Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic

Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic
Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic
Ústavní soud České republiky
Established	1 January 1993
Location	Brno, Czech Republic
Composition method	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Authorized by	Constitution of the Czech Republic
Judge term length	10 years, renewable
Number of positions	15
Website	https://www.usoud.cz/
President
Currently	Josef Baxa
Since	7 August 2023

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic (Czech: Ústavní soud České republiky) is the supreme constitutional court in the Czech Republic and the de facto highest and most powerful court in the land.^[1]

It has its basis in the Constitution and it is the one created with the greatest specificity among all levels of judiciary. The Constitution states that the Court is "charged with protection of constitutional rule" and as such its primary and appellate jurisdiction is to review and rule on questions of constitutionality and constitutional law. It is also the only venue for impeachment proceedings brought by the Parliament against the president.^[2] The Court has the power of judicial review which allows it to invalidate and strike down laws enacted by the Parliament.^[3]

The decisions of the Court are final, cannot be overturned except by amending the constitution, and are considered a source of law, similar to precedents in a common law system.^[4]

Although the Court itself was established only in 1993, its Czechoslovak predecessor was already provided for in the Constitution of 1920, making Czechoslovakia the first country in the world with a system of judicial review by a specialized court (although the court itself first convened after the Austrian one). It was later adopted by many other countries.^[5]^[6]

^ Kühn, Zdeněk (3 May 2021), "The Czech Constitutional Court in times of populism", Populist Challenges to Constitutional Interpretation in Europe and Beyond, London: Routledge, pp. 95–108, doi:10.4324/9781003148944-8, ISBN 978-1-003-14894-4, S2CID 233553830, retrieved 3 January 2024
^ "UPDATE: An Introduction to the Czech Legal System and Legal Resources Online - GlobaLex". www.nyulawglobal.org. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ Kopeček, Lubomír; Petrov, Jan (February 2016). "From Parliament to Courtroom: Judicial Review of Legislation as a Political Tool in the Czech Republic". East European Politics and Societies: And Cultures. 30 (1): 120–146. doi:10.1177/0888325414561784. ISSN 0888-3254. S2CID 143998886.
^ "Postavení a pravomoci". Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ Langášek, Tomáš (2011). Ústavní soud Československé republiky a jeho osudy v letech 1920-1948. Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, s. r. o. ISBN 978-80-7380-347-6.
^ Constitutional Court of Austria - History Archived 26 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[1] Kühn, Zdeněk (3 May 2021), "The Czech Constitutional Court in times of populism", Populist Challenges to Constitutional Interpretation in Europe and Beyond, London: Routledge, pp. 95–108, doi:10.4324/9781003148944-8, ISBN 978-1-003-14894-4, S2CID 233553830, retrieved 3 January 2024

[2] "UPDATE: An Introduction to the Czech Legal System and Legal Resources Online - GlobaLex". www.nyulawglobal.org. Retrieved 11 January 2024.

[3] Kopeček, Lubomír; Petrov, Jan (February 2016). "From Parliament to Courtroom: Judicial Review of Legislation as a Political Tool in the Czech Republic". East European Politics and Societies: And Cultures. 30 (1): 120–146. doi:10.1177/0888325414561784. ISSN 0888-3254. S2CID 143998886.

[4] "Postavení a pravomoci". Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[Lang-5] Langášek, Tomáš (2011). Ústavní soud Československé republiky a jeho osudy v letech 1920-1948. Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, s. r. o. ISBN 978-80-7380-347-6.

[6] Constitutional Court of Austria - History Archived 26 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]