Articles for category: Tschechische Republik

Unveiling Democracy

On 11 January, Advocate General Richard de la Tour delivered his Opinions in two cases, against the Czech Republic and Poland, which cautiously uncover part of the core of the EU value of democracy. The Commission launched these infringement cases against the two Member States back in November 2012 and April 2013 respectively. Now that the rule of law is a well-established principle of EU law, these cases present themselves as a chance to focus on a less explored value enshrined in Article 2 TEU. They allow the Court to construct a foundation to address prospective questions regarding democratic principles.

5. Februar 2024

Between Return and Protection

Last month, the ECJ responded to a preliminary reference of the Regional Court in Brno concerning Czechia’s so-called return procedure. The ECJ ruled that a third country national cannot be subject to a return decision if they applied for international protection and a first-instance decision on that application has not yet been delivered. Curiously, the ECJ thereby answered a question it had not actually been asked, while contradicting the conclusion of the Grand Chamber of the Czech Supreme Administrative Court (“SAC”), rendered shortly before. While the ECJ’s ruling will nonetheless improve some of the problems that have inhered within Czechia’s approach to international protection and return procedures, its failure to answer the referred question constitutes a missed opportunity to facilitate a productive dialogue with referring courts in an area of law where preliminary references have been exceedingly rare.

20. Dezember 2023

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How to Form the Czech Constitutional Court?

Politically, summers in the Czech Republic are often quiet. This year is different. A newly elected president, Petr Pavel, is selecting almost all of the fifteen members of the Czech Constitutional Court ("CCC") during the next two years. Unexpectedly, Pavel's selection process has sparked a great deal of controversy and discussion about how a president should choose constitutional judges. What happened? And what are the main lessons to be learned from the current situation in the Czech Republic?

31. August 2023

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The Strasbourg Court Goes Astray

On 1 June 2023, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR concluded a saga that even experts of the Strasbourg Court might have overlooked. In the Grosam case, the alleged shortcomings in the disciplinary procedure involving a Czech enforcement officer (bailiff) have been addressed. The Grosam chamber judgment was certainly not a routine case. The chamber judgment went to the core of the role of the ECtHR and, if it would have been allowed to stand, it could have seriously undermined the legitimacy of the whole system of the Strasbourg protection.

16. August 2023

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Subsidy Fraud, Relevant Markets and Presidential Elections

Former prime minister and now a member of the Czech parliament Andrej Babiš scored a victory only a few days before the upcoming Czech presidential elections. On 9 January 2023, the Municipal Court in Prague finally issued a verdict in a criminal case involving him and his colleague Ms Nagyová on charges of grant fraud and damaging the financial interests of the European Union. The court concluded that the acts of Mr Babiš and Ms Nagyová, as framed by the prosecution, did not constitute a felony. Hence, to the surprise of many, including Mr Babiš’ attorney, the court acquitted both defendants. The importance of the case can hardly be understated.

12. Januar 2023

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Sex, God, and Blasphemy

Blasphemy used to be a grave offence once. Now, it is on the decline, making room for freedom of expression. Yet, two judgments of last week show that blasphemy has managed to re-enter the stage through the back door. In this blogpost, I argue that although both cases ended well, i.e. were decided in favour of freedom of expression of artists and activists, both courts erred in their assessment of the role of religion and religious sentiment in European secular democracies.

19. Oktober 2022

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The Cardinal vs. the Theater

On 11 October 2022, the Czech Constitutional Court published its eagerly-awaited judgment resolving the conflict between religious belief and freedom of artistic expression. The case was initiated by a constitutional complaint of the head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Dominik Duka. The complainants alleged that a theater‘s allegorical plays which mocked the catholic church and their belief were blasphemous and violated their constitutional rights, in particular a freedom of religion.

13. Oktober 2022

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Czechia’s First Climate Judgment

Czechia’s first climate change lawsuit ended with a small sensation. On the hot summer day of 15th June, the Municipal Court in Prague ruled that four Czech Ministries violated the plaintiffs‘ right to a favourable environment. The violation consists in the omission to set any concrete mitigation measures that would lead to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the year 2030 compared to the year 1990. As the Urgenda Climate Case and other landmark judgments have paved the way for climate action around the world, this first noteworthy ruling of the region blazed the trail specifically for other courts in Central and Eastern Europe.

3. September 2022

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Evasive, Insensitive, Ignorant, and Political

Czech law stipulates that a trans person who seeks gender reassignment must undergo surgery “while simultaneously disabling the reproductive function and transforming the genitalia.” Although a majority of judges of the Czech Constitutional Court agreed that this requirement is clearly unconstitutional, the provision has nevertheless withstood constitutional scrutiny and remains part of the Czech legal order.

6. April 2022

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The Taming of the Czech Executive

On Wednesday, 2/2/2022, the Czech Supreme Administrative Court quashed an executive measure imposing the so-called “2G rule” (geimpft/genesen, i.e. vaccinated/recovered) on selected service providers, most importantly restaurants and hotels. While the vocal opponents of vaccination celebrate the ruling and refer to the judiciary as ‘the last bastion of freedom’, there was some major misrepresentation of what the SAC has (not) established in this very viral judgment. The executive measure under review was not quashed because ‘the state must not force people into voluntary vaccination’, nor because ‘kicking the unvaccinated out of pubs is illegal and must stop’. Since the only legal argument for quashing the measure was the lack of competence of the Ministry of Health, it seems like there was much ado about nothing.

4. Februar 2022

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