- RFERL Watch
- May 23, 2023
- 10 min read
It was the last few summer days of late summer 2021 and the children were not enjoying (in a long time) their first "post-covid" days of school. The subpoena for the second court date had been taking up space in my inbox for weeks, making my heart beat faster whenever I thought about it. With the responsibility of a conscious citizen, I started preparing for my first big court premiere, which Judge #JH ("Dr. Hustá") has scheduled for us on September 13, 2021.
We started the preparation hard. As our June "mediation trip" to Brno did not bring the expected "rush", we immediately exercised our right to inspect the files for both lawsuits and after returning home we threw ourselves into studies of captured images. In addition to the previously discovered modifications in the text of the anti-discrimination lawsuit with the aim of maintaining the possibility to make decisions in this matter as well, or manipulation in page numbering, it was impossible not to notice in the files manually of the completed notes of the lady judge, clearly pointing to the "good" one and the one "who deals with evil".
We were particularly interested in the handwritten phone number of the opposing party's lawyer #MV ("Mgr. Prasátko"), who probably acted as a friend on the phone for her. As we searched in vain in the file for records of their mutual chit-chat, we decided to ask about it, as well as about the strangeness in assigning lawsuits to the same judge, to the most qualified - i.e. her superior, #RV ("Dr. Veverička"). We ended our question logically with a request to exclude the judge from the discussion in this matter due to her bias.
An answer to this question of mine landed in my inbox on August 31, 2021, from which, apart from specifying that only a superior court can decide on the bias of a judge, we did not learn much.
It has been artificially clouded over the assignment of my "discrimination lawsuit" to the well-known judge Radio ГA / ГA #JH ("Dr. Hustá"), who was allegedly assigned to us by the work schedule in the case invalidity of notice.
Unfortunately, we again did not hear about an explanation of why discrimination and an invalid dismissal do not matter to the judge.
Anyway, in the end, we already learned several answers in the sense of - if you don't like it, you can complain about the lamppost, for example. But only after her judgment and within remedies, as they say in this tribe. Of course.
There followed a communication ping-pong between us and the court management, which culminated in the decision that the court proceedings in the matter of discrimination are postponed indefinitely.
But we had no idea that in the meantime our complaints were, as we later found out, forwarded to the lady judge assigned to us, so that this good lady definitely and independently decided in fashion as #MV ("Mgr. Prasátko") warned us at beginning.
And so September 13, 2021 came.
With the noon court date approaching, we set off in the direction of Mičánky building. Me with a stomach afloat, a nurse with a slight pessimism thanks to the experience of court proceedings "behind the line". We sat down in the corridor outside the courtroom and went about the final fine-tuning of tactics. Our quiet talk from behind the COVID masks and the rustling of papers were the backdrop for us together with the nervousness that could have been cut at that time.
We were preparing for the meeting only for the lawsuit 16 C 64/2020 on the invalidity of the notice, as the hearing on the discrimination claim 16 C 56/2020 was postponed indefinitely by the judge's decision. Supposedly until the time when the superior Municipal Court decides on her (im)bias.
To relax, I began to read in detail the instructions on how to behave in the courtroom on the courtroom door. I didn't want my behaviour to insult the dignity of this office, so I fit in the role of an extra in advance in our "me versus Radio ГА / ГА" trial. And at the end with an appropriate fine for contempt of court, of course.
As the moment of our admission to the meeting room approached, our counterpart appeared in the corridor - in the already familiar lineup of #LA ("Dr. Leklá Andělka") and #MV ("Mgr. Prasátko"), casually conversing on the topic of the weather, amount of work and decent clothes of the lawyer. We then met with this duo several more times and it seems that we will continue to meet.
Especially the presence of the first-named in the roles of "independent" follower and orderer in one person confirmed my belief in the exceptionality of this whole case of mine.
The gong rang and we all entered the courtroom, dressed up, where the lady judge was already waiting for us in a dressing gown and her assistants.
My sister and I headed to the plaintiff's bench, lawyer #MV ("Mgr. Piggy") to the defendant's bench and #LA ("Dr. Leklá Angelka"), to our surprise, headed to the public area, where she watched everything until the end of the meeting with the mysterious Mona Lisa smile.
We objected to this on the grounds that it does not seem normal to us, when a representative of the defendant, namely an employee of Radio ГA / ГA in the role of customer, payer of invoices for legal services and basically me, the person being sued sits among the public and thus defends himself to be heard by the prosecutor or the court. The objection was, for reasons already known today, immediately and forcefully rejected, and to make this matter clear to us in the future, the independent lady judge barked at us from behind a veil and with bloodshot eyes:
"I will decide who you ask for questioning!"
Unfortunately, I have to state that she did so in accordance with the law "on independent judges and courts" and that she followed through on her warning to our side of the barricade in all future negotiations, right up to the last one.
And so #LA ("Dr. Leklá Andělka") remained in the space of "invulnerable and bystanders" until the end of this meeting and all the next ones.
Until the end of this meeting?
Actually, not quite, that is, until she started running around the courtroom at one point, finally rest briefly in a confidential conversation with her lawyer #MV ("Mgr. Piggy") on the bench to his left. I immediately remembered the long "moralistic" rant about what is and isn't allowed in the courtroom on the outside of its door.
Although I didn't even have to be a member of the anointed tribe of lawyers to feel that this was not normal. Moreover, I have not even seen it on TV, not even in any of our or American movies! And so we protested against it again.
Here, the independent judge settled us by saying that #LA ("Dr. Leklá Andělka") only told the lawyer where to look for the evidence we requested. It seems that in addition to her independence, the lady judge was gifted with the hearing of a bat.
Maybe we will talk about the fact that these were not her only skills sometime next time.
I don't like to remember this trial very much.
As a "dual citizen", I had a particularly hard time bearing her allusions and mocking of my sister in the role of my authorised representative in situations where she used some Slovak word in an attempt to speak Czech. In fact, the judge saw the whole meeting as a campaign against those who dared to point out her bias, and she used all the means offered to her by the judicial system and the law.
Until then, there was no problem that my authorised representative spoke Slovak. Suddenly it had a "fundamental flaw in beauty", namely that she speaks Slovak and that now we will all suddenly speak "on command " in Czech. Because we are in the Czech Republic! - how she shouted several times to the plenary and to her minutes!
We accepted the court's decision, and even though we didn't want to understand the judge's sudden change of mood, we gave in. For the more than 40 years that I have lived here and paid taxes here, it has not been such a big problem, although an experienced Czech linguist would certainly make fun of me, but to the sister from across the "line", the Czech language does not jump in perfectly.
And then the "independent" lady judge started mocking her, and actually me too, to the general approval and amusement of the defendant's legal representative and the public. I was particularly touched when she started to repeat Slovak words after her, which by chance had naturally fallen out of her Czech sentence, which turned the whole court hearing into cabaret.
An undignified embarrassing cabaret, reminiscent of trials from the 1950s, to which the defendant's lawyer was also happy to join in, stimulated by the atmosphere of the events.
That when he jumped out of like a devil from the paper box and shouted something unintelligible like we refuse to let the lawsuit put anything between our lines, or something like that. Where and in what B movie did I just hear and watch that? I really don't know.
Suddenly, the lawsuit no longer mattered its content, which, according to the audio recording, the majority of the participants obviously did not understand technically at all. It didn't even matter that the defendant's representative, now again sitting on the bench for the public, and the lawyer gave signals to each other during the proceedings.
When the judge started using laughable terms like “bushing” instead of “phishing” or that I committed strong gross violation of the employment relationship, it was impossible not to smile under the mask. She gave this serious action for me the appropriate comedic subtext. And that with the full weight of her function.
A sort of imaginary icing on the cake was the judge's announcement that she had just been informed by the assistant that our next meeting regarding the discrimination lawsuit, postponed indefinitely this morning, is now also scheduled for 2.11 .2021, although the resolution of the Municipal Court has not yet reached us. When we wanted to see it, she said she wouldn't show it to us, but we could look at it in court as part of the inspection of files. A CD with a recording of this meeting will also be waiting for us there anyway.
So we used our right and also as the judge advised us, the next day we tried to look into the file.
After the initial shock of the office lady at such an incredible request (they supposedly to have at least 2 working days for this) and with the assistance of her superior, at the end my sister left Mičánky building with photo documentation and a CD from this meeting.
In the photo documentation, there we found that our materials presented at this meeting were unrecorded in evidences and so "then and now" were just there as an insignificant reminder of their importance to us.
And so I played the CD of this meeting over and over again at home, raising my heart rate with a bit of masochism. To remind myself again and again, how difficult it can be to understand each other in a group of 5 university-educated people, boasting academic degrees and speaking almost the same language.
I know, I'm just a legal layman, but something tells me that court proceedings in their seriousness cannot take place like this. Since we even said it out loud, the whole "deal" was over for us.
With an eloquent gesture from the judge and the words "goodbye", we were bowed out of the courtroom.
I felt that her kick in the part where people's backs normally ends until the evening.
This CD got its honor place in my sound archive right after the recording from Milouš Jakeš performance at Červený Hrádek from 1989.
The image below shows the notice of adjournment due to bias and, as in previous posts, I would like to draw your attention to the dates. After all, as always, there was a problem with them again. I'm not even talking about the fact that this announcement was signed by #JH ("Dr. Hustá").
The notice of postponement was delivered to us on Monday 6 September 2021. At the meeting on September 13, 2021, a week later, the judge happily informs us that the superior Municipal Court decided that she was not excluded from the meeting due to bias, and what's more, they had already informed her about this through her assistant. At the same time, she herself indicates in her opinion above that the superior court will not be able to make a decision so quickly.
So let's take a look at the calendar.
Those of you who have ever had the honor of corresponding with the state administration will surely agree with me that a period of several weeks for a response to a request is not exceptional.
In this case of mine, however, a miracle happened and the official bureaucracy sprinted completely unexpectedly.
In just 4-5 days, the superior court panel was appointed, sat, decided, and even delivered. I wish justice would work this effectively in other cases as well! The unbelievable has come true!
Of course, this efficiency and economy did not leave us indifferent, and we tried to find out what is swimming in this pure wine of theirs. We were all the more interested in the fact that judge #JH ("Dr. Hustá") didn't want to acquaint us physically with this decision at the "cabaret" hearing on 9/13/2021. We were thus once again dependent on consulting the files.
So here I dare to use a bit of that fabulation again.
In the interests of efficiency, economy and with regard to the approaching date of both court hearings, in which she wants and must make a fair decision, our lady judge calls her colleague, at the time as an intern at the Municipal Court.
After a few polite phrases on the topic - how is she, what is it like there and how is she looking forward to her return back after the internship, she leaves with her wish.
She complains that she has such 2 desperadoes here, whom she does not forget to liken to a wasp in the back of her body, and who only rush, do not understand her justice and laws at all, and that they insist on excluding her from these her key court hearings. She says she wanted to have it decided a long time ago, but she won't be able to do it within 14 days. She says she already has it written down. Just horror - she feels sorry for herself.”
And so the court panel 1 Nc will meet to order, to make a decision on the impartiality of our lady judge, according to the law and quickly. It does not matter that the undersigned president of the senate nor its members, according to the public work schedule at the Municipal Court, do not sit here under this designation. In addition, you will find that its members are exclusively male.
And so there was nothing preventing us from being summoned to another court hearing in both of my cases.This time our date will be November 4, 2021, and as it turned out, it was supposed to be our definitive Waterloo.
So how did it look with me on this day?
In the case of discrimination, I still did not have the opportunity to present my claim, I have not yet personally participated in any hearing in this matter, and at the scheduled court hearing on 4 November 2021, I should have learned that justice, represented by her, it does not need an my presence there at all.
But about that next time, if there is one.
