On 19 November 2019, the Municipal Court in Prague, acting as the court of appeal, overturned also the second of the default judgments

(based on a legal fiction of acknowledgement by the defendant) which had been issued by the District Court for Prague 8 against Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. It has been stated by the Municipal Court in Prague during the oral hearing that the reasons for which the default judgement could not have been issued were almost identical to the case of the default judgment that had been simultaneously issued by the District Court for Prague 8 in favour of SUPPORT DIESEL s.r.o. and which has been overturned by the Municipal Court in Prague on 3 October 2019.

Here, the Municipal Court in Prague also stated, inter alia, that the statement of claim and the request to submit a statement of defence had not been duly served to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. The case will now be returned to the court of first instance for further proceedings. According to the Municipal Court in Prague, the court of first instance (i.e. the District Court for Prague 8) should, inter alia, address the issue of the plaintiff’s standing to bring proceedings in view of the fact that the plaintiff has essentially submitted the claim as a class action.