What Is Legal in Czech Republic

In general, the Czech Constitution divides treaties into parliamentary treaties (the consent of both chambers of Parliament is required to ratify them; Articles 49 and 10 (a) of the CCR), into presidential, governmental and departmental treaties. Article 63 (1) (b) of the CCNR confers on the President of the Republic the power to negotiate and ratify treaties with the countersignature of a competent member of the Government (presidential treaties) and at the same time empowers the President of the Republic to delegate the conclusion of treaties to the Government (intergovernmental treaties) or, with their consent, to individual members of the Government (departmental treaties). Government and departmental treaties do not become an integral part of the legal order on the basis of the general incorporation provided for by the Constitution, but they may become part of the legal order by partial incorporation imposed by law. Their application is then only possible on the basis of explicit implementation and in cases that do not take precedence over a law. The law allows collective bargaining. It prohibits anti-union discrimination and does not recognize trade union activities as a valid ground for dismissal. In most professions, workers have the legal right to strike when mediation efforts fail, and they have generally exercised this right. Acts of Parliament and other legal provisions enter into force on the day of their promulgation (publication) in the Official Collection of Laws (Sbírka zákonů, abbreviated Sb. – Coll. – with reference to laws), but may enter into force at a later date. International treaties are also published in the Collection of International Treaties (Sbírka mezinárodních smluv, abbreviated Sb.

m. s.). [5] The legal order of the Czech Republic includes all Czech legislation and related instruments. People living with HIV/AIDS face social discrimination, although no cases of violence have been reported. The Czech Society for AIDS Aid reported several cases of discrimination, particularly in access to health care, in particular because of the legal obligation to inform any doctor if a patient is HIV-positive. Cases generally remained unresolved or ended in mediation. HIV/AIDS is classified as a disability under the Anti-Discrimination Act, which has contributed to the stigmatization and discrimination of HIV-positive people. People living with HIV/AIDS often preferred to keep their status confidential rather than file a complaint, which observers said led to under-reporting of the problem. The Czech AIDS Relief Society noted that most insurance companies do not offer health insurance to people living with HIV/AIDS. In the Czech Republic, there is not a single official or private collection that systematically publishes the fundamental decisions of all Czech courts, i.e. those of the Constitutional Court and ordinary courts, which may have general effects.

The results of the Constitutional Court are published in the Reports of Judgments and Decisions of the Constitutional Court, edited by C. H. Beck in Prague. In the case of decisions of ordinary courts, only certain conclusions of the supreme courts, i.e. the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, are systematically published. The selected judgments of the Supreme Court as well as its opinions, the purpose of which is to consolidate the jurisprudence of the lower civil and criminal courts of ordinary justice, are printed in the Sbírka soudních rozhodnutí a stanovisek (Reports of Judgments and Opinions of the Court) published by LexisNexis in Prague. A selection of judgments and decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court is published in the Sbírka rozhodnutí Nejvyššího správního soudu (Reports of Judgments of the Supreme Administrative Court), published by ASPI in Prague. The case law of the lower courts is not systematically published; Some judgments are sometimes published in law journals. The legal system of the Czech Republic is hierarchically structured. At the top are the constitution and other constitutional laws; These have the greatest legal authority and can only be amended by another constitutional law.

Then there are the ordinary acts, the basis of the implementing regulations with the least legal weight. Provisions with less legal weight should correspond to those higher up the legal hierarchy. Legislation may be repealed or amended only by provisions having equal or greater legal scope. International agreements are of particular importance. As noted above, they are part of the legal system and, in case of conflict, also take precedence over a constitutional act. Early and forced marriage: The legal age of marriage is 18. Some members of the Roma community married before reaching the age of majority. The law permits marriage at the age of 16 with the approval of the court; No official marriages of persons under the age of 16 have been reported. · The system of sources of law is hierarchical and forms a pyramidal structure of legal force within the legal system; Czech law, which is part of the legal culture of continental Europe, is based on written law and includes laws and other legal instruments, international treaties promulgated ratified by the Czech Parliament [Parliament ČR] and decisions of the Constitutional Court [Ústavní soud] annulling a legal provision in whole or in part.

Since 2010, Czech criminal law has been governed mainly, but not exclusively, by the 2009 Criminal Code Act (trestní zákoník), which codifies substantive criminal law. The 1961 Act on the Code of Criminal Procedure (trestní řád) regulates the most broadly. These two laws are complemented by the Juvenile Criminal Justice Act 2003, which deals with alleged offenders between the ages of 15 (threshold of criminal responsibility and age of legal consent) and 17. The Ministry of Interior reported 521 stateless people in the country at the end of 2018. However, UNHCR estimated that at the end of 2018, 1,502 people were under its statelessness mandate. The ministry said 10 stateless people had applied for international protection and seven had been granted subsidiary protection in September. The country had no legal definition or investigation procedure. Stateless persons who do not have a permanent residence permit are not entitled to an identity card. Stateless persons may obtain citizenship in certain circumstances.

Prague`s liberal laws and policies mean the city has a reputation for being pet-friendly. It is estimated that nearly half a million marijuana users are largely ignored by authorities and tolerated by almost everyone. Most pubs and non-tourist bars outside the centre allow you to smoke inside. But don`t try to set fire to a skunk in a dance club! Drug possession is illegal in the Czech Republic, and on 1 January 2010 the government set possession limits for a misdemeanor and an offence. The history of Czechoslovak constitutionality begins with the formation of independent Czechoslovakia from the ruins of Austria-Hungary. In 1918, the Interim Constitution of Czechoslovakia was hastily adopted, which established the Republic with its President and provisional Parliament. The Czechoslovak constitution of 1920 followed it, inspired by Western democratic constitutions and controversially postulating the Czechoslovak nation. This lasted during the First Republic and World War II. In 1948, after the communist coup, the so-called Constitution of the Ninth of May was adopted, which preserved certain democratic institutions (human rights, partial division of the three powers, independent judiciary), although the political reality of the country radically diverged from it.

The 1960 Constitution of Czechoslovakia, influenced by Soviet constitutions, is often referred to as the “Socialist Constitution”. He changed the country`s name to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, defining the socialist rather than democratic character of the state and introducing the leading role of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The 1960 Constitution remained in force until 1992, although it was substantially amended in 1968 by the Constitutional Act on the Czechoslovak Federation – which transformed the unitary state into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic. After the 1989 regime change, further radical changes were made, but they proved short-lived, as the Constitution of the Czech Republic was promulgated in 1992 after the partition of Czechoslovakia and entered into force in 1993. Michal Bobek is a PhD student at the European University Institute in Florence and a legal assistant (trainee lawyer) to the President of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic. B.A. (International Studies, Charles University); MA (International Relations, Charles University); MA (Law, Charles University), Diploma (University of Cambridge); MJur (University of Oxford; Jenkins Scholar and Visegrad Fellow) continue their studies at the Institute of European Studies, the Université libre de Bruxelles (Erasmus/Socrates) and T.C.