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Strasbourg, 14 June 2002
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CDL-JU (2002) 34
English only
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW
(VENICE
COMMISSION)
Organisation and Procedure
of the
Constitutional Court of the
Czech Republic
Report
by Mrs Eliska Wagnerova
Vice-President
of the Constitutional Court
of
the Czech Republic
Seminar on “Constitutional Control:
Basic Problems of Legal
Proceedings, Organisation and Practice”
(Batumi,
3-4 June 2002)
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic is
established directly by the Constitution and does not form part of the system
of ordinary courts. Its organization, proceedings at the Court, disciplinary
infractions and disciplinary proceedings are stipulated in the Act on the
Constitutional Court (hereinafter
referred to as ACC).
The
Constitutional Court is independent on any constitutional or other state bodies
and consists of independent Justices. The Court administration is directed by
the President. Each Justice has her own staff made up of at least one legal
assistant and a secretary, in fact there are 3 assistants by each Justice at
present.
The Court acts in the Plenum, which is composed of all
Justices, or in four Panels of three members. The president and the
vice-presidents may not be a permanent member of a Panel.
However, on
my own request in my capacity as the vice-president I am assigned submissions according
to rules laid down by the Plenum. The Plenum is composed of all Justices
and if not stipulated otherwise by the ACC, it may act and take decisions when
at least ten Justices are present. The law determines the cases when the
agreement of at least nine present Justices is necessary.
The Plenum of the Constitutional Court decides in the
following matters:
Cancellation of Acts or of their individual provisions,
annulment of other legal regulations or their individual provisions,
impeachment by the Senate of the President of the Republic, the Presidential
proposal to repeal a decision of the Parliamentary Chamber of Deputies and the
Senate, determination whether a decision on the dissolution of a political
party or another decision regarding the activity of a political party conforms
with constitutional or other laws, other matters listed in Art. 87, paragraph 1
of the Constitution, if the Panel has not resolved them due to the fact that no
proposed resolution received a majority of votes, determination of the
standpoint of the Court towards the legal opinion of the Panel, which differs
from the legal opinion of the Constitutional Court expressed in its ruling,
decision on other matters, if they are reserved for this level, regulation of
its internal relations, establishment of Panels and of the rules for the
distribution of agenda among them.
All other matters are decided by the Panels (i.e.the
constitutional complaints filed by the bodies of local government against
illegal intervention by the State, constitutional complaints filed against
decisions in legal force and other interventions of public authorities, which
violate the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms,
appeals against the decisions in the matters of confirmation of the election of
a Deputy or a Senator, cases of doubts on the loss of eligibility to be elected
and on the incompatibility of carrying out the offices of a Deputy or a Senator
according to Art. 25 of the Constitution, the measures that are essential for
the implementation of a ruling by an international court, which is binding for
the Czech Republic, unless it can be implemented differently, and the disputes
regarding the scope of powers of state authorities and local government, unless
such disputes are under the jurisdiction of a different body). The Panel can
adopt resolutions when all its members are present. The resolution is adopted
by the majority of votes.
All
petitioners must be represented by an attorney.
The proceedings at the Constitutional Court commence on the
day the petition is delivered to the Court. The vice-president of the Constitutional Court
determines "confused submissions". These submissions are written in
the special register and they are dealt by president and vice-presidents.
All
submissions are given to the registrar where they are registered and lustrated
according to the name of a petitioner and his/her adversary. On the first page
is also written, if it is the first submissions or a repeated one.
The
registrar determines the subject of the proceedings. She arranges
alphabetically all submissions delivered daily, distributes them among Panels
according to a work schedule. She ensures the inviolable right of the
petitioner to a lawful judge and determines the Justice Rapporteur.
The
submission is then given to the person responsible for the appropriate Panel.
She also arranges alphabetically all submissions. She establishes a
registration number, prepares a file, files a survey of the file and a cover
for enclosures. Subject index and the relation to legal rules/regulations are
entered.
The
secretary of the Chairperson of the Panel writes the case in her register for
the Panel. The Chairperson of the Panel hands over the case to the Justice
Rapporteur that is a Justice from the Plenum or a permanent member of the
Panel. His secretary also has her own register. The task of the Justice
Rapporteur is to prepare the case for decisions. He prepares the case for a
hearing, sends notices of defects in a petition, summonses to an oral hearing
and other notification, then he sees to the gathering of documentary evidence
and the examination of witnesses.
Justices
may assign to their assistant the task of refusing submissions, if they are
manifestly not a petition worthy of instituting proceedings. Assistants
collaborate with the Justices. Practice is different. For some Justices, they
prepare the whole decision by themselves and the Justices consent to the draft
or repairs it or otherwise. Other Justices study the cases, then they discuss
it with their assistants and instruct them how to decide. Assistants prepare
the written draft of a judgment or a resolution and secretaries draft the
decision.
Based on the reasons stipulated by law, the Justice
Rapporteur may reject the petition by means of a resolution, without holding an
oral hearing and in the absence of the parties if the petitioner did not
eliminate the vices in the petition within the period determined thereto, or if
the petition was submitted after the proper deadline, or if the petition was
submitted by a person clearly not authorised to do so, or if the said petition
does not belong to the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, or if the
submitted petition is inadmissible.
The Panel will reject the petition by means of a resolution
without oral hearing and in the absence of the parties if the petition is
clearly unjustified/manifestly ill-founded, or if the Panel finds in the
petition, submitted pursuant to § 64, Art. 1 to 4, i.e. in the proceedings for
cancellation of Acts or other legal regulations or their individual provisions,
the reasons for refusal pursuant to Article 1 or item a). The resolution must be decided unanimously. The
vast majority of constitutional complaints are dismissed in this initial
examination.
Otherwise the Rapporteur prepares the matter for the Plenum
or for the Panels. In the matters dealt with pursuant to Art. 87, § 1 of the
Constitution the hearing that takes place is oral. If not stipulated otherwise
by the law the Court with the agreement of the parties may refrain from the
oral hearing. The oral hearing is public. The Court may limit or exclude
attendance by the public, if this is required due to important interests of the
state or of the parties to the proceeding or because of maintaining morality.
The summons for the oral hearing must be delivered so that
the party has enough time to get prepared for the hearing, usually at least
five days in advance.
A party to the proceedings may declare at the latest at the
beginning of the first oral hearing that he does not accept such Justice whom
he considers to be biased.
The Plenum
acts always upon a petition proposing the annulment of a statute or other
enactment. The Justice Rapporteur checks first whether all requirements for a
proper submissions, as laid down in the ACC, have been met and then asks the
Parliament or other body for their standpoint. He also checks, if a petition is
admissible or if there are not reasons for discontinuance of a proceeding. If
he/she does not find such reasons, he acts upon it and resolves the
matter/decides on the merit of the matter. The result of the proceeding is a
judgment .
If the
Court comes to the conclusion that does not exist grounds for invalidation, it
rejects the petition on the merits.
If the
Court comes to the conclusion that a statute is not in conformity with a
constitutional act or an international Treaty stipulated by Article 10 of the
Constitution, it annuls this statute or other enactment or individual
provisions thereof.
In some
cases the Court has decided that an act is constitutional only on a certain
interpretation /constitutionally has effect ex n conforming interpretation/.
Generally,
the provision shall be annulled on the day the judgment is published in the
Collection of Laws. In some cases the Court has decided to postpone the date of
annulment of an act. It is theoretically possible that the Constitutional Court
annuls an act ex tunc; however the Constitutional Court has not yet come to
such a decision.
If it is
necessary, the Court decides which of the implementing regulations loses force
and effect simultaneously with the act.
As concerns
as constitutional complains, the Court decides on the merit by a judgment.
It grants
or rejects the constitutional complaints in its entirety or grants or rejects
it in part.
In the
granting judgment it declares which of the constitutionally guaranteed rights
or freedoms and which provision of a constitutional act or an international
Treaty stipulated by Article 10 of Constitution was infringed or which activity
or behavior of a public authority causes infringement in fundamental rights of
a petitioner.
If a
complaint is aimed against a decision in legal force, the Court annuls the
contested decision of a public authority. The Court annuls mostly only a final
decision and not a foregoing one. The Constitutional Court implements a
principle of minimalisation of interference in the execution of powers of other
authorities or ordinary courts.
If a
complaint is aimed against an activity or a behavior of a public authority, the
Court forbids the authority continuing to infringe this right or freedom and
order it, to the extend possible, to restore the situation that existed prior
the infringement.
After
pronouncing of a finding, written judgments, rulings and resolutions are
sent/delivered to the parties, to secondary parties and to the lawyers. The
original determined subject of the proceeding is checked and corrected
according to the final decision/judgment, resolution/. Judgments and resolution
on manifestly unfounded submission are published on Internet. The file is then
given to registry.
The Constitutional Court decides the matter itself by
judgment and all other issues by ruling or resolution. Judgments shall be
announced publicly in the name of the Republic. This applies also in the case when the Court
decided without an oral hearing.
All judgments, in which it was
decided on the proposals to cancel an Act or other legal regulation or an
individual provision thereof, on the constitutional action against the
President of the Republic, and on the proposal to cancel the resolution of the
Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, are published in the Collection of Laws of
the Czech Republic. In this Collection can be published judgments on the
constitutional complaints, if the Plenum decides so. The publication includes
the statement and the part of the reasoning, from which it is clear,
what is the legal opinion of
the Constitutional Court.
A Justice who disagrees with
the decision of the Plenum or of the Panel has the right to have his dissenting
or his concurring opinion that forms a part of the decision. Such opinions are
published in the Collection of Judgments, Ruling and Resolutions of the
Constitutional Court.
The judgments on the
cancellation of Acts are enforceable as of the day of their publication in the
Collection of Laws, if not decided otherwise by the Constitutional Court, as
mentioned above. The judgments on the constitutional action against the
President of the Republic, on the proposal to cancel the resolution of the
Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, on the remedial action against the decision
in the matter of election of a Deputy or a Senator and in the case of doubts on
the loss of the eligibility to be elected and on the incompatibility of
executing the functions of a Deputy or a Senator are enforceable by its
publication. Other judgments are enforceable by the delivery of their written
copy to the parties.
All judgments adopted by the
Constitutional Court during the calendar year are published in the Collection
of Laws and Resolutions of the Constitutional Court. The resolutions may be
published here as well, if the Plenum decides so.
Numbers of submissions, by year
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Total number of
submissions
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Petitions to annul
statute or other norm
|
Constitutional + other complaints
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|
1993
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523
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49
|
474
|
|
1994
|
862
|
33
|
829
|
|
1995
|
1277
|
48
|
1229
|
|
1996
|
1511
|
41
|
1470
|
|
1997
|
|
46
|
1978
|
|
1998
|
2221
|
30
|
2191
|
|
1999
|
2576
|
24
|
2522
|
|
2000
|
3140
|
59
|
3081
|
|
2001
|
3049
|
39
|
3010
|
The number of completed submissions according
to the nature of the decisions
Numbers in bold are not final, because all cases from this year have not yet been decided
|
|
Judgment
|
Put aside as
noncapable of proceedings
|
Ruling, resolution
|
|
1993
|
41
|
91
|
368
|
|
1994
|
75
|
193
|
564
|
|
1995
|
129
|
192
|
905
|
|
1996
|
189
|
270
|
1001
|
|
1997
|
192
|
338
|
1417
|
|
1998
|
187
|
309
|
1607
|
|
1999
|
176
|
268
|
2035
|
|
2000
|
171
|
257
|
2451
|
|
2001
|
83
|
239
|
1902
|
record of submission
┌────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ number year
panel/plenum
│
│Registration
No.│[_________] /[_________] [________] │
│Date of sub. │[_______] │
│relation to
dec.│[___________________] │
│No. standpoint │[_______________] │
├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ [_______] [_______________________] │
│ │ │
│petitioner: │surname name title
│
│ │[_______________________] [______________] [_______] │
│
│[_______________________]
[______________] [_______]
│
│Address : │town street PSČ
│
│
│[___________________]
[___________________] [____]
│
├────────────────┴─────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│rapporteur │ [____________________________] │
├──────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│manner of
resolution │
[_____________________________________] │
│date of
resolution │ [_______] │
└──────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│date of
pronouncement │ [_______] [________] │
├──────────────────────────┼───────────┬─────────────────────────────────┤
│date of the last
entry │[______] entered: [_______] │
├───────────────┬──────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
[_________________________________________________] │
│subject │ [_________________________________________________] │
│proceedings │
[_________________________________________________] │
│ │
[_________________________________________________] │
├───────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ subject
index │
│
[__________________________________________________________] │
│
[__________________________________________________________] │
│
[__________________________________________________________] │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│relation to.
[________________________________________________] │
│legal [________________________________________________] │
│regulations │
│
[________________________________________________] │
│
[________________________________________________] │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│adversary
[__________________][______________________________________] │
│
[__________________][______________________________________] │
├──────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Secondery party │
[_________________________________] │
│ │
[_________________________________] │
│ Address │ town
street PSČ │
│ │
[__________________][___________________] [____] │
├──────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ filed │
[_____________________________] │
├──────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ notes │
[_______________________________________________] │
│ │
[_______________________________________________] │
│ │
[_______________________________________________] │
└──────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
