Court rejects damages claim

The Constitutional Court has rejected a claim by a Romany woman, Helena Ferenčíková, who had been seeking one million crowns in compensation for having undergone forced sterilisation in hospital. Mrs Ferenčíková had succeeded earlier in receiving an apology from the institution when regional and high courts ruled that medical personnel had not acted within the law. But the courts also found her claim was statute-barred after 2004 - a decision upheld by the Constitutional Court on Friday. The hospital maintained Mrs Ferenčíková had agreed with the sterilisation procedure, while she has said she was in labour at the time and was unaware exactly what she was agreeing to.

Author: Jan Velinger