The action defines the subject matter of the proceedings. Therefore, it must contain not only the identification of the participants, but also the claim of claim, including the description of the decisive facts, the indication of the evidence and the description of what the plaintiff is claiming. Monetary claims can also be asserted by a simpler form proposal (proposal for issuing a payment order). With the delivery of the statement of claim to the court, legal proceedings are initiated.

The action, or the application for initiation of proceedings, is submitted in writing (in paper or electronic form) to the competent court. In the first instance, the district courts are most often the competent district courts for consideration, unless the law specifically specifies the jurisdiction of the regional courts (e.g. in disputes arising from unfair competition or other “commercial” disputes).

Local jurisdiction is most often the court in whose district the defendant is domiciled (in the case of a natural person) or registered office (in the case of a legal person), but it may also be another court designated by law (e.g. the one in whose district the damage occurred or where the defendant works).

The submission itself must contain general requirements, including the designation of the court to which the filing is addressed, who makes the submission, which case it concerns and what it pursues, of course the signature and date. In addition, the application must include the identification of all the parties to the proceedings and, where appropriate, their representatives, the presentation of the decisive facts and the presentation of evidence to them, and finally what the plaintiff is claiming (this must be formulated in the form of a so-called petition, that is, in the form in which we want the court to issue an authoritative opinion).

It is appropriate to present the marked evidence already with the claim, at least to the extent that it is demonstrated by the law applied. Evidence in court proceedings can be practically anything, but most often it is documents (even in electronic form) relating to the case, in particular contracts, correspondence of the parties, statements of accounts, invoices, etc.

A simpler version of the lawsuit is the filing of a form application for issuing an electronic payment order for monetary claims up to CZK 1,000,000, which is not only easier to prepare, but also pays a slightly lower court fee. Subsequently, the court issues an electronic payment order, which must be delivered to the defendant in his own hands. However, if the defendant then fails to file a so-called opposition in time, such a payment order becomes an enforceable writ of execution and can therefore serve as a basis for the recovery of the amount judged, for example, through the bailiff.

Proceedings are then commenced on the day the motion to commence it was served in court. The initiation of proceedings acts, among other things, as an obstacle to the initiation of further proceedings on the same case (the so-called barrier of litispendence), and the subsequent impediment to the final decision of the case (the so-called impediment to a final decision). Rei Iudicatae). Both obstacles then prevent proceedings from being opened with the same parties on the same subject, as follows from the legal principle of “ne bis in idem”, which literally means “not twice about the same thing”.