Josefa Czernin, lodged a claim for restitution of their property under Act No. 87/1991 and Act No. 243/1992. According to him, the principal precondition for the restitution of his property is the Czechoslovak citizenship of his parents after the war. possible to appeal against a non-existent decision. On the same day, the author appealed the letter of the Minister to the Supreme Court which on 16 July 1996 ruled that the letter was not a decision by an administrative body, that the absence of such a decision was an insurmountable procedural obstacle, and that domestic administrative law did not give the courts any power to intervene against any failure to act by an official body. 2.4 On 19 January and 9 May 1995 respectively, the author applied for the resumption of proceedings relating to his father’s and his mother’s application for retention of Czechoslovak citizenship. In the case of Eugen Czernin, a reply dated 27 January 1995 from the Jindříchův Hradec District Office informed the author that the proceedings could not be resumed because the case had been definitely settled by Act 34/1953, conferring Czechoslovak citizenship on German nationals who had lost their Czechoslovak citizenship under Decree 33/1945 but who were domiciled in the Czechoslovak Republic.3 In a letter dated 13 February 1995, the author insisted that a determination on his application for resumption of proceedings be made. In a communication dated 22 February 1995, he was notified that it was not possible to proceed with the citizenship case of a deceased person and that the case was regarded as closed. On 3 March 1995, the author applied to the Ministry of Interior for a decision to be taken on his case. After the Ministry informed him that his letter had not arrived, he sent the same application again on 13 October 1995. On 24 and 31 January 1996, the author again wrote to the Minister of Interior. Meanwhile, in a meeting between the second author and the Minister of Interior, the latter indicated that there were not only legal but also political and personal reasons for not deciding on the case, and that “in any other case but [his], such an application for determination of nationality would have been decided favourably within two days”. The Minister also promised that he would convene an ad hoc committee composed of independent lawyers, which would consult with the author’s lawyers, but this committee never met. 2.6 After yet another unsuccessful appeal to the Ministry of Interior, the author filed a complaint for denial of justice in the Constitutional Court which, by judgement of 25 September 1997, ordered the Ministry of Interior to cease its continuing inaction which violated the complainant’s rights. Further to this decision, the author withdrew his communication before the Human Rights Committee. 2.7 According to the author, the Jindříchův Hradec District Office (District Office), by decision of 6 March 1998, re-interpreted the essence of the author’s application and, arbitrarily characterized it as an application for confirmation of citizenship. The District Office denied the application on the ground that Eugen Czernin had not retained Czech citizenship after being deprived of it, in accordance with the Citizenship Act of 1993, which stipulates that a decision in favour of the plaintiff requires, as a prerequisite, the favourable conclusion of a citizenship procedure. The District Office did not process the author’s initial application for resumption of proceedings on retention of citizenship. Further to this decision, the author resubmitted and updated his communication to the Committee in March 1998. 2.8 On 28 July 1998, the author informed the Committee that on 17 June 1998, the Ministry of Interior had confirmed the decision of the District Office of 6 March 1998. In August 1998, the author filed a motion for judicial review in the Prague High Court, as well as a complaint in the Constitutional Court. The latter was dismissed on 18 November 1998 for failure to exhaust available remedies, as the action was still pending in the Prague High Court. 2.5 On 22 February 1996, the Minister of Interior wrote to the author stating that “the decision on [his] application was not favourable to [him]”. On 8 March 1996, the author appealed the Minister’s letter to the Ministry of Interior. In a reply from the Ministry dated 24 April 1996, the author was informed that the Minister’s letter was not a decision within the meaning of section 47 of Act No. 71/1967 on administrative proceedings and that it was not 2.9 On 29 September 1998, the author informed the Committee that on the same date, the District Office of Prague 1 had issued a negative decision on Josefa Czernin’s application for retention of citizenship. 2.10 With regard to the requirement of exhaustion of domestic remedies, the author recalls that the application for retention of citizenship was filed in November 1945, and that efforts to have the proceedings completed were resumed in January 1995. He thus considers that they have been unreasonably prolonged. In the 1998 update of his communication, the author contends that the decision of the District Office is not a “decision on 3 Act 34/1953 of 24 April 1953 “Whereby certain persons acquire Czech citizenship rights”, paragraph 1 (1) stipulates that “Persons of German nationality, who lost Czechoslovak citizenship rights under Decree 33/1945 and have on the day on which this law comes into effect domicile in the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic shall become Czech citizens, unless they have already acquired Czech citizenship rights”. 80