Accompanying the new Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll.), which took effect on January 1, 2014, there have been significant changes to the Civil Procedure Code (Act No.99/1963 Coll.) in the Czech Republic. These changes affect Article 9, which regulates the issues over which different courts have jurisdiction, i.e. whether cases are heard and decided in the first instance by a district court, a regional court or even the Czech Supreme Court. Traditionally, regional courts have had jurisdiction over disputes between companies or cooperatives and their founders (partners or members) as well as disputes between partners (or founders/members) over stakes in the company or cooperative membership. The retention of this rule after January 1, 2014 was explicitly confirmed in the explanatory notes on the draft of Act No. 293/2013 Coll. At the same time, the new approach to private law has brought terminology changes and refinements to Article 9 of the Civil Procedure Code. For example, unlike the wording of Art 9 (2) (e) in effect until the end of 2013, the new version does not explicitly say that regional courts have jurisdiction over disputes arising from the transfer of shares (or membership rights and obligations).
A recent Supreme Court decision (File No. 29 Cdo 4825/2015 dated June 15, 2017) confirms, however, that regional courts have jurisdiction over these cases. The Court found that while disputes over the contractual transfer of business interests are not explicitly named in the Civil Procedure Code effective from January 1, 2014, these disputes fall within the jurisdiction of regional courts after the amendments under Act No. 293/2013 Coll. The Supreme Court, thus, endorsed the continuation of existing decision-making practices.