Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic

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The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic (Ústavní soud České republiky) is an independent constitutional body of the Czech Republic and a special court in the field of constitutional law . It is not part of the general court system in the Czech Republic. Its fundamental task is to guarantee the constitutionality of the legal order of the republic and to grant the protection of fundamental rights .

Building of the Constitutional Court in Brno

The court has its seat in Brno in the building of the former Moravian Parliament, where the previous institution, the Constitutional Court of the CSFR , has been located since 1991 . A radius of 100 meters around the building or the conference location was declared a ban mile .

history

The Constitutional Law on the Czechoslovak Federation of 1968 stated in Article 101: “In the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic there are constitutional courts of the republics. Their area of ​​responsibility and their organizational principles are regulated by the constitutional laws of the national councils. ”After the failure of the Prague Spring , however, this stipulation was not implemented, as was the planned establishment of a constitutional court of the ČSSR . The Constitutional Court of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic finally came into being in 1991 on the basis of the first post-communist constitution through a special constitutional law . The Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic was introduced by the first Constitution of the Slovak Republic with effect from October 1, 1992, with implementation only taking place after the end of Czechoslovakia. The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, established on January 1, 1993, was not able to tie in with any independent institution of the Czech Republic from the time of the Federation, but emerged from the former CSFR constitutional court in terms of personnel and in some cases also in terms of content.

tasks

The task of the Czech Constitutional Court is to protect and maintain the constitutionality of the legal bases and the activities of the executive .

The constitutional court has the powers to decide on

  • the repeal of laws or individual provisions thereof if these contradict the constitutional order
  • the repeal of other legal provisions or individual provisions thereof if these contradict the constitutional order or a law,
  • Constitutional complaints by the organs of territorial self-government against unlawful interference by the state,
  • Constitutional complaints against final decisions and other public interventions in constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms,
  • Appeals against decisions in matters of election review of members of parliament or senators,
  • in case of doubt about the loss of eligibility and the incompatibility of exercising the function of a member of parliament or senator under Article 25 of the Constitution,
  • the constitutional complaint of the Senate against the President of the Republic under Article 65 Paragraph 2 of the Constitution,
  • the motion of the President of the Republic to repeal resolutions of the House of Representatives and the Senate in accordance with Article 66 of the Constitution,
  • unavoidable measures to enforce decisions by international courts that are binding on the Czech Republic, unless otherwise possible,
  • whether the decision to dissolve a political party or other decisions regarding the activities of a party is in accordance with the constitution or other laws,
  • Disputes about the scope of competence of the organs of the state and territorial self-government, if this is not the responsibility of other organs,
  • Appeal against decisions of the President of the Republic not to call the referendum on the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union
  • whether the accession in the event of such a referendum is compatible with the constitutional law on the referendum law and its implementing provisions.

In spite of this, the Constitutional Court has repeatedly affirmed in its case law that it is not the Supreme Court, but that it does in fact act as the last domestic instance.

construction

The fifteen judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the President of the Republic with the approval of the Senate. The term of office of the judges is 10 years. Any innocent citizen who is eligible for election to the Senate (over 40 years of age), has a university degree in law and has worked in the legal profession for at least 10 years, can become a constitutional judge. Repeat appointment of the same person is not prohibited. The chairman of the court appoints to every judge on the proposal Richter assistant .

During the presidency of Václav Havel there were no serious disputes between the President and the Senate over the issue of appointments. After Václav Klaus took office , however, a sharp conflict flared up when the Senate rejected four candidates proposed by the President in succession, Aleš Pejchal even twice. Among those rejected by the Senate were e.g. B. Václav Pavlíček (22 of 76 votes), Vladimír Balaš (30 of 78), Klára Veselá-Samková (29 of 77), Milan Gavlas . The President described the Senate's motion to propose a larger number of more suitable candidates as scandalous, while the Senate accused the President of not agreeing his proposals with them beforehand. From July 2003 to December 2005, the constitutional court did not have the full number of judges.

Current occupation

(As of May 27, 2014)

Chairman of the Constitutional Court
Deputy
  • Milada Tomková, appointed by Miloš Zeman since May 3, 2013
  • Jaroslav Fenyk, appointed by Miloš Zeman since August 7, 2013
More judges
  • Jan Filip , appointed by Miloš Zeman since May 3, 2013
  • Vladimír Sládeček, since June 4, 2013, appointed by Miloš Zeman
  • Ludvík David, appointed by Miloš Zeman since August 7, 2013
  • Kateřina Šimáčková, since August 7, 2013, appointed by Miloš Zeman
  • Radovan Suchánek, appointed by Miloš Zeman since November 26, 2013
  • Jan Musil, appointed by Miloš Zeman since January 20, 2014
  • Jiří Zemánek, appointed by Miloš Zeman since January 20, 2014
  • Vojtěch Šimíček, since June 12, 2014, appointed by Miloš Zeman
  • Tomáš Lichovník, since June 19, 2014, appointed by Miloš Zeman
  • David Uhlíř, appointed by Miloš Zeman since December 10, 2014
  • Vlasta Formánková, since August 8, 2005, appointed by Václav Klaus
  • Vladimír Kůrka, since December 15, 2005, appointed by Václav Klaus

Former judges

Appointed by President Václav Havel:

  • Iva Brožová, July 15, 1993 to February 8, 1999
  • Vojtěch Cepl , July 15, 1993 to July 15, 2003
  • Vladimír Čermák, July 15, 1993 to July 15, 2003
  • Miloš Holeček, July 15, 1993 to July 15, 2003 (deputy, 2003 brief chairman)
  • Vladimír Jurka, July 15, 1993 to July 15, 2003
  • Zdeněk Kessler, July 15, 1993 to February 12, 2003 (full-time as chairman)
  • Vladimír Klokočka , July 15, 1993 to July 15, 2003
  • Vladimír Paul, July 15, 1993 to April 3, 2002
  • Antonín Procházka, July 15, 1993 to July 15, 2003
  • Vlastimil Ševčík, July 15, 1993 to December 15, 2002
  • Eva Zarembová, November 9, 1993 to May 8, 2004
  • Pavel Varvařovský, March 29, 1994 to March 29, 2004
  • Jiří Malenovský , April 4, 2000 to 2004, first judge with the approval of the Senate
  • Eliška Wagnerová, March 20, 2002 to March 20, 2012
  • Pavel Holländer, August 6, 2003 to August 6, 2013
  • František Duchoň, June 6, 2002 to June 6, 2012
  • Jiří Mucha, January 28, 2003 to January 28, 2013
  • Miloslav Výborný, June 3, 2003 to June 3, 2013
  • Vojen Güttler, August 6, 2003 to August 6, 2013
  • Dagmar Lastovecká, August 29, 2003 to August 29, 2013
  • Jiří Nykodým, December 17, 2003 to December 17, 2013
  • Stanislav Balík, May 26, 2004 to May 26, 2014
  • Ivana Janů, September 16, 2004 to September 16, 2014 (previously from November 9, 1993 to February 9, 2002)

Known cases

The most famous cases were the resolutions

  • on the non-conformity of the Lisbon Treaty with the Constitution of the Czech Republic

The court passed a groundbreaking verdict with the repeal of the Constitutional Law on the Shortening of the 5th Parliamentary Term, which in September 2009 canceled the previously announced and prepared Czech parliamentary elections in 2009.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zákon ze dne 16. června 1993 o Ústavním soudu, 182/1993 Sb., § 25, http://www.concourt.cz/pages/prav_uprava/zakon_us.html (Czech)
  2. ↑ Senátoři napodruhé odmítli pustit Pejchala do ÚS , Novinky.cz, 10 September 2003
  3. ↑ a b Senát odmítá navržené kandidáty do Ústavního soudu , Český rozhlas, Vilém Faltýnek, August 7, 2003

Web links

Commons : Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • www.usoud.cz - Official website of the Czech Constitutional Court

Coordinates: 49 ° 11 ′ 52.4 "  N , 16 ° 36 ′ 15.8"  E