Czech Senate approves extending deadline to apply for compensation for illegal sterilizations, final adoption depends on President
Anybody in the Czech Republic who was illegally sterilized between 1966 and 2012 could soon be able to apply to the Health Ministry for compensation until 4 January 2027. The Senate approved the extension on 12 June as part of an amendment to public health insurance that now goes to the President to be signed into law.
Extension of the timeframe to apply for compensation from three years to five was advocated for in the Chamber of Deputies by lawmakers Helena Válková (Association of Dissatisfied Citizens – ANO) and Eva Decroix (Civic Democratic Party – ODS), who is now Justice Minister. They argued that the first timeframe, which ended on 2 January 2025, was too short.
Anybody who was illegally sterilized between 1 July 1966 and 31 March 2012 without freely deciding to undergo the surgery and without being provided in advance with information about the impact of such surgery is eligible for a one-time payment of CZK 300,000 [EUR 12,000] under the compensation law. The lawmakers who submitted the bill to extend the timeframe of the law by two more years pointed out that the conditions for demonstrating eligibility underwent a transformation during the past three years when the law was in effect.
All victims of forced, illegal sterilizations must have an opportunity to claim compensation under the same rules, according to the submitters of the bill. That equal position, in their view, will be created when applicants who have previously been rejected will get the opportunity to file requests for compensation again in light of developments in how the courts have ruled on the ministry’s reasoning in such cases, which extending the timeframe should facilitate.
“I am glad the bill to change the law has passed the Senate of the Czech Republic as well. We are slowly approaching the fulfillment of our expectations that the [rejected] victims of forced sterilizations will finally be able to reapply for financial compensation,” Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková, who advocated for extending the timeframe, told news server Romea.cz.
“I couldn’t just passively watch the setup of those proceedings. They seemed unfair to me in many respects, so we tried to change them together,” explained Fuková, adding that the outcome of those efforts is exactly this extension of the timeframe for submitting requests.
“We are one step closer to justice,” Fuková told Romea.cz. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, had also contacted Czech constitutional officers with a request to extend the validity of the law on one-time compensation for unlawfully sterilized persons.
According to O’Flaherty, all victims should have the opportunity to effectively exercise their right to compensation. Human rights organizations and Romani organizations have been repeatedly complaining that the lawfully established turnaround time for processing applications was not upheld by the Health Ministry and that evidence other than original medical records was not being recognized by the ministry.
The Czech Public Defender of Rights (the ombudsman) also criticized those problems with the execution of the law. President Petr Pavel must now sign the law for it to take effect.
At the time the law was originally adopted, experts estimated roughly 400 women would apply. According to information obtained by Romea.cz, more than 2,300 requests have been submitted so far.
As of 22 April 2025, 889 applicants have been awarded compensation, 574 requests have been rejected, 283 proceedings have been suspended, and 591 have yet to be processed. In some cases applicants who were rejected sued in court and the ministry has had to adjust its decision-making practices.
Czechoslovakia introduced systematic sterilization through a directive of the Health Ministry in 1971. In 1979, the state made it possible to financially motivate women to be sterilized.
According to current information from the Office of the Public Defender of Rights, the most recent cases of illegal sterilizations of which that office is aware took place in the years 2008 and 2009. The European Roma Rights Centre came forward with suspicions that forced sterilizations primarily involved Romani women in 2004.
Dozens of women then turned to the ombudsman and some also sued.
