Legal knowledge in practice

Under Section 1017 of the Civil Code, neighbors must refrain from planting trees in close proximity to the land boundary. The law establishes a simple rule:

The Supreme Court in its decision of 17.9.2025, sp. zn. 25 Cdo 2087/2024 stated that the right of a parent to stay with a hospitalized child is not absolute. In this case, it was a mother who wanted to spend the night in intensive care with her month-old son. The paramedics allowed her to stay awake at the bedside, but not to sleep, because the ward was not spatially or technically adapted for this. The lawsuit for apology and compensation was dismissed by the courts.

The Civil Code (hereinafter referred to as the “OZ”) regulates the institution of subletting in two places, in the general provisions on rent (§ 2215 and § 2216) and in the subsection on the special provisions on the rent of an apartment and house (§ 2274-2278).

Objective liability of the vehicle operator is an important institution of administrative law, which serves to effectively punish road traffic violations, especially in cases where it is not possible to identify the specific offender. This legal institute was introduced by an amendment to Act No. 361/2000 Coll., on Traffic on Road Roads (hereinafter referred to as the “Act on Traffic on Road Roads”), effective from 19 January 2013.

In a recent decision (27 Cdo 1993/2023), the Supreme Court clarified an important question: can a tax administrator demand payment of a public debt — such as a fine — directly from a company executive if he has breached his duty of care to a proper manager?

The Institute of Contractual Penalty is an important instrument in civil law for the consolidation of obligations. Its function is primarily preventive, punitive and hedging, the purpose of which is to motivate the debtor to fulfill the obligation, while at the same time providing the creditor with the assurance of quick and relatively easy satisfaction in the event of a breach of obligation. At the same time, however, there is a danger of excessive contractual penalties, which would lead to a disproportionate burden on the debtor. Therefore, the legislator in Section 2051 of the Civil Code (hereinafter referred to as “OZ”) enshrined the possibility of moderation of the contractual penalty.