Remedies

Table of contents

Appeal proceedings

It is possible to file an appeal against the decision of the Social Insurance Agency, except in cases where the filing of an appeal is expressly excluded by law.

• the participant in the proceedings has the right to appeal against the decision of the organizational unit (branch/headquarters) of the Social Insurance Agency, if the Act on Social Insurance does not provide otherwise or if the participant in the proceedings has not waived the appeal in writing or orally in the minutes (appeal is not admissible against the decision to allow instalments of the due amounts of insurance, contribution to old-age pension savings, fines and penalties),
• the appeal is submitted to the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency, which issued the contested decision. Appeal against the decision in matters referred to in Art. 179 (1) letter a) the first point to the third of Act No 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance as amended (e.g. proceedings on pension benefits) can also be filed in another organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency.
• an appeal can be filed within 30 days from the date of notification of the decision; appeals against decisions on insurance premium and contributions to old-age pension savings and decisions on the imposition of fines and penalties can be filed within 15 days from the date of notification of the decision,
• the appeal is filed on time and properly even if it was filed after the deadline specified in the previous paragraph or at an inappropriate organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency because the participant in the proceedings followed incorrect instructions or because s/he was not instructed at all. In this case, an appeal can be filed within three months from the date of notification to the participant to proceedings,
• the General Director decides on the appeal against the decision of the headquarters,
• an appeal filed in time has a suspensory effect, unless this act provides otherwise,
• the appeal does not have a suspensory effect against the decision to award, reduce, stop payment and withdraw sickness benefit, accident supplement, rehabilitation, retraining and unemployment benefits and in matters referred to in Art.179 (1) letter a) the first point of Act No 461/2003 Coll.,
• if a participant in the proceedings in matters referred to in to in Art. 179 (1) letter a) the first point to the third of Act No 461/2003 Coll. before the expiry of the deadline for filing an appeal, requests notification of the documents on the basis of which the headquarters made a decision, the new deadline for filing an appeal starts from the day when these documents were delivered to the participant in the proceedings
• the participant who filed the appeal may withdraw this appeal; if the participant in the proceedings has withdrawn the appeal, s/he cannot file the appeal again,
• the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency, which issued the contested decision, will notify the other participants in the proceedings of the content of the filed appeal, invite them to comment on it within the specified period, and, if necessary, supplement the proceedings by introducing new evidence,
• the organizational component of the Social Insurance Agency, which issued the contested decision, can decide on the appeal itself, if the appeal is accepted in full and if the decision does not concern a participant in the proceedings other than the participant in the proceedings who appealed, or if the other participants in the proceedings agree to it,
• if the organizational component of the Social Insurance Agency, which issued the contested decision, does not decide on the appeal, the appeal is then submitted together with the results of the supplemented procedure and with the file material to the appellate body no later than 30 days from the day on which the appeal was received,
• the appellate body shall review the contested decision in its entirety. If necessary, the body supplements the previous procedure, or eliminate the detected deficiencies,
• if there are reasons for this, the appellate body will change or cancel the decision, otherwise it will reject the appeal and confirm the decision,
• the appellate body cancels the decision and returns the matter to the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency that issued the decision for a new discussion and decision, if it is more appropriate for reasons of speeding or efficiency; the organizational component of the Social Insurance Agency is bound by the legal opinion of the appellate body,
• the appeal decision cannot be further appealed,
• if the appeal is directed, even in part, against the facts that are the content of the confirmation of the period of service according to Act No 553/2002 Coll. on the Disclosure of Documents on the Activities of the State Security Forces 1939 - 1989 and on the Establishment of the Institute of National Remembrance as amended by later regulations (the Act on National Remembrance) as amended, the appellate body shall suspend the proceedings, inform the Institute of National Remembrance of the content of the appeal, including the submitted evidence, and request it for an opinion. The opinion of the Institute of National Remembrance and the confirmation of the period of service according to the mentioned act, which is the basis for the issuance of the appeal decision, are delivered to the participant in the proceedings to whom this confirmation relates, simultaneously with the appeal decision.

Renewal of proceedings

• non-benefit proceedings before the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency, terminated by a decision that is legally binding, shall be renewed at the request of the participant in the proceedings, if:
  • new facts or evidence came to light that could have had a significant impact on the decision and could not be applied in non-benefit proceedings without the fault of the participant in the proceedings,
  • the decision depended on the assessment of a preliminary question, which was decided differently by the relevant organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency,
  • due to the incorrect procedure of the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency, the participant of the non-benefit procedure was deprived of the opportunity to participate in this procedure, if this could have a significant impact on the decision and if the correction could not be made in the appeal procedure,
  • the decision is based on evidence that turned out to be false, or the decision was obtained through a criminal act,
• the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency shall order the renewal of the non-benefit procedure for the reasons stated in the previous paragraph, if there is general interest in reviewing the decision,
• renewal of the non-benefit procedure is permitted at the request of the participant in the proceedings or ordered by the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency, which decided on the matter at the last instance,
• in the proposal for the renewal of the non-benefit procedure, the reasons for the renewal of the procedure and facts indicating that the proposal is submitted in time must be stated,
• the proposal is submitted within 3 months from the day when the participant in the proceedings learned about the reasons for the renewal of the proceedings, no later than 1 year from the decision's validity; within the same period, the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency can order the renewal of the non-benefit procedure; missing the deadline cannot be forgiven,
• after the expiration of one year from the validity of the decision, the renewal is allowed or ordered, if the employer accounted for the salary according to Art. (3) 1 letter a) and par. 2 and 3 of the Act No 461/2003 Coll.after the termination of mandatory sickness insurance, mandatory pension insurance and mandatory unemployment insurance of the employee or on the basis of a court decision that has an impact on a valid decision issued in non-benefit proceedings (wording effective from January 1, 2023),
• an appeal can be filed against the decision to renew the non-benefit procedure. The decision to permit or order renewal has a suspensory effect if the contested decision has not been implemented,
• the new proceedings in the case will be carried out by the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency, whose decision is related to the reason for the renewal of non-benefit proceedings; if the reason for the renewal of the non-benefit procedure relates to the decision of the organizational units of the Social Insurance Agency of the first and second instance, the new procedure will be carried out by the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency of the first instance. If the reason for the renewal of the non-benefit procedure relates only to the procedure before the appellate body, the decision on the renewal of the non-benefit procedure will be combined with a new decision on the matter,
• a new decision on the matter cancels the original decision,
• a new decision on the matter can be appealed.

Judicial review of decisions

The administrative court examines valid decisions of the organizational units of the Social Insurance Agency; an administrative complaint in social matters is submitted to the relevant regional court within 2 months from the delivery of the decision of the organizational unit of the Social Insurance Agency in the last instance, while missing this deadline cannot be forgiven. Filing a complaint is exempt from the court fee in accordance with § 4 par. 1 letter c) Act No 71/1992 Coll. on Court Fees and the Fee for an Extract from the Criminal Record, as amended.