Supreme Court rules people entitled to state apology for Covid measures

The Czech Supreme Court has ruled that people are entitled to demand an official apology from the state for the extraordinary measures taken by the Ministry of Health during the Covid pandemic, provided they filed a lawsuit against the measures at the time. The emergency measures, which were later ruled to be illegal by the Supreme Administrative Court, restricted where people could go, limited the operation of a number of shops and services, and made the wearing of face masks and respirators mandatory.

The new verdict comes from an appeal by a plaintiff in Jesenice, south of Prague, who sought compensation for the non-property damage caused by the measures issued by the ministry in 2021. The decision and any resultant claim for damages only applies to people who filed a lawsuit against the emergency measures within one month from the date the measure came into effect.