Marek Benda: Increasing court fees is not fair (Novinky.cz ) Doubling court fees is not fair, says Marek Benda (ODS) chairman of the Constitutional And Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.

He told The News in response to Monday's government decision. The cabinet, on the other hand, should come up with something that will make people better. Mr. Member, the government approved the increase in court fees on Monday. Is it necessary? My thesis is simple. No extra money will help this government that can't manage it. The government is raising everything for everyone. If they cut anything, it's wrong, like a beer tax. Until it comes to where it will be relieved, we cannot approve fee increases. Justice Minister Marie Benešová (for YES) argued that court fees have not increased since 2011 and prices are rising for everything. This is to some extent true and you could discuss whether they should or should not raise some court fees. But the question is, if it doesn't lead to a bout of justice, that people won't judge themselves rather than pay for it. If the government could come up with a way to reduce and leave citizens more in their pockets, then we can talk about it. Can the increase in fees motivate citizens not to settle disputes in court, but by agreement? But if the deal doesn't work, the dispute has to be resolved in court anyway. For example, in the area of executions, we are constantly talking about how to reduce enforcement costs. There's a message that says, "But I want more of it on the fee." Is that fair? I don't think it's. Will the availability of the law deteriorate? This would have to be charged after a fee where it does and where it doesn't, but I don't agree with trying to lift everything up across the board. I expect the ODS will vote against the amendment in the Chamber. You assume correctly. The interview was published on novinky.cz.Marek Bendavice vice-chairman of the PČR Group