Council of Europe

  Country profile: CZECH REPUBLIC

Resources

Report on the implementation of the CEPEJ guidelines for judicial time management in 7 pilot courts / institutions (Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom) (March 2011)

Special distinction awarded at the Crystal Scales of Justice in Brussels in June 2009 on the occasion of the Justice Forum for the project "Mentor Scheme" by the Association for probation and mediation in Justice

Approval of the new Criminal Code which will come into effect on 1^st January 2010.

The most significant achievement in Czech criminal legislation is the approval of the new Criminal Code. It essentially changes and modernizes Czech criminal law. The Criminal Code, which will come into effect on 1^st January 2010, newly introduces, for example, a house arrest to the system of criminal sanctions. The most important task in the non-criminal area at present is the recodification of private law.  Currently the proposal of a new Civil Code and the Act on Mediation in Non-criminal Matters are in the legislative process.

The aggregate amendment of the Civil Procedure Code will come into effect on 1^st July 2009. It introduces new arrangements for service of process, audio recordings of trials, a limitation of the extent of reasoning in judgements, reinforcement of the role of notaries in succession proceedings and other changes. As a matter of fact, it generally means improvement and transparency of civil proceedings and elimination of shortages arising in practice