision-making, some courts disregard the fact that Hans Adam II is the head of an independent country, bestowed with immunities in line with the international law. The question is whether district courts are actually competent to handle the lawsuits filed by the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation or whether the dispute should rather be handled by regional courts. The Constitutional Court has not decided yet.
Liechtenstein family appeals to court
The Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation, which manages family property, started several lawsuits with the Czech Republic in December 2018. They require the recovery of confiscated immovable properties of František Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein, which have remained in the ownership of the state, or a compensating settlement. All properties of the Liechtenstein family in Czechoslovakia were confiscated in 1945 based on the wrong application of the Beneš Decrees. These legal motions followed the pre-action demands which were not well accepted by any of the state institutions involved.
The Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation claims the return of properties from the state.
On 6 December 2018, the lawyers of the princely foundation started to send letters to Czech state institutions and state enterprises, requiring the release of all illegally seized properties. The state confiscated them in 1945-1951 from František Josef Liechtenstein and has used them since. The letters sent were pre-action demands in the sense of applicable law.
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