Czech Justice Ministry opens case against Viktorka psychiatrist

The Czech Ministry of Justice has launched misconduct proceedings against the psychiatric expert Jitka Vavrová. Her opinion was one of the key grounds for the decision of the court in Benešov, which last October ordered that the girl, Viktorka, be returned to her parents. If the suspicion is confirmed, she faces a fine of up to CZK 500,000, Seznam Zprávy reports.

What the expert is suspected of

Vavrová knew that Viktorka’s father suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and had been dependent on drugs for many years. In court she even warned that “he tries to resolve difficult situations with alcohol and methamphetamine.” Nevertheless, she concluded that, provided he stays completely abstinent, the man is capable of caring for a small daughter.

“We have launched misconduct proceedings against an expert in psychiatry. According to a preliminary legal assessment, in drawing up her opinion she may have exceeded the limits of her expert authority and breached the duty to carry out expert work with professional diligence,” the ministry’s press office confirmed. In the case of a serious or repeated violation, the law also allows an expert to be stripped of the right to practise as an expert. The start of proceedings does not yet mean a violation occurred: the decision will be made by the ministry led by Jeroným Tejc.

Vavrová has not yet responded to the new information. “I am bound by a duty of confidentiality, thank you for your understanding,” she replied to journalists by text message.

Four objections to the opinion

In court, the expert described serious risks linked to the father’s illness and addiction: “If a problem arises, the first solution for him will always be simply to drink or to start looking for ‘pernik’.” She admitted that nobody can guarantee whether the man will remain abstinent, and pointed to the risks of two people with addictions living together: the girl’s mother also had drug problems. The expert herself said she had proposed a psychological examination of the father during a period of sobriety, but the judge did not order an additional assessment. The absence of a psychological evaluation of parenting abilities is one of the main professional objections to her work.

According to the outlet, the objections concern mainly four areas:

1. Exceeding her competence. The psychiatrist also assessed the father’s parenting abilities, which, in the view of specialists, required a psychological assessment of the parent–child relationship. 2. Lack of information about Viktorka. The opinion contains too little data on the child’s needs, her relationship with her father, the actual care provided, and how the father would ensure his daughter’s safety if he returned to drugs or his illness worsened. 3. Unverifiable conclusions. It is impossible to tell from the opinion how the expert reached some of her conclusions, for example that the father is able to control his behaviour and cope with stress. 4. Substituting a condition for an ability. The absence of acute psychotic symptoms at the time of the examination does not mean a person is capable of raising a small child safely over the long term.

What else the authorities are examining

Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc already filed a disciplinary action in June against Benešov judge Sandra Kimmelová: he accuses her of failing to establish sufficiently the circumstances important for the decision on placing the child. The action is due to be heard next month. The judge denies wrongdoing: “Even with the passage of time, I see no overstepping in my decision-making.”

The ministry is also reviewing the work of another expert, psychiatrist Gabriela Leblová, who assessed the father’s sanity in the criminal case after the girl’s death. That review has not yet been completed. The investigation against the father continues: in August the police replaced the murder charge with an intoxication-related offence, but the supervising prosecutor’s office demanded that the expert assessment be supplemented. Tejc has also allowed for a return to the original classification — murder.

Labour and Social Affairs Minister Aleš Juchelka pointed to serious errors by the child welfare authorities (OSPOD): “There was indeed a human failure here at various levels.” His ministry asked the Prague city authority and the Central Bohemian Regional Office to review the work of OSPOD Prague 4 and Kladno. Prague put the review in its plan only for 2027, while the Central Bohemian Region said it had doubts about its own impartiality because of the media coverage of the case.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz