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Czech Republic - Government

After World War II, the political system in Czechoslovakia was greatly affected by the introduction of a Soviet-style Communist regime, as it was in the other countries of central and eastern Europe. The system of power was distorted. In effect this imbalance meant that the three branches of power necessary for democratic development - executive, legislative and judicial - were substituted by a unified Communist power. Its power was based on the constitution and for forty years it ruled all layers of social and political life throughout the country with the help of oppressive institutions. After February 1948, the Communist Party became the only autonomous political entity. It allowed a few other parties to exist within the so-called National Front; however, these parties held no real power and were created to provide an outward image of Czechoslovakia as a democratic state.

After the revolutionary events of November 1989 which brought about the downfall of the Communist regime, the entire country faced the uneasy task of resuming its pre-Communist traditions and building a democratic political system. A wide diversity of political parties were well-established even before the break-up of Czechoslovakia on December 31, 1992. The constitution of the Czech Republic, which became valid on the day of the birth of the new state, explicitly defined civil rights, the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of power, and the independence of the judiciary.

Prime Minister	from	to	party
Jiri Rusnok	17.07.2013		CSSD
Petr Necas	28.06.2010	17.06.2013	ODS
Jan Fischer	08.05.2009	28.06.2010	n/a
Mirek Topolánek II	09.01.2007	08.05.2009	ODS
Mirek Topolánek I	04.09.2006	09.01.2007	ODS
Jirí Paroubek	25.04.2005	04.09.2006	CSSD
Stanislav Gross	04.08.2004	25.04.2005	CSSD
Vladimír Spidla	15.07.2002	04.08.2004	CSSD
Milos Zeman	22.07.1998	12.07.2002	CSSD
Josef Tosovský	02.01.1998	17.07.1998	n/a
Václav Klaus II	04.07.1996	02.01.1998	ODS
Václav Klaus I	02.07.1992	04.07.1996	ODS

The Parliament consists of two chambers - the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. It passes all bills valid in the territory of the Czech Republic and expresses approval of important international treaties; i.e. those concerning human rights and basic liberties, political treaties, and general economic treaties. It decides the most important acts of state, such as declaring war or approving the deployment of foreign armies on Czech soil.

The Chamber of Deputies is made up of 200 deputies who are elected for a term of four years. The President can dissolve the Chamber of Deputies in cases outlined in the constitution. Political lobbies, ongoing parliamentary commissions and committees operate in the historical building which houses the chamber. The Senate is made up of 81 senators elected for six-year terms. Every two years one-third of the Senate's seats come up for re-election. The Senate cannot be dissolved.

Chamber delegates are elected from 14 regions -- including the capital, Prague--for 4-year terms, on the basis of proportional representation. Elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate take place by secret ballot on the basis of general, equal and direct voting. The Chamber of Deputies is elected on the basis of proportional representation. Political parties must obtain five percent of the popular vote in order to gain seats in the chamber. The Senate is elected on the basis of majority vote. The Czech Senate is patterned after the US Senate and was first elected in 1996. All citizens of the Czech Republic over 18 years of age have the right to vote for representatives in both chambers of Parliament. Candidates for the Chamber of Deputies must be over 21 years of age, while candidates for the Senate must be over 40 years of age.

A resolution by a parliamentary chamber is passed by a clear majority of deputies or senators present. A constitutional bill or an international treaty must be passed by a 60% majority of the total number of deputies and senators present. Bills are sent to the Chamber of Deputies. The right of legislative initiative is possessed by a deputy, a group of deputies, the Senate, the Cabinet or local or regional cabinet representatives. A bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies is sent to the Senate which has the power to veto it, send it back to the Chamber of Deputies with amendments, or table the bill. The Senate can return bills to the lower house, but neither the Senate nor the President has a final power of veto.

On January 26, 1993 the National Assembly elected Vaclav Havel as the first President of an independent Czech Republic. Havel was not affiliated with any party but remained one of the country's most popular politicians. Havel's mandate as President terminated on February 2, 2003. He was succeeded as President of the Czech Republic by Vaclav Klaus, who was re-elected on February 15, 2008 and sworn into office on March 7, 2008. Elected for a term of five years by a joint session of both chambers of Parliament, the President could serve a maximum of two successive terms in office. The President is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Presidential power was limited; the most important is the right to veto any bill which has already been passed by Parliament, with the exception of constitutional bills. This power is void in times of constitutional or other political crises. As formal head of state, the president is granted specific powers such as the right to nominate Constitutional Court judges and dissolve parliament under certain conditions.

In the two decades since the idea first emerged, direct presidential elections have become a notorious issue on the Czech political scene. All parties declared support for the change to the Czech constitutional system but they could never quite agree on the details, killing the bill each time it reached the Chamber of Deputies. But on 14 December 2011, a last minute deal between the coalition parties and the opposition Social Democrats ensured sufficient support for the motion which then went to the Senate. One reason why direct presidential elections were not introduced earlier had to do with Civic Democrats’ concerns that Václav Klaus would not stand much chance in a popular vote. If the Czech Republic had one persistent problem it was that it had a weak government, and a directly elected president with a strong popular mandate only exacerbated that problem. Introducing a direct presidential election shifted the balance of power.

The Government is the supreme body of executive power. It Consists of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers, and coordinates activities of the ministries and the central bodies of the state administration and manages the state administration throughout the territory of the state. The Government has exclusive legislative initiative in terms of the state budget.

The Supreme Audit Office (Frantisek Dohnal) is an independent controlling agency which audits the management of state property and the implementation of the state budget. It audits the ways in which the resources of the state budget of the Czech Republic are created and used. The Czech National Bank is the central state bank of the Czech Republic. Based on law, the main goal of the bank is to preserve the stability and purchasing power of the currency, and while pursuing this goal, the bank is not dependent on the cabinet of the Czech Republic. The president and executives of the bank are appointed by the Head of State.

The country's highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court, which rules on constitutional issues, is appointed by the president. Its members serve 10-year terms. The Constitutional Court was set up to protect constitutional rights. It consists of 15 judges (Chairman - Pavel Rychetský) who are appointed by the President - with the consent of the Senate - for a term of ten years. In their decisions judges are bound only by constitutional laws, international treaties, and by a law designating the proceedings of the constitutional court. The Supreme Court is the supreme judicial body in all matters within the jurisdiction of the courts, except those within the jurisdiction of the constitutional court or the supreme administrative court. The judges are bound only by law and they are in a position to decide whether other legal regulations are in accordance with the law.

Historically, particular types of judiciary civil, criminal, administrative and constitutional judiciary – were developed. This division which raised step by step from originally integrated judiciary, exists also in present, when we talk about the system of courts. This system has a four instance character in the Czech Republic. It consists of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, High Courts, Regional Courts and District Courts.

The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, with its seat in Brno (contact to The Court), has national jurisdiction. It is the highest judicial authority (excluding matters which are within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court). It controls final and conclusive decisions of the High Courts and ensures uniform interpretation of law by these Courts and Courts in their district by means of:

• deciding on extraordinary legal remedies against the decisions of High Courts
• delivering opinions concerning the interpretation of laws and other legislation
• deciding in other cases provided for in legislation, recognising final and conclusive decisions made by foreign courts in the territory of the Czech Republic.

The judges of the Supreme Courts form Collegia, specialised by the field of law (the Criminal Law Collegium, the Civil Law Collegium and the Commercial Law Collegium).

For the first time ever, Czechs elected new regional parliaments in November 2000. The elections were part of local government reforms that introduced a third level of government between villages and municipalities and the central government in Prague. Although the three-tier government structure was stipulated by the Czech constitution, which came into effect in 1992, it took five years for Parliament to approve the reforms. Local government reform was required by the "acquis communautaire" of the European Union. At the sub-national level, the 2004 reform resulted in the formation of 14 sub-national units - self-governing regions (SGRs), including the capital city of Prague. Their main responsibilities are in the areas of roads and transport, regional planning, regional development, secondary education, health, social affairs, culture. SGRs are almost exclusively responsible for secondary education in terms of establishing secondary schools.

At the municipal level, the basic territorial unit are municipalities and corporate towns. Earlier, 77 districts were cancelled and their power was conferred to regions and chosen municipalities. Currently there are 6,249 municipalities in the Czech Republic. Municipalities have two types of competencies: "original" competencies belonging to them on the basis of decentralisation legislation and "transferred" competencies funded by various state bodies. Key municipal responsibilities include roads, public transport, public parks, cleanliness, environmental protection, communal waste, sewage, utilities, territorial planning, construction permits, local development, birth and death records, housing, preschools, primary schools (basic), art schools, social services, healthcare and culture.