Opinion of the European
Commission 1997
The Judiciary: Structure
The Czech judiciary is independent.
Magistrates are appointed for life by the President of the Republic, on
a proposal by the Minister of Justice and on request of the presidents
by the courts. They may not be removed from office, nor may they be transferred
without their agreement. Equally, they may not be dismissed or suspended
except on grounds strictly laid down by law.
The State Prosecutor is appointed
by the Government on a proposal by the Minister of Justice, who appoints
the other members of the State Prosecutor’s Office. They are subject to
the hierarchical authority of the Minister.
The scrutiny of administrative
measures falls within the competence of the civil courts. Under Article
91 of the Constitution, they come under the authority of an administrative
Supreme Court which has yet to be established.
The Czech Republic has no
Ombudsman.
The Constitutional Court
comprises 15 judges appointed for 10 years by the President of the Republic
with the approval of the Senate. The Court scrutinises the conformity of
laws and regulations with the Constitution and international treaties.
It may also annul measures taken by government authorities if they infringe
the autonomy of local authorities.
The Constitutional Court
undertakes advance verification of laws (referred by the President of the
Republic, 41 Deputies or 17 Senators) and regulations (referred by the
Government, 25 Deputies or 10 Senators). It may also scrutinise existing
laws either at the request of a court, in the case of a current legal proceedings,
or of a private individual who, having exhausted preliminary avenues of
appeal, considers his/her fundamental rights to have been infringed. The
Court may also refer cases to itself.
Functioning of the Judiciary
The situation of the courts
in the Czech Republic constitutes a major challenge for the country’s integration
into the European Union. The courts are overloaded, numerous cases do not
receive a judgement and the average length of commercial law proceedings,
for example, exceeds 3 years.
These problems result less
from understaffing or inadequate facilities than from inadequate experience
and qualification on the part of the judges, who have to apply legislation
which frequently is totally new and for which, most often, there is no
established legal precedent.
The Constitutional Court
plays an important and active role in the operation of the Czech institutions.
Since its establishment it has had nearly 4 900 cases referred to it and
there has been a large increase in the number of cases since 1995. It has
granted approximately 200 petitions. Its decisions on questions of nationality
and ownership testify to its role in enforcing the rule of law.
Regular Report 1999
The Judiciary
The situation described in
last year's report remains basically unchanged. Judges are not sufficiently
specialised and also have to perform time consuming administrative tasks.
Conditions in the courts are precarious, with a lack of modern equipment
and information technology. There are still a large number of vacancies
for judges and state attorneys.
This leads to extremely slow
judicial procedures, with considerable and frequent backlogs in all sectors.
In 1997 the number of unresolved cases at district courts was 230,000,
in 1998 240,000 and in the first quarter of 1999 230,000 (criminal, civil,
custodial and other cases). In November 1998, the Constitutional Court
issued a judgement that the delays in court proceedings violate the Czech
Charter of Human rights and Freedom, particularly those sections regarding
the right to equal and fair treatment by courts. It held the courts and
the State responsible for the damages caused by these delays.
Salaries of judges are relatively
high. Outside the judiciary salaries are considerably higher, however,
which leads to difficulties in filling existing vacancies. Salaries of
prosecutors are generally somewhat lower than those of judges.
Training organised by the
Institute for Further Training of Judges is insufficient and does not cover
all judges. Training in international or Community law is not provided
and is not yet an obligatory part of the training of candidates to be appointed
as judges.
Concerning the independence
of the judiciary it should be noted that formally judges and prosecutors
can be recalled by the Minister of Justice, but that in practice, this
has not happened. Opinion polls earlier this year indicate that 65
% of Czech citizens do not trust the courts, mainly because of the slowness
of procedures and level of competence.
The performance of the judiciary
in the fight against organised crime and economic crime remains weak. This
is also the case with the application of bankruptcy legislation.
The Supreme Administrative
Court foreseen by the Constitution does not yet exist. The government
does not intend to establish it. Instead, it is considering setting
up administrative Senates in the regional courts. It will take a
final decision in the context of the overall reform of the judiciary.
Positive steps taken in the
reference period include the legislation passed in March by the Lower House
which enables judges to transfer responsibility for some administrative
tasks to judicial officials. This should help to ease the situation
in the overloaded courts. In July the government approved the concept for
the overall reform of the judiciary and instructed the Minister of Justice
to submit the relevant legislation, although new funds have not yet been
provided.