“People, Your Government Has Returned to You!” The Czech Constitution of 1992 as Return to Constitutional Tradition (original) (raw)

Constitutional Stability and Dynamics in the Czech Republic

International Comparative Jurisprudence, 2019

This article discusses the stability and dynamics of the Czech constitution, especially the ‘frame of government’. First, the circumstances of the adoption of the Czech Constitution from 1993 are described, as well as the initial problems with the implementation of bicameralism. Second, the rigidity of the constitution in formal and material sense is analysed. Here, the article demonstrates that the procedural rules for adopting constitutional acts (qualified majorities in both chambers of the Parliament) have to be considered in connection with the electoral and political system in the Czech Republic in order to get a good picture. By an overview of constitutional acts adopted since 1993, it is shown that the constitutional system has not been subject to major changes and remained rather stable. Two important exceptions, i.e. moments of constitutional development are discussed in detail: the cancellation of early election in the Chamber of Deputies by the annulment of a constitutio...

Constitutional History in the Czech Republic 2000–2015

Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa

This paper focuses on the topic of research in constitutional history in the Czech Republic at the beginning of the 21 st century, specifi cally in the period 2000-2015. The paper charts Czech historians' interest in constitutional (legal) history in the region of the modern Czech Republic (including some overlaps concerning constitutional law in Central Europe) throughout the whole history of the Czech state. It is obvious that constitutional history (as well as other areas of historical research) of modern times, especially of the 19 th and 20 th centuries, has recently become a topic for greater discussion among scholars. However, the major editions are still more connected with older Czech history. The topic of legal history is studied at law faculties, at faculties of arts and philosophy, and at some institutes of The Czech Academy of Sciences (Institute of State and Law of the CAS, the Masaryk Institute, and the Archives of the CAS). The current paper will also treat with the professional publications (i.a. the magazine "Právněhistorické studie"), major studies, and important fi gures (i.a

Czech Constitutional Democracy: Focus on the Czech Dual Executive Power and the Future Senate

Fordham International Law Journal, 1996

The main focus of this Essay is the potential dynamic tension in the Czech dual executive power. The Czech presidency, presently occupied by the former dissident Vaclav Havel, is commonly perceived in the Czech Republic as a weak presidency. If it is true that President Havel's office can justifiably be described as weak, is this due to Constitutional restraints on the presidency, or is it a function of the personality of the current occupant of the presidency? This Essay also discusses the implications of the November 15-16, 1996 Senate elections on the Czech democracy.

Book Review/Response, New Democracies in Crisis? A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia

Int’l J. Const. L. Blog, 2013

[Editor's Note: In this installment of I•CONnect's Book Review/Response Series, Jiří Přibáň and Bogusia Puchalska each review Paul Blokker’s recently-published book New Democracies in Crisis? A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Paul Blokker then responds to the reviews] Review by Jiří Přibáň –Jiří Přibáň, Cardiff Law School, reviewing Paul Blokker, New Democracies in Crisis? A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia (Routledge 2013). The most insightful play about rock ’n’ roll in Czechoslovakia between the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989 was written by British playwright Tom Stoppard. Similarly, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck from what used to be West Germany portrayed the most complex and moving picture of artists, intellectuals and the Stasi monitoring in the GDR in his film The Lives of Others. Every time I read Paul Blokker’s extremely well informed and insightful studies of “the other Europe” of postcommunist Central and East European nations and states and their constitutional, political and social changes in the last twenty five years, I am intrigued by the same ability of this Dutch scholar working in Italy to combine the outsider’s perspective and personal interest in his research. Blokker’s academic work already significantly contributes to the increasingly complex field of theory of democratic constitutionalism and its transformations in Central and Eastern Europe and his new monograph New Democracies in Crisis? A Comparative Constitutional Study of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia (Routledge 2013) will further strengthen his scholarly reputation and authority of his theoretical views.

Constitutional Design, Rule of Law and Mutual Recognition in the Czech Republic

Studia Europejskie - Studies in European Affairs, 2019

The article analyses the potential EU dimension of the impunity of the President of the Czech Republic and the President's constitutional compe-tencies concerning criminal law. Based on recent development of constitutional practice in the Czech Republic and new trends in EU law, the article formulates potential confl ict scenarios between Czech constitutional rules and the EU principles of non bis in idem and the rule of law.

A Democratic State Governed by the Rule of Law – the Constitutional Identity of the Czech Republic

Journal of International Legal Communication, 2021

This article aspires to shed more light on the understanding of the notions of the constitutional identity, the material core of a constitution and unamendable elements of a constitution (eternity clauses) and on the concept of essential elements of a democratic state governed by the rule of law as reflected in the practice of the Czech Constitutional Court. The Czech debate is not centred on the use of constitutional identity as a shield protecting local specifics. Quite the opposite. With a certain degree of generalization, we can conclude that the Czech notion of constitutional identity is, at least in the view of the Czech Constitutional Court, deeply grounded in such general concepts as democracy and the rule of law and connected with the material core of a constitution and unamendable elements of a constitution. However, this „legal“ concept of constitutional identity may easily conflict with a „popular“ constitutional identity based primarily on traditional narratives about t...

The Czech Republic: From a Euro-Friendly Approach of the Constitutional Court to Proclaiming a Court of Justice Judgment Ultra Vires

National Constitutions in European and Global Governance: Democracy, Rights, the Rule of Law, 2019

The Czech Constitution of 1992, associated with the revolutionary fervour of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, attempted to annihilate the Communist, totalitarian heritage. According to the judgments of the Constitutional Court (CCC), this meant that the rule of law in a constitutional state has not only a formal but also a substantive side, expressing the fundamental, inviolable values of a democratic society. There was a break from an approach that had seen the judiciary as a submissive and unthinking instrument of enforcement. In relation to EU law, several measures have been subject to constitutional challenges, including domestic acts implementing the European Arrest Warrant, the Data Retention Directive, and EU sugar quotas. The Czech Constitutional Court, which has a strong position, has underlined its EU-friendly approach. At the same time, for exceptional, flagrant cases, the CCC has retained the constitutional limits based on the democratic, rule-of-law-based state (unamendable provision under Art. 9(2) of the Constitution) and the protection of fundamental rights. Notably, in Landtová, the CCC declared an ECJ judgment ultra vires. In general, the reasoning of the CCC often follows that of the German Constitutional Court. In the practice of the ordinary courts, it emerges from the report that the Czech courts have adopted a rights-protective approach and carry out judicial review, including in European Arrest Warrant cases and other mutual recognition cases. The EU amendments in the Constitution are considered brief but sufficient.

Formal and Informal Constitutional Amendment in the Czech Republic

The Lawyer Quarterly, 2018

The paper, a substantially shortened version of the national report prepared for the congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law in 2018, analyses processes of formal and informal constitutional amendment in the Czech Republic. After outlining the basic relevant characteristics of the Czech constitution (poly-legality, rigidity, etc.), the paper examines procedural issues of formal constitutional amendment and studies further requirements regarding such constitutional changes, esp. the role of Art. 9 of the Constitution. Several varieties of informal constitutional changes are then briefly presented. The paper assesses the current situation regarding processes of both formal and informal constitutional changes, finding the formal requirements prescribed for a constitutional amendment as sufficient for the relative stability of the constitutional system, being neither extremely strict nor benevolent. The paper also points out several open questions regarding the practical application of the unamendability provision of Art. 9(2) of the Constitution in relation to potential constitutional amendments adopted through a constitutional referendum. Finally, the paper deals with the issue of how formal constitutional amendments can impact upon informal constitutional changes, using the example of the introduction of the direct election of the President of the Republic in 2012.

The Parliament of the Czech Republic, 1993-2004

The Journal of Legislative Studies, 2007

The first decade of the Czech democratic Parliament has seen the development of a newly conceptualised, bicameral Parliament in a new State. We identify general tendencies toward stabilisation, similar to Western European parliamentary practices. Another trend is the gradual change from organising the Parliament according to the majority principle to that of consensus.