Admissibility of Audio Record as Evidence in Labour Law-Related Disputes

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic has recently issued a judgement (Reference Number: II. ÚS 1774/14), in which it expressed its opinion on using audio recordings as evidence in lawsuits.

The Constitutional Court holds the opinion that under normal circumstances recording of private conversations without knowledge of the participants is a gross interference in their privacy.

But there are exceptional situations in which the audio recording can be used as evidence in a lawsuit. To these exceptions belong situations when the audio recording is a part of defence of a victim of a criminal act or it is used as a protection by a strongly weaker party in a serious civil or labour law-related dispute.

When the court wants to admit the audio recording as evidence, the court has to carefully and individually consider all the circumstances of the case including the basic rights and freedoms of the parties.