Sources of Czech law are (in this hierarchical order): ('
) and notifications of ministries ('); legislative acts of territorial self-government bodies: regional ordinances ('
) and municipal ordinances (') Acts of parliament and other legal regulations enter into force on the day they are
promulgated (published) in the official
Collection of Law ('
, abbreviated as ' –
Coll. – when referring to statutes), although they may take effect at a later date. International treaties are similarly published in the
Collection of International Treaties (''
, abbreviated Sb. m. s.'').
Constitutional law Czech
constitution is written, and it consists of several
constitutional acts (one of them
the Constitution of the Czech Republic), together they are known as the
constitutional order of the Czech Republic (''''). The constitution can be viewed as
entrenched, because constitutional statutes are more difficult to adopt, amend, supplement or repeal them than ordinary laws of the country. A special majority (constitutional supermajority) is required of three-fifths of all Deputies and a qualified majority of three-fifths of all Senators present. This is to promote continuity and stability of the political system. Most important constitutional acts are: • Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Coll. the Constitution of the Czech Republic • Resolution No. 2/1993 Coll. [...] incorporating Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms [...] • Constitutional Act No. 110/1998 Coll. on the Security of the Czech Republic • Constitutional Act No. 347/1997 Coll. on the Creation of Higher Territorial Self-Governing Units The 1992
Constitution of the Czech Republic declares sovereignty (self-government) of the people and the values of freedom and democracy. It defines the separation of the three powers in a system of
Checks and balances. It gives the legislative power to the popularly elected
Czech Parliament consisting of two chambers, the
Chamber of Deputies and the
Senate. The executive power is divided between the
President and the
Prime Minister. It describes the functioning of the
judiciary, especially the
Constitutional Court. Two more institutions are established, the
Czech National Bank and the
Supreme Audit Office. The
Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms ('''') is a
bill of rights document enacted in 1991 by the
Czechoslovak Federative Republic. In the Czech Republic it was kept in its entirety and forms a part of the constitutional order (i.e. has the same legal force as the Constitution). It postulates the sanctity of natural human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as citizens' (political) rights, the equality before the law, rights of minorities and so on. The Constitution has been seriously modified in February 2012, introducing a controversial popular vote of the
President of the Czech Republic:
International treaties On joining the
European Union, the Czech Republic committed itself to respect the principle of the supremacy of
European law over Czech law in defined areas. The most important treaty in this category is the
Council of Europe’s
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. • Act No. 218/2003 Coll., on Juvenile Criminal Justice Since 2010, Czech
criminal law is regulated mainly, though not only, by the Criminal Code Act 2009 ('
), which codifies substantive criminal law. The comprehensive regulatory statute for criminal procedure is the Criminal Proceedings Code Act 1961 ('). The two codes are complemented by the Juvenile Criminal Justice Act 2003, which deals with alleged offenders aged between 15 (the threshold of criminal liability as well as
age of legal consent) and 17. Until 2009, the criminal code statute in force dated back to 1961. In spite of numerous amendments made since 1989, it still conformed to the communist ideology, oriented on punishment of perceived enemies of the socialist regime. As a part of an effort to comprehensively reform law and justice, a brand new codification has been written. The Ministry of Justice announced it as an "elaborate piece of work boiled down from the experience and knowledge of foremost expert on criminal law", which can be proudly compared to modern criminal codes of other democratic countries. The purpose of the 2009 codification was to bring the criminal justice system in line with the rest of Europe. The main change introduced by the code was transition from material to formal conception of criminal offence. Another thing the lawyers drafting the 2009 code had in mind, and expressed it in the area of sentencing tariffs, was a new balance of punishment against rehabilitation effect on the criminal. On one hand we see the sentences for felony ('
) which carry a sentence of at least 5 years. On the other a newly created category of misdemeanour (') introduces a host of community sentences ('
), including community payback (') or house arrest (''''). The code also outlaws doping. These are not normally dealt with by the courts of law, but rather punished either by the police on the spot, or through a procedure in front of a committee at the local or municipal authority, or sometimes other administration body. The result is not a conviction, and so such a punishment will not blemish the culprit's criminal record. Like with other administrative acts, the outcome of this procedure can be challenged through the administrative justice process. A typical example of contraventions in Czech law this are driving offences. (In the common law world, acts falling into this category would be classed as
summary offences.) • Act No. 200/1990 on Contraventions Since 2012, Czech law also recognizes
criminal liability of corporations for offences committed by employees of a corporation, when acting on its behalf, being instructed by the board of directors or other representative of the company, or through lack of their action. In such cases, not only individuals will be prosecuted, but the corporation can be prosecuted as well for the same offence and punished by a host of measures, starting from certain injunctions, through fines a forfeitures, to liquidation of the company. • Act No. 418/2011 Coll., on Criminal Liability of Legal Persons and the Proceedings against Them
Civil law Main statutes regulating this area are: • Act No. 89/2012 Coll. the
Civil Code • Act No. 99/1963 Coll. the Civil Procedure Code • Act No. 500/2004 Coll. the Administrative Procedure Code The Civil Code codifies core areas of
private law. It has five parts. The first part is dedicated to a legal status of a person as an individual. The second regulates family law – e.g. the institute of marriage and the rights and obligations of husband and wife, parents and children. The rest in concerned mainly with property rights. It brings new and modern regulation of relations governed by civil law, with emphasis on personality rights, free will / more choice when writing a will or unified regulation of obligation laws. If a lower court is to rule against "consistent adjudications" of the Supreme Court on the point of law, it must give detailed reasoning, and this can often be a reason for a successful appeal. This system is largely based on judiciary's own interpretation of the Constitution, arguing that it gives citizens predictability and fairness. The most significant judgements of both courts are published in the official Collection of Laws. == History ==