Abstract
The paper deals with the right of the injured party in criminal proceedings to effective and efficient investigation of criminal offenses. This right has been inferred from the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights since the mid-1990s as a new fundamental human right.
Some questions are still unclear, such as whether it is the constitutionally guaranteed right of the injured party, or it is merely the obligation of the state to conduct swift and thorough criminal investigations. Since the right of the injured party to conduct investigations is not expressly enlisted in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms or in the European Parliament's directives and must be inferred from the case-law, the content and scope of that right are unclear.
With reference to the ECHR case-law, the author presents how the decision-making practice of the Czech Constitutional Court adapts the conclusions of European case-law to the legal situation of the Czech Republic. The injured party's right to effective investigation becomes current also in connection with the upcoming recodification of the Czech Criminal Procedure Code.