Politics of the Czech Republic

The president of the Czech Republic is elected by a direct vote for five years. They can only serve for two terms. The president is a formal head of state with limited executive powers specified in the articles 54 to 66 of the Constitution:[2]

• to appoint or dismiss the prime minister and other members of the Cabinet
• to appoint or dismiss the entire Cabinet
• to confirm or decline a resignation of the prime minister and other members of the Cabinet
• to summon a session of the Chamber of Deputies
• to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies when specific conditions described in the Constitution are met
• to pardon and mitigate penalties imposed by the court, order not to initiate criminal proceedings, suspend them if they are already initiated and to wipe previous criminal records
• to declare the date of elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate
• to bestow state honors
• to appoint and promote generals
• to appoint judges
• to appoint the president and vice-president of the Supreme Audit Office
• to appoint members of the Board of the Czech National Bank
• to appoint or dismiss heads of diplomatic missions

The president is also the commander in chief of the Armed Forces and ratifies all domestic laws and international agreements.

Prague Castle, the seat of the president of the Czech Republic

Straka Academy, the seat of the Cabinet, Prague

Wallenstein Palace, the seat of the Senate, Prague

The Cabinet is the supreme executive body in the Czech Republic. It makes its decisions as a body. It is held responsible by the Chamber of Deputies. The president appoints every new prime minister, who then chooses the ministers. All ministers of the Cabinet need to be approved by the president and within thirty days after the presidential approval they must ask the Chamber of Deputies for a vote of confidence.

The prime minister is the head of government. The prime minister organizes the work of the Cabinet, presides over it and acts in its name. The prime minister sets the agenda for most foreign and domestic policies but has to obtain the president's approval to hire or dismiss any other member of the Cabinet.[4]

Ministers are any member of the Cabinet who are not the prime minister. They are usually the head of a ministry, but this is not required. A ministry – sometimes called government department – is a governmental organisation that manages a specific sector of public administration. The number of ministries varies depending on the particular Cabinet and is managed by the Competence Law. As of 2021, the Czech Republic had 13 ministers and 14 ministries.

The Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna in Czech) has 200 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation with a 5% election threshold. The Chamber of Deputies elections happen every four years, unless the reigning Cabinet prematurely loses the Chamber of Deputies' support. Candidates for every political party participating in the elections are split among 14 electoral districts, which are identical to the country's administrative regions. A citizen must be at least 21 years old to be eligible for candidacy.

The Chamber of Deputies was formerly known as the Czech National Council. It has the same powers and responsibilities as the now-defunct Federal Assembly of the Czechoslovakia.

The Senate (Senát in Czech) has 81 members, each elected for a six-year term. Senate elections happen every two years and only a third of the seats is contested each time. All of the 81 Senate electoral districts are designed to contain roughly the same number of voters. The Senate elections use a two-round system, when the two most successful candidates from the first round face each other again in the second round usually a week later. Only citizens who have reached the age of 40 are eligible for candidacy. The senate's function is to be a stabilizing force and its influence is significantly lower than that of the Chamber of Deputies.

The Constitutional Court's main purpose is to protect people's constitutional rights and freedoms. The decisions of the court are final, cannot be overturned and are considered a source of law. The court is composed of 15 justices who are named for a renewable period of 10 years by the president and approved by the Senate.[5] Its functionality is similar to that of the Supreme Court of the United States.

There are two supreme courts in the court system of the Czech Republic – the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. Both reside in Brno.

Simplified chart of the Czech political system

The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is the court of highest appeal for almost all legal cases heard in the Czech Republic. The justices of the Supreme Court analyze and evaluate legally effective decisions of lower courts. They unify the Czech judicature.

The Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic protects people from unlawful decisions and procedures of the state authorities. It examines objections to elections and has the authority to ban or suspend the activity of political parties. It resolves competence disputes between governmental organizations and also serves as disciplinary court for other members of the judiciary.

There are two high courts in the Czech Republic – one in Prague and one in Olomouc . They serve as courts of appeal to Regional Courts in cases, where the Regional Court acted as a court of first instance. Presidents of the high courts are appointed by the president for seven years. The vice-presidents are appointed by the minister of justice and also serve a seven-year term. A justice is required by the law to have at least eight years of experience before becoming a member of a High Court.[6]

Regional courts serve mainly as the courts of appeal to district courts. However, they can also act as courts of first instance in cases of more severe criminal charges, disputes between corporations or disputes over intellectual property. There are eight regional courts in the Czech Republic: in Brno, Ostrava, Hradec Králové, Ústí nad Labem, Plzeň, České Budějovice and two in Prague.

Seat of the Constitutional Court, Brno

District courts serve as the courts of first instance in almost all civil or criminal proceedings. There is a total of 86 district courts in the Czech Republic. Notaries and executors are appointed by the minister of justice to their jurisdictions.