What is Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll.?

Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll., on experts, expert offices and expert institutes — Law on experts, expert offices and expert institutes.

When it became Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. effectiveness?

Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. became effective 01.01.2021.

Is Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. still valid?

Yes, Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. is still valid and effective.

How many times was it Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. amended?

Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. has 5 time versions of the text.

Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll. - Law on experts, expert offices and exper...

254

THE LAW

of 10 September 2019

on experts, expert offices and expert institutes

Parliament has decided on this law of the Czech Republic:

ČÁST PRVNÍ

GENERAL PROVISIONS

§ 1

General provisions on the performance of expert activities

(1) The performance of the expert's activity shall be understood as the performance of the expert's tasks, in particular the processing and submission of the expert's report, its additions or explanations, and an activity which is directly directed towards the submission, addition or explanation of the expert's opinion.

(2) Unless the law provides otherwise, the provisions on the expert shall also apply to the expert office and the expert institute.

(3) The expert shall be obliged to carry out expert activities only in the field and sector and, where appropriate, specialisation for which he is authorised to carry out expert activities, with professional care, independently, impartially and at an agreed or specified time.

(4) The expert carries out his / her expertise in person; This applies even if the expert is engaged in the expert's office.

§ 2

Method of carrying out expert activities

(1) Experts, experts' offices and expert institutes are entitled to carry out expert activities.

(2) The expert may carry out an expert's activity on his own or as an employee in an employment relationship, partner or member of an expert's office. If the expert is in work or in any other similar relationship to the expert institute, he may also carry out the expert's activity separately or as an employee in the employment relationship, partner or member of the expert's office.

§ 3

Jurisdiction

The Ministry of Justice ("the Ministry ') shall decide on matters relating to the performance of the expert's activities and on requests for entry in the list of experts, expert offices and expert institutes (" the list of experts').

§ 4

Experts and expert sectors

(1) The fields of expertise are set out in the Annex to this Act.

(2) The Ministry shall determine the expert sectors of each field of expertise by decree.

ČÁST DRUHÁ

EXECUTIVE ACTIVITIES

HLAVA I

CONDITIONS FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF NOTIFIED ACTIVITIES

§ 5

Conditions for the performance of expert activities and the expert's promise

(1) The expert may be a natural person who:

(a) is competent for the professional activity of the field and sector concerned and, where appropriate, the specialisation for which it is to be registered;

(b) is fair,

(c) it has an appropriate material technical background and instrumentation which guarantees the proper performance of the expert's activities;

(d) is fully competent;

(e) have not been penalised in the last three years before the application for registration by a fine of at least CZK 100 000 for an offence under § 39 (1) (a), (b), (g) to (n), a fine of at least CZK 100 000 for an offence under § 40 (1) (a), (c) to (h), or a fine of at least CZK 100 000 for an offence under § 41 (1) (a) to (d), or which, in the last 5 years before the application for registration, has not been revoked by the right to carry out the registration activity under § 14 (2) (c);

(f) is not in bankruptcy on the basis of a final decision of the court;

(g) has a contact address on the territory of the Czech Republic if it does not have a registered office or place of permanent residence or place of residence according to the type of residence of a stranger in the territory of the Czech Republic; and

(h) having fulfilled the conditions referred to in (a) to (g), the Minister of Justice shall, without reservation, take the oath referred to in paragraph 2.

(2) The expert's promise is: "I promise, in my expert activities, that I will comply with the legislation, that I will carry out the expert's work to the best of my knowledge and conscience, independently and impartially, that I will make full use of all of my knowledge and ensure that it is developed and that I will remain silent about the facts which I have learned in the course of my professional activities."

§ 6

Conditions for the performance of the expert's activities

(1) An expert office may be an institution or a commercial corporation which:

(a) carry out expert activities in the field and sector and, where appropriate, specialisation for which it has applied for a list of experts, through at least two experts authorised to carry out the expert activities; the scope of the competence to carry out the expert activities of such experts shall, in summary, correspond to at least the scope of the competence to carry out the expert activities of the expert offices,

(b) it has detailed rules on working procedures ensuring the proper performance of the expert activities;

(c) it has an appropriate material technical background, instrumentation and personnel background which guarantees the proper performance of the expert's activities;

(d) is fair,

(e) is not bankrupt by a final decision of the court;

f) has a contact address in the Czech Republic if it does not have its registered office in the Czech Republic,

(g) has not been penalised in the last 3 years before the application for registration by a fine of at least CZK 100,000 for an offence under § 39 (1) (a), (b), (g) to (n), a fine of at least CZK 100,000 for an offence under § 40 (1) (a), (c) to (h), or a fine of at least CZK 100,000 for an offence under § 41 (1) (a) to (d), or which, in the last 5 years before the application for registration, has not been revoked by the right to carry out the registration activity under § 14 (2) (c); and

(h) will be insured under § 22.

(2) An expert may be an employee in an employment relationship, a partner or a member of only one expert's office; such an expert shall be entitled to carry out at the same time an expert activity separately only in the field and sector and, where appropriate, specialisation in which he or she does not carry out an expert activity.

§ 7

Conditions for carrying out the expert's activities

(1) An expert institute may be the one who:

(a) is a university or part of a university, a public research institution, a state enterprise, an organisational body of a state, an internal organisational unit of that component or a person governed by public law;

(b) carry out scientific research in the relevant field;

(c) carry out expert activities through at least one leading expert in the relevant field and in the sector for which he has applied for entry on the list of experts, in an employment relationship; a leading expert in the relevant field and sector shall mean, in particular, an expert, a generally recognised expert or a guarantor of the relevant scientific or educational programme;

(d) is fair,

(e) it has an appropriate material technical background, instrumentation and personnel background which guarantees the proper performance of the expert activities;

(f) the rules on working procedures shall be drawn up to ensure the proper performance of the expert's activities;

(g) the internal rules shall provide for a procedure for taking note of expert opinions in accordance with Article 28 (4);

(h) is not bankrupt by a final judgment;

(i) has a contact address in the Czech Republic if it does not have its registered office in the Czech Republic,

j) has not been penalised in the last 3 years prior to the application for registration by a fine of at least CZK 100,000 for an offence under § 39 (1) (a), (b), (g) to (n), a fine of at least CZK 100,000 for an offence under § 40 (1) (a), (c) to (h), or a fine of at least CZK 100,000 for an offence under § 41 (1) (a) to (d), or which, in the last 5 years before the application for registration, has not been revoked by the right to carry out the registration activity under § 14 (2) (c); and

k) will be insured under § 22.

(2) If the applicant is an organisational body of a State or an internal organisational unit of that branch, the condition for carrying out the expert activities referred to in paragraph 1 (a) shall be that. (b) satisfied if it proves sufficient expertise necessary to carry out expert activities with professional care in the field by other means; the condition for carrying out the expert activities referred to in paragraph 1 (a). (c) it is fulfilled if the activity is carried out by persons in the service relationship for whom it proves the necessary expertise to carry out the expert activities in the relevant field and sector with professional care.

§ 8

Professional competence

(1) A person who:

(a) have obtained higher education in an appropriate direction for the field and sector concerned at least in the Master's study programme, if any, otherwise the highest possible achievable education for the field and sector concerned;

(b) has obtained 5 years of active professional experience in the field and sector concerned;

(c) obtain a different certificate of professional competence for the field and the sector concerned, or have completed a specialisation course for the field and the sector concerned, if necessary for the professional activity with professional care;

(d) have obtained a certificate of professional competence issued by the competent body established by law, if it is a professional sector in which the professional body established by the law takes care of the professional profession and the ethics of the profession; and

e) successfully passed the entry exam according to § 10.

(2) Active professional practice focused on the field and sector concerned means, for the purposes of this Act, the pursuit of professional activities belonging to the field and the sector after completion of higher education or, where appropriate, the highest possible available education, immediately prior to the application for inclusion in the list of experts.

(3) A certificate of competence obtained in one of the Member States of the European Union or in another Contracting State of the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation shall also be considered as a certificate of competence referred to in paragraph 1 (c) and (d).

(4) Compliance with the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 shall also be assessed taking into account the specialisation, if chosen.

(5) In justified cases, the Ministry may, at the request of the applicant for inclusion in the list of experts, waive the fulfilment of one of the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 if the other conditions are met to an extent that gives sufficient assurance that the expert will be carried out with professional care; in particular, failure to comply with the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 (a) may be waived by obtaining longer active professional experience.

(6) The Ministry provides for a list of disciplines and sectors by decree,

(a) for which it is necessary to demonstrate the acquisition of another certificate of competence or to have completed the specialisation course referred to in paragraph 1 (c), including an indication of the certificate or specialisation course concerned; and

(b) for which the certificate issued by the professional body referred to in paragraph 1 (d) must be supported, including an indication of the Chamber concerned.

§ 9

integrity

(1) The condition of integrity shall not be met by a person who has been convicted of an intentional or negligent offence in connection with the performance of an expert or business activity, unless it is regarded as not being convicted.

(2) In order to demonstrate integrity, the Ministry shall use the extract from the criminal record.

(3) In addition to the criminal record, integrity is also demonstrated

(a) for a natural person who has remained continuously in a foreign State for more than 3 months in the last 3 years, an extract of the criminal record or an equivalent document issued by the competent judicial or administrative authority of that State, or an extract of the criminal record in the Annex thereto;

(b) in the case of a natural person who is not a national citizen of the Czech Republic, an extract from the criminal record or an equivalent document issued by the competent judicial or administrative authority of the State of which he is a citizen, or an extract from the criminal record of which the information is included in the Annex;

(c) in the case of a legal person who, for at least 3 months, has been continuously engaged or has been established outside the territory of the Czech Republic, with an extract from the criminal record or an equivalent document issued by the competent judicial or administrative authority of that State.

(4) Where the State does not issue an extract of the criminal record or an equivalent document in accordance with paragraph 3, the person shall submit a declaration of integrity.

(5) Where the integrity is demonstrated in accordance with paragraph 3 or 4, such documents shall be attached by the applicant to the application for entry on the list of experts; such documents may not be more than 3 months old at the time of the request. At the request of the Ministry, the applicant shall support the decision on the conviction. Where the applicant is a legal person, the condition of integrity shall also be met by a natural person who is a member of its statutory body or carries on the activities of a member of its statutory body.

§ 10

Expert entry test

(1) The entry test shall consist of a general part, which shall verify in particular the knowledge of the legislation governing the performance of the expert's activities and the management in which the expert's activities are carried out and the need for an expert's opinion, and a specific part which shall verify in particular the ability to draw up an expert's assessment and knowledge from the field and sector, taking into account the specialisation, if any. The entrance exam takes place in Czech.

(2) The general part of the entrance exam is provided and organised by the Judicial Academy. The general part of the initial examination shall be deemed to have been completed if the applicant has succeeded in carrying out the initial examination in a field or sector other than that for which he is newly applying for entry in the list of experts.

(3) An applicant who fulfils the conditions set out in § 5 (1) (b) to (g) and § 8 (1) (a) to (d) and pays a fee to enable an entry test to be carried out shall be allowed to perform the entry test within 6 months of receipt of the application under § 11 (2). The fee for enabling the general part of the entrance exam is CZK 3,000. The fee for allowing the special part of the entrance exam to be performed is CZK 5,000.

(4) Those who failed the initial test may, within 1 month of the date on which they were notified of the result, request a repetition thereof. The Ministry shall allow the re-entry test to be repeated by the applicant who has paid the fee for the part of the entry test for which he requests to be repeated, six months after the date of the entry test for which the applicant failed. The initial test may be repeated only once. The fee for allowing the general part of the entrance exam to be repeated is CZK 3,000. The fee for allowing the special part of the entrance exam to be repeated is CZK 5,000.

(5) Those who failed the entry test and did not submit a request in time to repeat it, to set a different deadline or to replace it, or to submit a further application for entry on the list of experts not earlier than 3 years after the date of the last failed entry test.

(6) The Ministry will allow the entry exam to be carried out by another date, if he does not appear to perform the entry exam, properly and in time to apologize, prove the serious reasons for his non-participation, and at the latest 5 days from the date of receipt of the apology request to allow the entry exam to be carried out by another date and pay a fee for allowing the exam to be carried out by another date of CZK 5,000.

(7) The Ministry will allow the entrance exam to be carried out at another alternate time, to be duly and in time to be made, to prove the reasons for the special consideration due to its failure to participate, and to request, within 5 days of the date of receipt of the apology, to enable it to be carried out and to pay a fee for allowing the examination to be carried out at another replacement date of CZK 10 000.

(8) An applicant who does not show up for the entry test and does not duly and in a timely manner justify his non-participation has failed to be assessed.

(9) The procedure for carrying out the entry test, its form, content and conduct shall be determined by the Ministry by a decree.

HLAVA II

EXAMINATION, SUSPENSION AND LEGISLATION TO ENFORCEMENT

§ 11

The creation of an authority to perform an expert activity

(1) The right to pursue an expert activity shall be established by entry in the list of experts.

(2) The applicant shall submit the application for inclusion in the list of experts on the prescribed form. In the application, the applicant shall indicate the field and sector and, at his discretion, the specialisation in which he wishes to undertake the expert activities.

(3) The Ministry shall enter the applicant on the list of experts, if the applicant has fulfilled the conditions for carrying out the expert's activities within 15 days of the date on which they are fulfilled or the date on which the promise is lodged, if the applicant is a natural person. The decision to register experts shall not be drawn up in writing. The decision shall become final by entering the expert in the list of experts.

(4) The Ministry shall issue the expert's certificate (hereinafter referred to as the "licence") and a certificate authorising him to order and take over the expert seal. The procedure for issuing the licence, the uniform model of the licence and its particulars and the uniform presentation of the expert seal and the colour of the expert seal shall be laid down by the Ministry by decree.

(5) The expert shall notify the Ministry of the changes in the facts which are a condition of the expert's performance without delay, and no later than 15 days after the date on which the change occurred.

(6) The Ministry shall determine the details of the application form for inclusion in the list of experts by means of a decree and publish the form in a way that allows remote access.

§ 12

Specific provisions concerning the establishment of an authority to perform an expert activity

(1) The Ministry shall enter a natural person on the list of experts as an expert and an institute or a commercial corporation as an expert office or who is referred to in Article 7 (1) (a) as an expert institute without fulfilling the conditions for entry in the list of experts under the relevant provisions of this Law, provided that:

(a) obtained in one of the Member States of the European Union or in another Contracting State an agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation an authorisation similar to that provided for in this Law; and

(b) The Ministry shall recognise their qualifications in accordance with the Act on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications after the composition of the differences test.

(2) The division test shall verify the knowledge of the legislation governing the performance of the expert's activity and the management in which the expert's activity is carried out and the necessity of the expert's action. Paragraph 10 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the difference test. The method of carrying out the differential test, its form, content and course shall be determined by the Ministry by a decree.

(3) The natural person referred to in paragraph 1 must, before entering on the list of experts, lodge a promise under Paragraph 5 (2) in the hands of the Minister of Justice.

§ 13

Suspension of competence to perform expert activities

(1) The right to pursue an expert activity shall be suspended from the date on which the decision taken to take custody of the expert became enforceable, or from the date on which the expert took custody of the sentence of imprisonment, the exercise of constitutional protection treatment or the exercise of security detention, for the duration of the circumstances which justify the suspension of that authorisation.

(2) The Ministry shall suspend the authorisation to carry out the expert's activity if the expert requests a written suspension of the activity and indicates the period for which the competence to carry out the expert's activity is to be suspended.

(3) The Ministry may suspend the authorisation to carry out an expert activity if:

(a) the prosecution of the expert has been initiated;

1. an offence committed in connection with the performance of an expert activity; or

2. any other intentional offence threatening confidence in the proper performance of the expert's activities;

until the date of the final end of the prosecution; if the experts are penalised for that offence, protective treatment, security detention or are suspended on condition that they are punished with supervision and not treated as if they had not been convicted, the suspension of the right to pursue the expert's activities shall end on the date on which the decision of the Ministry to revoke the authority to pursue the expert's activities becomes final,

(b) there are medical or other serious reasons which prevent the performance of an expert in the long term; or

(c) proceedings have been initiated for the limitation of jurisdiction pending the date of the final decision.

(4) An application for suspension of an authorisation to carry out an expert activity may be submitted for a period of no more than 3 years, even repeatedly, but the total period of suspension of the authorisation to carry out an expert activity may not exceed 6 years. The suspension decision shall always specify the period for which such authorisation is suspended. The Ministry shall terminate the suspension of the competence to carry out expert activities at the request of the expert unless serious reasons prevent this.

(5) For the duration of the suspension of the authorisation to carry out the expert's activities, the expert shall not carry out the expert's activities and shall immediately inform all of its contracting entities of the outstanding expert's assessments; the expert will no longer process these assessments. However, the suspension of the competence to carry out an expert activity shall be without prejudice to the obligation to complete the already developed expert opinions and to supplement or explain the already submitted expert opinions, unless this is contrary to the reason for the suspension. If the completion of the already developed expert opinions would be contrary to the reason for the suspension of the activity, this shall be stated in the decision suspending the activity and the expert shall immediately inform all the contracting entities of the developed expert opinions concerned thereof. Where the authorisation to carry out an expert activity is suspended, the expert shall return the documents used for the preparation of the expert opinion to the contracting authority without undue delay.

(6) The suspension of the authorisation to carry out an expert activity and the suspension of the authorisation to carry out an expert activity shall be recorded by the Ministry in the list of experts without delay, no later than 15 days from the date on which it became aware of the reason for the suspension or termination of the authorisation to carry out the expert activity referred to in paragraph 1; in other cases, on the date on which the decision was given.

(7) An appeal against a decision to suspend an authorisation to carry out an expert activity shall not have suspensory effect.

(8) The suspension of the right to pursue an expert activity shall be without prejudice to the obligation to be insured in the event of an obligation to compensate for the damage caused in connection with the performance of an expert activity under Section 22.

§ 14

Termination of the competence to perform expert activities

(1) The Ministry shall revoke the competence to carry out an expert activity if the expert no longer fulfils the conditions for carrying out an expert activity.

(2) The Ministry may revoke the authorisation to carry out an expert activity if:

(a) the expert cannot, for health or other serious reasons, carry out an expert's activity for a long time or not with professional care and the right to carry out the expert's activity has not been suspended;

(b) the reasons set out in Article 35 (4) arise; or

(c) the expert has seriously or repeatedly infringed the obligation laid down by this law.

(3) If possible and if there is no risk of delay, the Ministry shall invite the expert before the decision to revoke the authority to carry out the expert's activity to remedy it within a reasonable time.

(4) The authorisation to carry out an expert activity is hereby terminated

(a) the death of an expert;

(b) by the demise of an expert office or institute,

(c) a notice of termination of the expert activity on the last day of the calendar month following the month in which the notification was received by the Ministry; or

(d) by the power of the decision to revoke the right to pursue an expert activity.

(5) After the expiry of the authorisation to carry out the expert's activities, those who have been provided with the supporting documents for drawing up the expert's report or those who have the supporting documents must return them to the contracting authority without undue delay.

(6) After the expulsion of the right to perform the expert's activities, he to whom the expert's seal and card has been issued, or he to whom the expert's seal and card is carried, must hand over the expert's seal and ID without undue delay to the Ministry. The Ministry shall, without undue delay, record the termination of the right to conduct expert activities on the list of experts.

HLAVA III

LIST OF EXPERTS

§ 15

General provisions on the list of experts

(1) The list of experts is a public administration information system, the administrator of which is the Ministry, to which experts, expert offices and institutes are registered. Data designated by this Act as public are published in a way that allows remote access.

(2) The expert has the right to consult the list of experts on all the information entered on it.

(3) Data from a non-public part of the list of experts shall be deleted by the Ministry after 10 years from the date of expiry of the authorisation to carry out the expert activities.

§ 16

Information kept in the list of experts

(1) As a public figure, the Ministry shall enter in the list of experts:

(a) the name and surname (s);

(b) the field and sector and, where appropriate, the specialisation, if chosen; in the case of an expert's office, the names and surnames of the experts through which the expert's activity in the various fields and sectors and, where appropriate, specialties is carried out; in the case of an expert institute, the names and surnames of the persons referred to in Article 7 (1) (c) or the names and surnames of the persons through which the expert institute is entitled to act pursuant to Article 7 (2),

(c) an indication that the expert carries out an expert activity within the expert's office;

(d) the registered office;

(e) contact address on the territory of the Czech Republic where the expert does not have his registered office or place of permanent residence or place of residence according to the type of residence of the alien in the territory of the Czech Republic,

(f) the identification number of the person,

(g) data box identifier,

(h) telephone contact;

(i) the date of entry in the list of experts;

j) the entry in the list of experts and interpreters under Act No. 36 / 1967 Coll., if the expert or expert institute was registered under that Act,

(k) an indication of when and for how long the expert's activities have been suspended and the provisions of this Law under which suspension has taken place; This applies even if one of the experts working in an expert's office has been suspended,

(l) an indication of the termination of the authorisation to carry out the expert activity, its reason and date;

(m) an indication of the insurer, the duration of the insurance and the limit of the insurance performance in the event of an obligation to make good the damage caused in connection with the performance of the expert's activity, in the case of an expert's office or an expert's institute pursuant to Article 22 (1).

(2) The expert may enter in the list of experts as a public indication

(a) e-mail address,

(b) the contact address,

(c) an expert website;

(d) an indication of the insurer, the duration of the insurance and the limit of the insurance performance of the voluntary insurance contract in the event of an obligation to compensate for the damage caused in connection with the performance of the professional activity.

(3) As a non-public figure, the Ministry shall enter in the list of experts:

(a) an indication of the offence committed under this law and the administrative penalty imposed;

(b) an indication of the complaint lodged,

(c) an indication of the initiation of an administrative procedure under this Law;

(d) the address of the place of permanent residence or residence, if the expert does not have permanent residence in the Czech Republic,

(e) an indication of the date of birth, if the expert is a natural person; and

(f) any other fact necessary for the exercise of supervision.

(4) An expert who does not have a person's identification number assigned to him by the date of entry into the list of experts shall be assigned the person's identification number by the Ministry.

(5) The expert shall notify the Ministry of the change of the information entered on the list of experts or enter it on the list of experts without delay, no later than 15 days after the date of the change.

(6) The expert shall attach a document certifying the change in question to the notification referred to in paragraph 5; This does not apply in respect of changes already registered in basic registers, public registers or in the information system of the population registration, in the case of a citizen of the Czech Republic, or in the case of an information system of foreigners, in the case of foreigners. The amendments to the data obtained from such registers, systems, public register or expert shall be entered by the Ministry without undue delay in the list of experts.

HLAVA IV

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF KNOWLEDGERS

§ 18

Exclusion

(1) A expert may not perform an expert activity where there is reasonable doubt as to his or her unbiased nature for his or her relationship to the case, to the party or to his or her representative, the contracting authority, the public authority which has given the expert opinion or carried out the procedure or other administrative procedure where the expert opinion is to be used.

(2) As soon as the expert becomes aware of a fact for which he may not perform an expert, he shall notify the contracting authority without delay. Where the expert is appointed by a public authority, that authority shall decide whether the expert is excluded from making an expert opinion on the case.

(3) Paragraph 1 on the exclusion of an expert shall apply mutatis mutandis to the consultant.

Citation	Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll., on experts, expert offices and expert institutes
Regulation Type	Law
Author	-
Collection	Code of Laws

Date of Promulgation	09.10.2019
Effective from	01.01.2021
Effective until	-
Status	Valid

Act No. 254 / 2019 Coll.

Law on experts, expert offices and expert institutes

Contents