6.  The applicant had a restitution claim concerning movable property located in Opočno Castle. The castle itself belonged to another person, of whom the applicant is not an heir. The movable property was initially confiscated from a predecessor of the applicant during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1942 on the orders of the German Secret State Police, which considered him to be an enemy of the German Reich. After the end of the Second World War, the property was once again confiscated, in 1945, by the Czechoslovak State under the Beneš decrees as he was considered to be of German nationality. That expropriation was quashed on appeal by the National Council in Prague (zemský národní výbor) on 21 January 1947 after it had been established that the applicant’s predecessor was of Czechoslovak nationality and had been loyal to the Czechoslovak State. What happened to the property afterwards is disputed and was discussed in the domestic decisions.
7.  On 31 March 1992, the applicant’s father, together with his cousin, Ms. Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeld, claimed the restitution of movable property which had been in Opočno Castle. The applicant entered the proceedings as the heir and legal successor to his father, who died in 1998.
8.  Due to a large number of items in question, the first-instance court decided the case by way of three separate judgments.
9.  In 1999 the Pardubice District Court (okresní soud) returned a collection of 68 paintings to the applicant and his co-plaintiff. That judgment was upheld on appeal by the Hradec Králové Regional Court (krajský soud) on 1 June 2000 and the defendant’s appeal on points of law was dismissed. Those proceedings are not part of the present applications.
10.  On 27 October 2006 the District Court ordered the National Heritage Institute to return to the applicant and his co-plaintiff certain movable property located in Opočno Castle. It found that the applicant’s predecessor had been the owner of the property on the critical date, that is 25 February 1948 (see Gratzinger and Gratzingerova v. the Czech Republic (dec.), no. 39794/98, § 24, ECHR 2002‑VII), and that the statutory conditions for its restitution had been fulfilled.
11.  On 18 October 2007 the Regional Court quashed the judgment and dismissed the action. It held that the property in question had been taken away from the applicant’s predecessor before 25 February 1948 and that therefore the legislation on restitution did not apply. During a hearing on 8 October 2007, the court did not raise with the parties any questions or elements of evidence but was merely listening to the comments of the parties on the decision of the first-instance court, after which the case was adjourned for delivery of a judgment.
12.  The Regional Court based its decision on two pieces of evidence. Firstly, there was a letter of 24 June 1947 from the national administrator of Opočno Castle to his superiors, informing them about a visit by the applicant’s predecessor to the castle. The second piece of evidence was a decision by the Ministry of Agriculture of 30 April 1947 by which Opočno Castle had been declared State cultural property (hereinafter “the 1947 decision”). The 1947 decision had not been raised with the parties in the course of the hearing and the parties had not received an opportunity to comment on it. In its reasoning the Regional Court noted that it was aware of the existence of the document through the exercise of its functions.
13.  On 11 February 2009 the Supreme Court (Nejvyšší soud) dismissed an appeal on points of law (dovolání) lodged by the applicant. It noted that the appellate court had reached its conclusion, inter alia, on the basis of the 1947 decision. It did not address the applicant’s argument that he had not seen that decision and had not been able to comment on it.
14.  On 11 August 2010 the Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud) dismissed a constitutional appeal by the applicant as manifestly ill-founded. It noted the importance of the 1947 decision, but stated that the requirements of Article 121 of the Code of Civil Procedure had been met and that it was not necessary to prove facts which were generally known, or known to a court through the exercise of its functions.
15.  On 22 April 2009 the District Court dismissed the rest of the applicant’s restitution claim. In its reasoning it referred to the judgment of the Regional Court of 18 October 2007 and that of the Supreme Court of 11 February 2009.
16.  On 27 January 2011 the Regional Court upheld the first-instance judgment. The court relied as evidence on a letter by the Ministry of Agriculture of 27 May 1957 referring to the 1947 decision. Despite the applicant’s repeated requests, the 1947 decision was not produced for the parties.
17.  On 28 November 2011 the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the applicant on points of law.
18.  On 19 April 2012 the Constitutional Court dismissed a constitutional appeal by the applicant, claiming a violation of his right to a fair trial and to his property, as manifestly ill-founded.