The Ministry of Justice is the central body of state administration of the courts of the Czech Republic, based in Prague 2.
The Ministry of Justice is the central body of state administration of the courts. It is based in Prague 2, at Vyšehradská Street 16, in the building with conscription number 427.[1]
Seat
The ministry building stands on the site of the former Monastery of St Bartholomew, which was founded by Eliška Přemyslovna. In 1505 a medieval hospital and the Church of St Bartholomew in Podskalí were built on this site. In 1784 the church was closed by order of Emperor Joseph II and the hospital was abolished.[1]
History
The Ministry of Justice was established on 20 March 1848 as one of the four ministries of Austria-Hungary, together with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Worship and Education. It was headed first by Count Ludwig Taaffe, who was soon replaced by Franz von Sommeruga.[1]
After the creation of Czechoslovakia, the first Minister of Justice was František Soukup, who, according to the ministry's website, was one of the so-called "men of 28 October" along with Alois Rašín, Jiří Stříbrný, Antonín Švehla and Vavro Šrobár. Soukup took part in drafting the first laws of the Czechoslovak Republic and after leaving the post of Minister of Justice held another public office until 1939.[1]
Competence
The Ministry of Justice prepares legislation that affects the lives of citizens in the areas of civil, commercial, criminal and procedural law. Its work has also produced legal regulation concerning professions such as judges, attorneys, notaries and bailiffs.[2]
The ministry's legislative activity focuses on the areas of substantive and procedural civil law, criminal law, insolvency law and professional law.[2]