Political system of the Czech Republic

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The great national coat of arms

The Czech Republic is a parliamentary republic . The constitution divides power in the state into the legislative , executive and judicial branches . The legislature consists of the two chambers of parliament : the House of Representatives and the Senate , the executive consists of the president, the government and the prosecutor's office, and the judiciary consists of the constitutional court and the general courts. House of Representatives, Senate and President are directly elected. The head of state is the president .

State institutions

Political system of the Czech Republic

legislative branch

houses of Parliament

The parliament is the sole holder of legislative power. It consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives ( Poslanecká sněmovna ) and the Senate ( Senát ), both of which are directly elected and legitimized by the people. The House of Representatives consists of 200 members, the Senate of 81 senators. In the House of Representatives, the legislative period is 4 years, the mandate is exercised freely . The senators have a six-year mandate and one third of them is elected every two years. Simultaneous membership in both chambers is not permitted, whereas membership in parliament and at the same time in government is almost the rule.

Parliament's primary role is to control the government and pass laws. The deputies and the Senate as a chamber themselves have a legislative right of initiative (not an exclusive one). Parliament's approval is also required for some international treaties. Furthermore, the parliament proclaims the state of war in the event of an enemy attack or if international military alliance obligations have to be fulfilled.

After taking office, the government needs the confidence of the House of Representatives. Likewise, the House of Representatives can force the government to resign with a vote of no confidence. The MPs have the right to interpellate the government and its members .

In the legislative process, the Senate has a relatively weak position vis-à-vis the House of Representatives. Laws are first passed by the House of Representatives. The draft law is then submitted to the Senate. If the Senate takes a negative position, it can be overruled by the House of Representatives with an absolute majority of all MPs. The consent of both chambers is only required in particularly important situations. This area includes in particular the passing of constitutional laws, the electoral law, the declaration of a state of war or the sending of troops abroad (and the election of the president by January 2013). In some areas, the Senate alone decides (approval of the appointment of constitutional judges, constitutional complaint against the president for high treason).

Parliament's legislative activity is controlled by the Constitutional Court. In certain crisis situations, the House of Representatives (but not the Senate) can be dissolved by the President.

choice

Chamber of Deputies

The House of Representatives is elected using proportional representation. The political parties draw up lists of candidates in the constituencies (which correspond to the areas of the 14 regions ). There is a 5% threshold . The votes are converted into mandates using the D'Hondt procedure . The voter can give two candidates a preferential vote. The minimum age of the candidates is 21 years. The legislative period is 4 years.

The Senate is elected by majority voting. The candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes in the first ballot in the constituency concerned is elected Senator. If no candidate receives the required number of votes in the first ballot, a second ballot takes place in which the two most successful candidates from the first ballot take part. In the second ballot, a relative majority is sufficient for victory.

In the case of the Senate, the minimum age of candidates is 40 years. The candidates can be proposed and supported by political parties or run independently. The legislature of a senator is 6 years. The elections take place every two years, with one third of the 81 constituencies being elected. The election candidates are often well-known or generally respected public figures.

Every citizen of the Czech Republic who has reached the age of 18 is entitled to vote.

executive

president

Flag of the President of the Czech Republic

The President of the Czech Republic is the head of state and represents the state externally. Until 2012 he was elected by both houses of parliament in a joint session. After a constitutional amendment, he is elected by the people in a direct election. The election winner is the candidate with an absolute majority of all votes cast. If no candidate receives this majority in the first ballot, a second ballot will follow in 14 days, in which the two candidates with the most votes will take part. The term of office is 5 years, re-election is possible once, the minimum age of the candidates is 40 years.

The President exercises his powers partly independently, partly in cooperation with the government (countersignature by the Prime Minister or a member of the government). He independently appoints or removes the Prime Minister and other members of the government, if necessary he accepts their resignation . In certain crisis situations he can dissolve the House of Representatives. Without countersigning, he appoints the judges of the Constitutional Court, the chairman of the Supreme Court, the president and vice-president of the Supreme Supervisory Authority and the members of the Council of the Czech National Bank . In the legislative process, the president has a suspensive veto and can therefore return a draft law to parliament (this does not apply in the case of a constitutional law).

The President can also order that criminal proceedings be discontinued or not initiated, and further penalties can be issued, mitigated or canceled . Traditionally, the president is often asked for help by citizens in order to enforce their rights against state institutions.

The President cannot be prosecuted and is not responsible to any other constitutional body for his administration. He can only be charged with high treason before the Constitutional Court and on charges by the Senate. The only possible penalty is loss of office and loss of fitness for a further term.

government

Strakova academy, the seat of the Czech government

The Government of the Czech Republic ( Vláda České republiky ) is the highest body of the executive branch and consists of the Prime Minister ( předseda vlády ), the Deputy Prime Ministers and the Ministers . The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic. Following his proposal, the President then appoints the other members of the government. The government then has thirty days to submit to the vote of confidence in parliament.

From a formal point of view, the government decides as a college, but in fact the Prime Minister has a great deal of influence on the decision-making process. In the legislative process, the government is the most common submitter of bills. The government is responsible to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives can force the government as a whole to resign with a vote of no confidence .

Self-management

Article 99 of the Czech Constitution divides the Czech Republic into municipalities ( obec ), which are elementary self-governing territorial units , and in (14) regions ( kraj ), these are higher self-governing territorial units . The offices of the municipalities and regions also exercise state authority in a delegated form. The districts ( okres ) are no longer administrative units since 2003.

Judiciary

Constitutional Court in Brno
Supreme Administrative Court in Brno

The judiciary consists of the Constitutional Court and a four-tier system of general courts. The Czech jurisdiction is divided into four branches: constitutional, civil, criminal and administrative.

Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic ( Ústavní soud České republiky ) is an independent constitutional body and a special court in the field of constitutional law. It determines whether individual laws and legal norms are in accordance with the constitution . The main competence of the court is to repeal unconstitutional laws or legal norms. It also has competencies in the area of voting rights .

The court consists of 15 judges who make decisions in four three-person senates or as a plenary session . The judges are appointed by the President of the Republic with the consent of the Senate of Parliament for 10 years and cannot be removed from office. The Constitutional Court is located in Brno .

System of general courts

The general court system ( obecné soudnictví ) consists of a four-tier court system. The first stage is formed by 81 district courts ( okresní soud , in Prague under the name obvodní soud and in Brno as Městský soud v Brně ). The second stage consists of 8 district courts ( krajský soud , in Prague also called Městský soud ), distributed in the former 7 districts of the district division established in 1960. These dishes are located in Ústí nad Labem , Pilsen , České Budějovice , Hradec Králové , Brno, Ostrava and in Prague ( Městský soud v Praze for the city and Krajský soud v Praze for the surrounding area). Subsidiaries are located in Karlovy Vary , Pardubice , Olomouc , Liberec , Tábor , Zlín and Jihlava . The locations of the courts correspond to the current administrative structure. The third level is formed by two higher courts ( vrchní soud ) in Prague and Olomouc. At the top are the Supreme Court ( Nejvyšší soud ČR ) and the Supreme Administrative Court ( Nejvyšší správní soud ), both based in Brno.

The district courts are the only courts to rule in all three branches of jurisdiction (civil, administrative and criminal matters). The district and higher courts and the Supreme Court decide in civil and criminal matters. In the Czech Republic there are currently no special courts (apart from the Supreme Administrative Court). In 1993 the military courts and in 2000 the three district trade courts in Prague, Brno and Ostrava were abolished.

Parties

Distribution of seats in the House of Representatives (elections 2013)
       
A total of 200 seats

2013 election winners by district
  • ČSSD
  • ANO
  • TOP 09
  • KSČM

    • A moderate pluralism has become established in the Czech Republic . Until 2010, the liberal-conservative Občanská Demokratieická strana (ODS) and the social democratic Česká strana sociálně Demokratieická (ČSSD) had a dominant position. Other established parties are the Christian Democratic People's Party KDU-ČSL and the relatively strong but isolated Communist Party ( KSČM ). In the House of Representatives elections in 2010 , the conservative start-up TOP 09 , and in the House of Representatives elections in 2013, the ANO 2011 protest party recorded strong gains, so that the spectrum of parties is currently broad.

    Parties currently represented in the House of Representatives

    literature

    • Vodička, Karel , Cabada, Ladislav: Politický systém České republiky. Portál, Praha 2003, 2007, 2011, ISBN 978-80-7367-893-7 .
    • Vodička, Karel: The Czech Political System. Verl. Für Sozialwiss., Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-8100-4083-5 .
    • Vodička, Karel: The Czech Political System. In: Ismayr, Wolfgang (Ed.): The political systems of Eastern Europe. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-16201-0 , pp. 275-316.

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Constitutional Law No. 71/2012 Sb.

    Web links

    Legislative branch:

    Executive:

    Judiciary:

    Political parties:

    Other: