Constitution of Czechia

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

• 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 TimeIV. 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 theOmbudsman 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?

The book presents a perfect insight into the Czech constitutional system for a wider international audience. I have used the book in my course of Constitutional Law for Czech law students as a tool for introducing an "outer" view on the Czech constitutional system within the area of comparative constitutional law and as a tool for an explanation on how to write about the national legal issues for a wider international audience.