Language barrier no excuse for limiting father's rights, Czech court says

A Czech father’s weekly one-hour supervised visits with his daughter will be reviewed by the courts after the Constitutional Court ruled that language barriers and a strained parental relationship are not sufficient grounds for indefinitely limiting a parent’s contact with a child.

The case, brought by a foreign national, centered on the Prague Municipal Court’s decision to allow only assisted contact, supervised, one-hour weekly visits, without any clear prospect of future expansion. The school-aged daughter lives with her Czech mother and does not speak the father’s native language, a factor cited by the court as contributing to the limited contact arrangement.

But the Constitutional Court sharply criticized this approach, saying the limitation came “surprisingly” and without proper warning or justification.

“Such a significant restriction practically comes close to completely excluding the parent from the child’s life,” said Judge-Rapporteur Jaromír Jirsa during the announcement of the ruling, which neither party attended. He added that the courts failed to provide the father with a chance to respond or present evidence before reducing his access.

The ruling emphasized that the Czech Constitution guarantees a child’s right to care from both parents, and that any major limitation must be exceptional, clearly reasoned, and accompanied by a future plan for expanding contact.

“It would be appropriate for the court to indicate how it envisions expanding contact in the future, so that the premise that the child will, over time, be in equal care of both parents is ideally fulfilled,” said Jirsa.

The Constitutional Court also noted that prolonged litigation over contact harms children, and that outlining a gradual reunification plan from the start may prevent repeated legal disputes.

The Municipal Court in Prague must now revisit the case, this time guided by the Constitutional Court’s legal opinion, and with the father’s constitutional rights firmly in view.