Two years ago, a Czech family faced intense media scrutiny following the death of their child, delivered at home and with a congenital defect that would have made life impossible regardless of the place of birth.

The family’s personal information, including their home address, was leaked to the media by either the Emergency Medical Service of the Central Bohemian Region or the police, the only entities that knew of the home birth. The family filed a criminal complaint over the unauthorized use of personal data, but the prosecutor’s office in Nymburk declined to investigate the allegations and instead issued a decision that there had been no violation of the family’s rights. The regional prosecutor in Prague confirmed this decision.

Denial of right to privacy

These decisions left the couple unable to defend itself. It is impossible to a bring a criminal case to trial if that case cannot first be built by an investigation to establish responsibility for the leak, leaving the family without legal remedy against this invasion of their privacy.

They petitioned the Constitutional Court to compel prosecutors to investigate the leak, claiming it constituted a grave violation of their rights. The Court determined that the Nymburk prosecutor was not responsible for investigating information leaks to the media. The family then appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, but this petition is still pending.

"The Constitutional Court chose a way of non-interference towards the activities of the prosecutor's office. But this also represents a denial of an effective protection of the family's right to privacy and tolerating an arbitrary abandonment of a crime investigation, the characteristics of which were fully met, " commented Zuzana Candigliota, a lawyer from the League of Human Rights.

An unfair attack against home births

The family believes that the Central Bohemian Emergency Medical Service was responsible for the leak, although they cannot prove this. It can be said, however, that the applicants' case had been abused as a test case against home births. The medical service published a biased and dishonest press release indicating that the death of the child had been caused by the parents' choice of home birth and a late call for rescue, and also failed to disclose that the child had a visible birth defect.

Moreover, it is not the only case regarding Central Bohemian Emergency Medical Service: just a month ago, they were called to another home birth, after which a child died from a congenital defect unrelated to place of birth. Again, without the consent of the family, they informed the media. In the cases of child deaths in the hospital, which occur on a daily basis, the family's privacy is respected and their address is never disclosed to the media by anyone.