CZECH REPUBLIC: National Laws

Summary: General overview of the Czech Republic's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.

National laws on children's rights

Status of the CRC in national law
Article 10 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic provides that properly ratified treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, shall have the force of law, and that where an international agreement makes provisions contrary to national law, the treaty shall prevail. It is not clear whether the CRC is directly applicable in national courts not to what extent it is/has been raised.

Constitution: The Constitution does not provide directly for rights. Rather, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms is a separate constitutional document that addresses fundamental rights, including those of children. All provisions specifically addressing the rights of children can be found in article 32 of the Charter:

• Art. 32(1) guarantees special protection to children and adolescents;

• Art. 32(3) provides for equal rights of children regardless of their parents' marital status;

• Art. 32(4) makes provisions for the right of parents to raise their children, and for the removal of children from the custody of their parents; and

• Art. 32(5) creates a parental right to assistance from the government in raising children.

Legislation: Much of the Czech Republic's law appears in the form of thematic codes. Legislation relevant to children's rights can be found in a variety of sources including, but by no means limited to:

• Criminal Code (Act No. 140/1961)

• Rules on Criminal Procedure (Act No. 141/1961)

• Civil Code (Act No. 40/1964)

• Labour Code (Act No. 262/2006)

• Social and Legal Protection of Children Act (No. 359/1999)

• Act on Liability of Juveniles for Illegal Acts and on Juvenile Justice (No. 218/2003)

• Family Act (No. 94/1963)

• Family Reunification Act (No. 427/2010)

• Education Act (No. 561/2004)

• Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals (No. 326/1999)

Legal Research:
The Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) and Senate (Senát) both maintain official websites in Czech with limited resources available in English (http://www.psp.cz/sqw/hp.sqw; http://www.senat.cz/), including the Constitution. In addition, Sagit Publishing provides a substantial database of national legislation in Czech (http://www.sagit.cz/pages/uvod.asp?cd=2&typ=r), while the World Law Guide offers a more limited selection of legislation in English (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/eur/lxwecze.htm). The GlobaLex intiative at New York University has prepared a comprehensive guide to legal research (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Czech_Republic1.htm ), while both the U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/czech.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/2240.html) offer portal with links to many legal and government websites.

Case law
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Case law research
The Supreme and Constitutional Courts of the Czech Republic publish their decisions online via their official websites (http://www.nsoud.cz/JudikaturaNS_new/ns_web.nsf/; http://www.concourt.cz/view/internetcs).

Compliance with the CRC
In its 2003 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that “many positive steps have been taken to bring legislation into conformity with the Convention”, but also exrpessed “concern[ ] at the lengthy process of legislative reform necessary to make the laws fully compatible with the Convention. The Committee also worried about “the lack of financing for the implementation of legislation.”

In depth analysis:
Since ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Czech Republic has enacted a good deal of influential legislation to meet its provisions, but in its observations, the Committee has highlighted a number of areas in which national law is not in compliance. In terms of broad policy, the Committee has consistently expressed concern about the absence of an independent human rights monitoring body, as well as the State's failure to conduct a full review of legislation to assess the compatibility of national law with the Convention. The Committee has also noted that the best interests of the child and respect to for the views of the child are absent from the majority of relevant legislation.

With respect to the juvenile justice system, while the Committee has welcomed reforms to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Justice Act, it has also highlighted a number of areas of the law which are not compatible with the Convention. Specifically, the Committee has been critical of the procedure for dealing with children in conflict with the law. Although children younger than 15 cannot be held criminally responsible, they can be placed in care prior to legal proceedings without the protection of standard criminal proceedings. The Committee has also expressed concern that deprivation of liberty has not been treated as a measure of last resort, and that children under arrest or awaiting trial are often detained in poor conditions, not always separately from adults.

Current legal reform projects
As of November 2008, the Children and Youth Bill was progressing through the legislative process but had yet to be enacted.