On 1 October 2026 the Constitutional Court published a decision rejecting the constitutional complaint of a scientist's daughter in a dispute over moon dust samples, thereby confirming that the material belongs to the Czech Academy of Sciences. The samples are small fragments of rocks, minerals and glass obtained by the Soviet probes Luna 16, Luna 20 and Luna 24 between 1970 and 1976, stored in fifteen glass ampoules and one plastic sample holder [1][3][4].*
Origin of the dispute
The samples were received in the 1970s from the Soviet side for scientific research by the then Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Decades later, however, they turned up in the possession of the daughter of a scientist who had previously worked with the material. The Academy of Sciences learned of this in 2020 in connection with an application for an export permit and subsequently filed a lawsuit for the surrender of unlawfully held property [3].
Arguments of the parties
In its lawsuit the Academy of Sciences stressed that the samples had belonged to a scientific institution from the outset, whereas the researcher had merely received them and worked on them professionally. The scientist's daughter, by contrast, claimed that her mother had obtained the samples directly from Soviet colleagues and that the family had then held them for decades as its own property, without the Academy missing the moon dust [1][2][3].
Decisions of the courts
The first to rule in favor of the Academy of Sciences was the Obvodní soud pro Prahu 6, followed by the Městský soud v Praze; both concluded that the family must surrender the samples to the Academy. The verdict was subsequently also upheld by the Supreme Court [1][2][4].
Supreme Court spokeswoman Gabriela Tomíčková stated in June 2026 that, on the basis of archival documents, witness testimony and other evidence, the courts had concluded that the samples had always been handed over to the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, not to specific individuals, and that this was an exceptionally rare material intended for scientific research, the donation of which to a private person would be entirely exceptional [1][2][4].
Complaint to the Constitutional Court
In her complaint the woman argued that the factual and legal conclusions of the ordinary courts were in extreme conflict with the evidence presented, and stated that her mother had held the samples throughout the decades in the belief that they were her property; she also proposed a deferral of enforceability of the court decisions [1][2][4]. The Constitutional Court, in a panel with judge rapporteur Martin Smolek, rejected the complaint as manifestly unfounded and pointed to the coherent chain of argumentation of the ordinary courts. As key evidence it identified the documents "Akt o předání vzorků měsíčního prachu" (Act on the Handover of Moon Dust Samples) of 30 April 1971, 14 June 1973 and 10 June 1977, in which the receiving persons, including the complainant's mother, were designated as authorized representatives of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences [3]. The court stated that "although moon dust samples undoubtedly are not among the things over which lawsuits are often brought – and, even on a worldwide scale, this is probably an entirely unique subject of court proceedings – the case under review does not, from the legal standpoint, reach an excessive complexity requiring special effort on the part of the courts" [1][2][4].
Related articles: Constitutional Court, Czech Academy of Sciences
Chronology
- — The Constitutional Court ruled that lunar dust samples from the 1970s remain the property of the Czech Academy of Sciences. iDNES.cz Pražský deník
Pages linking here
Sources
- iDNES.cz — 1 October 2026
- Pražský deník — 1 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 1 October 2026
- Blesk.cz — 1 October 2026