violation has been established. The Committee wishes to receive from the State party, within 90 day, information about the measures taken to give effect to the Committee’s views. The State party is also requested to publish the Committee’s views. and that, pursuant to article 2 of the Covenant, the State party has undertaken to ensure all individuals within its territory or subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, and to provide an effective and enforceable remedy in cases where a Communication No. 823/1998 Submitted by: Rudolf Czernin (deceased on 22 June 2004) and his son Karl-Eugen Czernin (not represented by counsel) Alleged victim: The authors State party: Czech Republic Date of adoption of Views: 29 March 2005 (eighty-third session) Subject matter: Retention of citizenship citizenship, under a German decree of 20 April 1939. After the Second World War, their property was confiscated on the ground that they were German nationals, under the Benes decrees Nos. 12/1945 and 108/1945. Furthermore, Benes decree No. 33/1945 of 2 August 1945 deprived them of their Czechoslovak citizenship, on the same ground. However, this decree allowed persons who satisfied certain requirements of faithfulness to the Czechoslovak Republic2 to apply for retention of Czechoslovak citizenship. Procedural issues: Exhaustion of domestic remedies Substantive issues: Equality before the law - Nondiscrimination - Denial of justice Articles of the Covenant: 14, paragraph 1; 26 and 2, paragraph 314, paragraph 1; 26 and 2, paragraph 3 Articles of the Optional Protocol: 3 and 5, paragraph 2 (b) Finding: Violation (article 14, paragraph 1) 2.2 On 13 November 1945, Eugen and Josefa Czernin applied for retention of Czechoslovak citizenship, in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 33/1945, and within the stipulated timeframe. A “Committee of Inquiry” in the District National Committee of Jindříchův Hradec, which examined their application, found that Eugen Czernin had proven his “anti-Nazi attitude”. The Committee then forwarded the application to the Ministry of the Interior for a final decision. In December 1945, after being released from prison where he was subjected to forced labour and interrogated by the Soviet secret services NKVD and GPÚ, he moved to Austria with his wife. The Ministry did not decide on their applications, nor did it reply to a letter sent by Eugen Czernin on 19 March 1946, urging the authorities to rule on his application. A note in each of their files from 1947 states that the application was to be regarded as irrelevant as the applicants had voluntarily left for Austria, and their files were closed. 1. The original author of the communication was Rudolf Czernin, a citizen of the Czech Republic born in 1924, permanently residing in Prague, Czech Republic. He was represented by his son, KarlEugen Czernin, born in 1956, permanently residing in Austria, and claimed to be a victim of a violation by the Czech Republic1 of articles 14, paragraph 1 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant). The author passed away on 22 June 2004. By letter of 16 December 2004, his son (hereafter referred to as second author) maintains the communication before the Committee. He is not represented. Factual background 2.1 After the German occupation of the border area of Czechoslovakia in 1939, and the establishment of the “protectorate”, Eugen and Josefa Czernin, the now deceased parents of the author, were automatically given German 2.3 After the regime change in Czechoslovakia in late 1989, the author, only son and heir of Eugen and 2 Decree 33/1945, paragraph 2 (1) stipulates that persons “who can prove that they remained true to the Republic of Czechoslovakia, never committed any acts against the Czech and Slovak peoples and were actively involved in the struggle for its liberation or suffered under the National Socialist or Fascist terror shall retain Czechoslovak citizenship.” 1 The Covenant was ratified by Czechoslovakia in December 1975 and the Optional Protocol in March 1991.The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic ceased to exist on 31 December 1992. On 22 February 1993, the Czech Republic notified its succession to the Covenant and the Optional Protocol. 79