Constitution of Czechia

A Contextual Analysis
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5099-5282-3
Verlag: Bloomsbury 3PL

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 320 g

This book provides a contextual and authoritative overview of the principles, doctrines and institutions that underpin the Czech constitution.

The book explores key topics including; the Czech pluralist constitution, constitutional principles, the interaction between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, the role of local governance and application of fundamental rights in practice. It also covers the morphing of Czech constitutionalism as a result of personal politics, conventions, informal institutions and constitutional narratives and sentiments.

This informative study allows students and scholars of law and politics to develop an informed view of how Czech democracy actually works and what its main challenges are.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kosar, David

Vyhnánek, Ladislav

Harding, Andrew

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Mittel- und Osteuropa, Russland
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsvergleichung
• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Staats- und Verfassungsrecht Verfassungsgeschichte, Verfassungsvergleichung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Rise of Czech Constitutionalism: History and Context

I. The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Bohemia

II. Influence of Foreign Legal Cultures

III. Czech Constitutional Scholarship and its Changing Role Over Time
IV. Inter-war Czechoslovakia

V. The Communist Legacy

VI. Democratic Transition and Dealing with the Past

VII. The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

VIII. Return to Europe

IX. Where are the People?

X. Conclusion

Further Reading

2. The Challenge of a Pluralist Constitution

I. Drafting the 1993 Constitution

II. The Pluralist Constitution

III. The Eternity Clause

IV. International and Supranational Sources

V. Super-statutes

VI. Constitutional Conventions

VII. Judicial Decisions as a Source of Constitutional Law

VIII. Conclusion

Further Reading

3. Constitutional Principles

I. The Democratic Principle

II. The Rechtsstaat Principle

III. Principle of the Separation of Powers

IV. Principle of Sovereignty

V. Principle of the Unitary State

VI. Protection of Fundamental Rights

VII. The Implicit Welfare State Principle

VIII. Conclusion

Further Reading

4. The Czech Parliament

I. Basic Structure: The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate

II. Competences of the Parliament and its Chambers

III. The Procedural Limits of Parliamentary Power

IV. Parliamentary Elections and the Czech Political Party System in Turmoil

V. Scandals, Corruption and Immunities

VI. Conclusion

Further Reading

5. The Growing Tension within the Double-Headed Executive

I. The Challenge of a Double-Headed Executive

II. Over-achieving President and Under-achieving Governments

III. The State of Emergency and the Hidden Powers of the Executive

IV. The Quest to Depoliticise the State Administration

V. Conclusion

Further Reading

6. Local Governance

I. The Centre and the Periphery

II. The Structure of Territorial Self-Governance

III. Election of Municipal and Regional Bodies

IV. Direct Democracy at the Local Level

V. The Rise of the Municipal Power

VI. It is All About Taxes and EU Subsidies

VII. Local Self-Governance in the EU

VIII. Conclusion: Towards Moderate Decentralisation

Further Reading

7. The Judicial Branch

I. Setting the Scene: Key Players within Czech Judicial Politics

II. Who are the Czech Judges?

III. The Constitutional Court

IV. Basic Features of the Ordinary Judiciary

V. Civil and Criminal Courts

VI. Administrative Courts

VII. Prohibition of Special Courts and Tribunals

VIII. The War(s) of the Courts

IX. Czech Courts and European Supranational Courts: A Complicated Relationship

X. Constitutional Politics of the Judicial Branch

XI. Conclusion: From the Judicialisation of Politics to the Politicisation of the Judiciary

Further Reading

8. Human Rights Constitutionalism

I. The Charter and the Rest: The Pluralist Nature of Human Rights Protection in Czechia

II. How to Challenge the State: Constitutional Review, General Courts, Administrative Review and the
Ombudsman

III. Human Dignity as a Fundamental Right?

IV. Proportionality as a Key Unifying Principle?

V. Positive Obligations and the Challenge of Socio-economic Rights

VI. Public/Private Distinction and the Importance of Drittwirkung

VII. The Influence of the European Convention on Human Rights

VIII. Selective Judicial Activism - Expounding or Expanding Human Rights?

IX. Conclusion

Further Reading

Conclusion: Dynamics of Constitutional Change and the Search for Constitutional Identity

I. Formal Amendments in a Rigid System

II. Constitutional Interpretation and Informal Amendments as a Mechanism of Constitutional Change

III. The Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments Doctrine

IV. Conflicting Legacies and the Search for Constitutional Identity

V. Concluding Remarks: A Danger of Democratic Backsliding?

Über Autor(innen)

Kosar, David
David Kosar is Associate Professor of Law at Masaryk University, Czech Republic, and Head of the Judicial Studies Institute there.

Vyhnánek, Ladislav
Ladislav Vyhnánek is Assistant Professor of Law at Masaryk University, Czech Republic.