Extraordinary Appeal Proceedings Pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure

Extraordinary appeal is one of the extraordinary remedies. It is regulated in Sections 236–243g of the Act No 99/1963 Coll., Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the “CCP”). The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear and decide on extraordinary appeals (Section 10a of the CCP).

What Can Be Challenged by an Extraordinary Appeal?

An extraordinary appeal can only challenge the decisions of courts of appeal, i.e., decisions of regional courts or high courts (or in Prague decisions of the Municipal Court) if those courts decided on an appeal against a decision of the court of first instance. These decisions have the form of judgments or resolutions. An extraordinary appeal may also challenge some resolutions of a court of appeal issued during the course of the appeal proceedings (Section 238a of the CCP).

The decisions challenged by an extraordinary appeal must be final. This means that none of the ordinary remedies under the CCP (such as an ordinary appeal) can be brought against these decisions. The decision of a court of appeal is final if copies of the decision have been served to all parties to the proceedings.

Who May File an Extraordinary Appeal?

An extraordinary appeal may be filed only by a party to the proceedings (Section 240 of the CCP), i.e., someone who was a party to the proceedings before the court of appeal or their legal successors.

Only a party to the proceedings who has been harmed by the contested decision, which can be remedied by the Supreme Court annulling the decision, is entitled to file an extraordinary appeal. Thus, an extraordinary appeal cannot be filed, for example, by a party who was fully successful before the court of appeal. 

What Must an Extraordinary Appeal Contain?

A) First of all, an extraordinary appeal must contain the general elements required of any submission to a civil court. These required elements are listed in Section 42(4) of the CCP.

B) Apart from these, it must also contain additional information [Section 241a(2) of the CCP]:

  1. Information on the decision which it challenges (e.g., judgment of the Regional Court in Ostrava of 2 January 2013, Case No 33 Co 165/2012-136).

  2. Scope of the challenge to the decision of the court of appeal. The applicant must specify which operative part of the decision of the court of appeal the extraordinary appeal is directed against.

  3. On what grounds the decision is being challenged. An extraordinary appeal may be brought only on the grounds that the decision of the court of appeal is based on an error of substantive or procedural law [Section 241a(1) of the CCP]. The applicant must state specifically which of the legal assessments made by the court of appeal they consider to be incorrect and must also explain where (in their view) that incorrectness lies. An error of law may concern both the interpretation of substantive and procedural law adopted by the court of appeal in the challenged decision.

    The grounds of extraordinary appeal and the scope of the extraordinary appeal may be amended only during the period for filing the extraordinary appeal [Section 242(4) of the CCP].

    In determining the required elements of the extraordinary appeal, reference may not be made to submissions made by the applicant in the proceedings before the court of first instance or the court of appeal [Section 241a(4) of the CCP]. This in particular concerns the determination of the scope of the extraordinary appeal and the grounds of the extraordinary appeal.

    If the applicant is represented by an attorney (or a notary) in the extraordinary appeal proceedings, which is – with the exception of the situations referred to in Section 241(2) and (3) of the CCP –mandatory, the Supreme Court cannot take into account the determination of the scope of the extraordinary appeal and the grounds for the extraordinary appeal contained in a submission other than the submission drawn up and signed by an attorney or a notary.

  4. Why, according to the applicant, an extraordinary appeal should be admissible, i.e., why the applicant believes that the substantive examination of their extraordinary appeal by the Supreme Court should be admitted under the conditions set out in Section 237 of the CCP; or as the case may be with reference to the fact that it is a resolution listed in Section 238a of the CCP (see below).

  5. What the applicant seeks (e.g., for the Supreme Court to annul the decision of the court of appeal to the extent challenged in the extraordinary appeal or to change the decision of the court of appeal – see Sections 243d and 243e of the CCP). An extraordinary appeal which does not contain the required elements set out in numbers 1 to 5 above may be remedied only for the duration of the time limit for filing an extraordinary appeal. If the applicant is not represented by an attorney or a notary at the time of filing the extraordinary appeal, but must be represented, the time limit shall run from the date by which the applicant should have chosen a legal representative at the latest according to the court's request or from the date on which such a legal representative was appointed by the court at the applicant's request. Section 43 of the CCP does not apply to the extraordinary appeal proceedings and therefore the applicant will not be called upon to remedy any deficiencies concerning the required elements of the extraordinary appeal.

Where to File an Extraordinary Appeal?

An extraordinary appeal is to be filed with the court which decided the case as the court of first instance.

What Is the Time Limit for Filing an Extraordinary Appeal?

An extraordinary appeal may be filed within two months of the delivery of the decision of the court of appeal. The period starts to run on the day following the day on which the decision is served to the party. The period ends on the date which coincides numerically with the date of delivery.

Example: The decision of the court of appeal is delivered on 10 October. The time limit for filing an extraordinary appeal starts on 11 October and ends on 10 December. If the decision is delivered on 30 December, then the last day on which an extraordinary appeal can be filed is 28 February (or 29 February in a leap year, as there is no 30th day in February). If the last day of the period is a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the last day of the period shall be postponed to the next following working day.

In order to comply with the time limit, the party must file an extraordinary appeal with the court on the last day of the time limit at the latest or at least submit it for postal delivery.

However, where the court of appeal has made a rectifying resolution, the time limit runs again from the date on which such resolution is delivered to the party (i.e., similarly as mentioned above).

The time limit cannot be waived. The court of first instance (or the Supreme Court) shall reject an extraordinary appeal which was filed late. 
The specifics of the running of the time limit for filing an extraordinary appeal are regulated by Section 240(3) of the CCP. It concerns cases where the court of appeal incorrectly instructs a party on the time limit for filing an extraordinary appeal; or if the decision of the court of appeal does not contain any information on the possibility to file an extraordinary appeal, the time limit for filing an extraordinary appeal, the court before which it needs to be filed, or if it contains incorrect information that an extraordinary appeal is not admissible. In such cases, an extraordinary appeal may be filed within three months of the delivery of the decision. However, if the court incorrectly instructs a party that an extraordinary appeal may be filed, for example, within four months of the delivery of the decision, an extraordinary appeal filed within that period will be considered to be filed in time.

Does the Applicant Have to be Represented?

When filing an extraordinary appeal, the applicant must be represented by an attorney (a lawyer who has been admitted to the Bar having their name recorded in the Register of Lawyers maintained by the Czech Bar Association) and in some cases, they may also be represented by a notary (in cases where notaries are permitted by law to do so). This means that an extraordinary appeal must be drawn up and signed by an attorney or a notary. The party must grant a power of attorney to an attorney or a notary for representation in the extraordinary appeal proceedings.

For the purposes of the extraordinary appeal proceedings, a party may request the court to appoint an attorney. An attorney must be requested separately for the extraordinary appeal proceedings. If the party has been appointed an attorney before the lower courts, this does not apply to the extraordinary appeal proceedings. A party does not have to be represented during the entire extraordinary appeal proceedings – it is sufficient that the condition of qualified representation was met when the extraordinary appeal was filed. 

The applicant does not have to be represented in the extraordinary appeal proceedings if:

a) they themselves have a legal education obtained from a law faculty of a university with its registered seat in the Czech Republic or in the territory of the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic or its legal predecessors or is a person with a recognized foreign university legal education. This education must be proved by the applicant (e.g., by a certified copy of the diploma), see resolution of the Supreme Court of 28 January 1999, Case No 20 Cdo 1638/99.  

The applicant cannot be represented in the extraordinary appeal proceedings by another person who has a legal education but is not an attorney or a notary. 

b) it is a legal person, a municipality, a higher territorial self-government unit or a State if a person referred to in Sections 21, 21a or 21b of the CCP who has a legal education acts on their behalf.

If the applicant does not have legal education and is not appropriately represented when filing an extraordinary appeal, the court shall invite them to choose a representative for the purposes of the extraordinary appeal proceedings and to submit a written and signed extraordinary appeal through that representative within a specified time limit. If the applicant fails to comply with this request within the time limit set by the court, the extraordinary appeal proceedings will be discontinued.

Court Fees for an Extraordinary Appeal

Court fees for the extraordinary appeal proceedings, where an extraordinary appeal is directed against a decision of the court of appeal on the merits, are in principle determined by the subject matter of the extraordinary appeal proceedings (see item 23 of the Fee Table which is annexed to the Act No 549/1991 Coll., on Court Fees):

a) If the subject matter of the extraordinary appeal proceedings is a monetary amount up to and including 100 000 CZK, the court fee is 7 000 CZK.

b) If the subject matter of the extraordinary appeal proceedings is immovable property, the court fee is 14 000 CZK for each (according to Section 6a of the Act No 549/1991 Coll, on Court Fees, all immovable property registered in the Cadastre of Real Estate on a single title deed is considered immovable property for the purposes of this Act).

c) If the subject matter of the extraordinary appeal proceedings is a company or its organisational unit, the court fee for each company or unit is 28 000 CZK.

d) In other cases, the court fee is 14 000 CZK regardless of the subject matter of the proceedings.

If the challenged decision was made only in relation to the core of the subject matter of the proceedings, the court fee is 4 000 CZK.

Other specific cases are addressed in the above mentioned item of the Fee Table. 

The court fee for an extraordinary appeal is not charged if the Act No 549/1991 Coll., on Court Fees, so provides. 

Admissibility of an Extraordinary Appeal

In order for the Supreme Court to be able to hear and decide on the extraordinary appeal, the extraordinary appeal must also meet the conditions of admissibility, which are defined in Sections 237–238a of the CCP. An extraordinary appeal is admissible only in cases provided by law (not if the party so believes or if the court of appeal incorrectly instructs the party that an extraordinary appeal is admissible). The admissibility of an extraordinary appeal is examined solely by the Supreme Court.

The Code of Civil Procedure sets out the prerequisites for admissibility of an extraordinary appeal both positively (Section 237 and 238a of the CCP) and negatively (Section 238 of the CCP).

I. Extraordinary Appeals Against Decisions of the Court of Appeal Terminating the Appeal Proceedings (Section 237 of the CCP)

An extraordinary appeal may be brought against any decision of the court of appeal which decides on a party's appeal against a decision of the court of first instance. Such a decision by a court of appeal may be:

a) a judgment or a resolution of a court of appeal upholding the decision of the court of first instance; 

b) a judgment or a resolution of a court of appeal changing the decision of the court of first instance;

c) a decision of a court of appeal approving settlement.

In all these cases, an extraordinary appeal is admissible only if the contested decision of the court of appeal depends on resolution of a question of substantive (for instance interpretation of the Civil Code, Labour Code etc.) or procedural law, and at the same time:

a) the court of appeal departed from the established decision-making practice of the Supreme Court; or

b) this question has not yet been resolved in the decision-making of the Supreme Court; or

c) this question is decided differently by the Supreme Court; or

d) such a question is to be assessed differently by the Supreme Court.

Section 238 of the CCP stipulates when an extraordinary appeal is not admissible even if it fulfils the conditions of admissibility set out above:

a) in matters regulated in Part Two of the Civil Code, if the proceedings are conducted under this Act and if they do not concern matrimonial property law; 

b) in matters regulated by the Registered Partnership Act, if the proceedings are conducted in accordance with this Act;

c) against judgments and resolutions, the subject matter of which, at the time the decision containing the contested verdict was issued, was a monetary performance not exceeding 50 000 CZK, including proceedings for enforcement of a decision, unless the proceedings concern relationships under consumer contracts and labour law relationships); the accessories of the claim are not taken into account, 

d) in matters of postponement of enforcement of a decision,

e) against the resolutions against which an action under Section 229(4) is admissible,

f) against the resolutions ordering an interim measure, disciplinary measure, expert or interpreter fees, 

g) against the resolutions deciding on actions on the disturbance of possession,

h) against parts of the decisions concerning the costs of the proceedings, 

i) against the resolutions deciding on an application for exemption from court fees or on the obligation to pay court fees,

j) against the resolutions deciding on a party's application for the appointment of a representative,

k) against the decisions by which the court of appeal annulled the decision of the court of first instance and referred the case back to the court of first instance for further proceedings,

l) against the resolutions deciding on the exemption from the deposit or the withdrawal of the exemption from the deposit pursuant to the Enforcement Code.

Most applicants will be concerned with meeting condition (c). In this regard, it is important to note that each claim decided by the court of appeal will be considered separately.

Example: 

The court of appeal decides that the defendant is obliged to pay the plaintiff 40 000 CZK as compensation for the repair of the roof and 15 000 CZK as a contractual penalty. An extraordinary appeal against such a judgment will not be admissible as none of the amounts exceeds 50 000 CZK. However, in the case of a recurring monetary performance (e.g. payment of rent for a rented apartment), it is important whether the sum of all recurring monetary performance exceeds 50 000 CZK. This does not apply in cases where the monetary performance is for life, for an indefinite period or for more than 5 years – only the amount of the monetary performance determined as five times the amount of the annual monetary performance is relevant.

It should always be borne in mind that when assessing this requirement, the amount of the accessories of the claim (interest on late payment, late payment fees) is not taken into account if it is not a separate subject of the proceedings.

II. Extraordinary Appeals Against Decisions of the Court of Appeal Issued During the Course of the Extraordinary Appeal Proceedings (Section 238a of the CCP)

An extraordinary appeal may also be filed against decisions of the court of appeal in which the court of appeal did not decide on the appeal against the decision of the court of first instance (Section 238a of the CCP). It includes the resolutions of the court of appeal by which the court of appeal decided during the course of the extraordinary appeal proceedings on:

a) who is the procedural successor of a party;

b) on the entry of a party into the proceedings in place of an existing party (Section 107a of the CCP);

c) on the accession of another party [Section 92(1) of the CCP];

d) on the substitution of a party [Section 92(2)].

An extraordinary appeal against such resolutions of the court of appeal is admissible without any further conditions being required.

However, if the aforementioned resolution was issued by the court of first instance and later the court of appeal decided in the appeal proceedings about such a decision of the court of first instance, an extraordinary appeal against such a resolution of the court of appeal is admissible only if the prerequisites set out in Section 237 of the CCP are met.

On What Grounds May an Extraordinary Appeal be Filed?

An extraordinary appeal may be filed only on the ground that the decision of the court of appeal is based on an error of law. In other words, the ground for filing an extraordinary appeal may be that the court of appeal applied incorrect legislation to the case, or that although it applied the correct legislation, it misinterpreted or misapplied it to the case.

Again, it should be pointed out that the ground for filing an extraordinary appeal must be specified in the extraordinary appeal and that it may be so specified (or amended) only during the time limit for filing the extraordinary appeal. This must be done in a submission drawn up and signed by an attorney (or notary) who represents the applicant in the extraordinary appeal proceedings.

Extraordinary Appeal Proceedings

After the court of first instance has examined whether the extraordinary appeal fulfils the essential requirements, it sends it together with the relevant case file to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court then re-examines whether all the required elements of the extraordinary appeal are met and whether the extraordinary appeal is admissible.
If the extraordinary appeal is not admissible, or if the extraordinary appeal has not been remedied with the prescribed required elements, the Supreme Court will reject it.

Pursuant to Section 237 of the CCP, all members of the relevant Panel must vote in favour of the adoption of the resolution rejecting the extraordinary appeal.

If the extraordinary appeal is admissible, the Supreme Court does not issue a separate decision and automatically proceeds to review the contested decision of the court of appeal on the merits.

Before deciding on the extraordinary appeal, the Supreme Court may suspend the enforceability or legal force of the contested decision (Section 243 of the CCP). The postponement of the enforceability or legal force means a significant interference with the legal certainty of the parties to the proceedings, and therefore it occurs only in very exceptional cases. The purpose of the suspension of enforceability is to prevent the immediate enforcement of the decision and thus the prejudice to the rights of the applicant. In order for the enforceability to be suspended, it must concern a decision of the court of appeal which can be enforceable (only decisions imposing an obligation on the party – the applicant –are enforceable). The Supreme Court may suspend the entry into legal force of the contested decision of the court of appeal if the applicant is seriously threatened in their rights and if the legal relations of a person other than a party to the proceedings are not affected by the suspension.

The Supreme Court, as a matter of principle, reviews the contested decision only to the extent to which the applicant has contested it and from the point of view of the grounds which the applicant has defined in the extraordinary appeal. Exceptions to this rule are provided for in Section 242(2) of the CCP.

In the vast majority of cases, the Supreme Court decides on extraordinary appeals in civil matters without a hearing.

Decision of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court decides on an extraordinary appeal in Panels composed of three judges, one of whom acts as the President of the Panel.

Copies of the decision on the extraordinary appeal are sent to the parties or their legal representatives via the court of first instance.

The ways in which the Supreme Court may rule on an extraordinary appeal are as follows – the Supreme Court:

  1. Discontinues the extraordinary appeal proceedings, especially if it concludes that the basic conditions for the extraordinary appeal proceedings are not met, or if the applicant has withdrawn the extraordinary appeal. Only the President of the Panel or a designated member of the Panel may decide to discontinue the extraordinary appeal proceedings.

  2. Rejects the extraordinary appeal; especially if the extraordinary appeal is not admissible or if it is filed late, by a person who was not entitled to do so, etc. In cases listed in Section 243f(2) of the CCP, the President of the Panel or an authorised member of the Panel may decide on the rejection of the extraordinary appeal.

  3. Dismisses the extraordinary appeal; it does so in cases in which, although the extraordinary appeal is admissible, the Supreme Court concludes that the contested decision of the court of appeal is correct, thus, it dismisses the extraordinary appeal as unfounded.

  4. Changes the decision of the court of appeal; it can do so if the extraordinary appeal is admissible and if it concludes that the decision of the court of appeal is incorrect and at the same time the results of the proceedings so far show that the case can be decided.

  5. Annuls the decision of the court of appeal and refers the case back to the court of appeal for further proceedings; this happens if the extraordinary appeal is admissible and if the Supreme Court concludes that the decision of the court of appeal was incorrect and at the same time the conditions for changing the decision are not met. If the reasons for which the decision of the court of appeal was annulled also apply to the decision of the court of first instance, the Supreme Court may also annul that decision and refer the case back to the court of first instance for further proceedings. In both cases, the Supreme Court does not decide on the costs of the extraordinary appeal proceedings, as they will be decided by the court (of first instance or court of appeal) in a subsequent decision on the merits. 

    If the Supreme Court discontinues the extraordinary appeal proceedings or rejects the extraordinary appeal, the reasoning of its decision must contain only a brief statement of why the extraordinary appeal was late, inadmissible or suffered from defects which prevented the extraordinary appeal proceedings from continuing or why the extraordinary appeal proceedings had to be discontinued. In such cases, the Supreme Court does not have to give any reasoning for its decision on the costs of the extraordinary appeal proceedings [Section 243f(3) of the CCP].

    The course of the extraordinary appeal proceedings can be monitored in the INFOSOUD application, available on the website of the Supreme Court or on the website of the Ministry of Justice.

Relevant Legislation:

  • Act No 99/1963 Coll., the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”)

  • Act No 292/2013 Coll., on Special Court Proceedings 

  • Act No 120/2001 Coll., on Bailiffs and Enforcement Activity (the Enforcement Code) and on Amendments to Other Acts 

  • Act No 358/1992 Coll., on Notaries and Their Activities (the Notarial Code)

  • Act No 6/2002 Coll., on Courts, Judges, Lay Judges and State Administration of Courts and on Amendments to Certain Other Acts (Act on Courts and Judges) 

  • Act No 549/1991 Coll., on Court Fees

  • The legislation can be found, for example, on the website www.zakonyprolidi.cz.