Czech Health Ministry loses case after incorrectly rejecting applicant for compensation for her illegal sterilization, must pay her EUR 12,000

The woman was represented by the Prague branch of the Dentons law firm, which has been collaborating with the League of Human Rights on providing free legal aid to the victims of unlawful sterilizations. The legal team at Dentons included attorneys Alžběta Böhmová and Barbora Katráková, legal assistant Aneta Krulcová, and the support of Dentons’ pro bono partner in Prague, Jiří Tomola.

“Between 1966 and 2012, thousands of women, mostly Romani women, were forced by the authorities in Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic to sign their consent to their sterilization, frequently without being informed as to what they were consenting to or the consequences of giving consent. This practice was widely condemned by the UN and other organizations focusing on defending human rights,” the Dentons law office said.

In response to this human rights violation, the Czech Parliament passed a law in 2021 to provide a one-time payment in the amount of CZK 300,000 [EUR 12,000] to persons sterilized unlawfully. The plaintiff in this case, after first being rejected, was ultimately awarded compensation on the basis of that same law.

“It is possible to consider this verdict from the Municipal Court in Prague as pivotal, as it is the first such decision in which the courts materially concerned themselves with the conditions which have to be met according to the legal regulations in effect at the time for a sterilization to be considered lawful,” the law office said, adding that the court found that the lack of instruction to a patient regarding the irreversibility of sterilization is reason enough to award compensation. This precedent, according to the attorneys, could have a significant impact on future cases, because the Health Ministry will have to take this legal opinion into account when assessing future requests for compensation.

It is only possible to apply for such compensation until the end of this year. The European Roma Rights Centre publicly raised suspicions that Romani women had been and were still being targeted for forced sterilization in the Czech Republic in 2004.

Dozens of women turned to the Czech Public Defender of Rights (the ombudsman) with their complaints and some also brought lawsuits. The Czech Government Committee against Torture proposed introducing compensation for forcibly sterilized persons in 2006.

In 2009, the caretaker cabinet of Jan Fischer apologized for the illegal surgeries. Victims have been able to apply to the Health Ministry for compensation since 2022.

Persons who underwent any surgical intervention resulting in their infertility between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 without freely deciding to do so and without being informed as to its intended outcome can be paid CZK 300,000 [EUR 12,000] by the Czech state. The opportunity to apply for compensation expires at the end of this year.