The Czech Supreme Court addressed an interesting case in decision No. 21 Cdo 3382/2020. What was the case about? An employee worked as a pilot for an airline that, among other services, operated air taxi services. He signed a qualification agreement with his employer under which the employer paid for his training on a certain type of light bizjet aircraft, with costs amounting to approximately 500,000 CZK. In return, the pilot agreed to work for the airline for another three years, and if he failed to fulfil this obligation, he had to reimburse the training costs to the company. This is exactly what happened, as the pilot resigned immediately after completing the training. The airline sued the pilot for reimbursement of the training costs.

The pilot argued that although he signed the qualification agreement, he never received a counterpart signed by the airline. According to him, the contract was therefore not concluded, as the law requires the signed contract to be returned to the other party. The airline, on the other hand, argued that the pilot acted in bad faith and that the defect was remedied because the pilot behaved as if the contract had been validly concluded.

The Czech Supreme Court stated that, according to the law, the airline would indeed have to deliver the signed qualification agreement to the pilot. However, the Court also noted that the parties can modify the rules for concluding contracts, which was the case here. The qualification agreement contained the clause: “This contract becomes valid and effective on the date it is signed by both parties.” The Czech Supreme Court concluded that the qualification agreement was concluded the moment the airline signed it, without the need to deliver it back to the pilot.

What is the moral of this story? Valid contract formation follows specific rules, but these can be modified. We recommend having a properly set-up contract conclusion process and adhering to it. If you are interested in consulting your case, please do not hesitate to contact us.