The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, in its decision No. 26 Cdo 235/2026, addressed a previously unresolved issue concerning the interpretation of Section 2315 of the Civil Code and rejected an expansive interpretation of the term "customer base" in the context of leases of business premises.

❗ A customer base consists only of actual customers who repeatedly use the tenant's services in the given premises. There must be a relationship between the location and the end customer.

❗ Subtenants do not constitute such a customer base.

In this case, the tenant operated a shopping centre and ensured the occupancy of individual units by subtenants. After the lease ended, the tenant sought compensation for having "handed over a functioning structure" of occupied premises to the new tenant.

The Supreme Court upheld the conclusions of the appellate court. It emphasised that the purpose of Section 2315 of the Civil Code is to protect the value created in relation to customers tied to a specific location, rather than any economic activity of the tenant.

The mere provision of subtenants constituted only the basic performance of contractual obligations.

The decision thus clearly delineates the limits of this claim and confirms that Section 2315 of the Civil Code does not apply in situations where the tenant merely establishes a structure of sublease relationships without a direct relationship to end customers.

Author: Tomáš Quirenz