City Hall's procedure was not justified, ruled the Municipal Court

Another success for our clients. The Municipal Court in Prague ruled that the increase in parking spaces at the expense of pavement width was not sufficiently justified. The measure of a general nature issued by the Prague 4 municipality will be cancelled 60 days after the judgment becomes final.

Last October, the Prague 4 City Hall modified the parking rules in Horní Street in Nusle. Drivers now had the option of partial diagonal parking on the pavement on one side and longitudinal parking on the pavement on the other side of the street. The space for pedestrians was thus almost halved.

According to local residents, the modifications endangered the safety of the street

Although the district defended itself by saying that it had initiated the change in parking on the basis of a local request, some residents disagreed with the new layout of their street. This was mainly due to the substantial reduction of the space used by pedestrians and the reduction of the quality of everyday functioning in the street, including the threat to safety. The parking spaces and the pavement itself are separated only by white horizontal markings and cars often enter the pedestrian space.

The council must cancel or justify the measure

The Municipal Court in Prague accepted our client's objection relating to the insufficient justification of the measure. The court considered it too general and recalled that "the reasons for the statement, the grounds for its adoption and the reasoning followed by the administrative authority in its assessment and interpretation of the legal provisions must also be stated in the justification of a measure of a general nature" (NNS judgment No. 1 Ao 3/2008-136, No. 1795/2009 Coll. of the SAC of 16 December 2008). The court also pointed out the importance of such justifications in relation to the general abuse of power.

The Prague 4 municipal district has 60 days from the legal entry into force of the judgment to consider further action regarding the modifications to Horní Street. If it decides to set the measure in the same wording, it must properly justify it. Otherwise, the modifications will be removed.

This is the second court decision in a relatively short period of time that has found in favour of people opposed to the expansion of parking spaces at the expense of space used by city residents. Perhaps Prague will soon join the trend in many European cities.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are facing a similar situation.