The European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Czech property restitution plaintiff

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of the late František Oldřich Kinský, who had filed a complaint regarding disputes with the Czech state over the restitution of family property. According to the verdict, Mr. Kinský had not been given a fair trial in the matter. The European Court ruled that the Czech Republic is to pay the man, who was a member of one of the oldest Bohemian aristocratic families, a sum of 10,000 Euro in damages and an additional 3380 Euro to cover his expenses connected to the case. The Czech Republic has three months to appeal the decision.

Mr. Kinský, who died in April 2009, had filed at least 157 restitution claims with an alleged value of 40 billion Czech crowns with Czech courts. The property had been taken from Mr. Kinský’s family in the wake of World War II on the basis of the Beneš decrees due to the family’s alleged collaboration with the Nazis.

Author: Sarah Borufka