Sidelight on the Results of Research into National Judicial Treatment of the European Court of Human Rights’ Case Law

The book Domestic Judicial Treatment of the European Court of Human Rights Case Law. Beyond Compliance analyses how our Czech apex courts comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. This article posits that non-compliance with the Convention is anti-systemic conduct and national courts should lead dialogue with the European Court of Human Rights in case of doubt or disagreement with its case law. The fact that the book did not reveal any serious shortcomings fits into the favourable context of the Czech Republic and the activities related to the enforcement of Court judgments. The answers of all three apex courts to legal problems analysed at the micro-level may not always be satisfactory from the point of view of the case law of the European Court (ne bis idem principle or official gender reassignment). Sometimes, domestic courts have to respond to the legislator’s concerns about amending legislation (restitution of property or rent control). In the issue of education of Roma children, the courts were not much involved, due to the lack of suitable proposals to initiate proceedings. This article concludes that the book is a stone in the hitherto unfinished mosaic of research into the issue of state compliance with human rights obligations.