The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is the highest judicial body in civil and criminal matters concerning extraordinary remedies, with its seat in Brno.
The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic has its seat in Brno. It is the highest judicial body in matters falling within the jurisdiction of the courts in civil proceedings and in criminal proceedings, as far as extraordinary remedies are concerned. The exceptions are matters decided by the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic[1].
Jurisdiction
The extraordinary remedies on which the court decides include appeals on points of law (dovolání) against decisions of second-instance courts and complaints for violation of the law[1]. The court also determines territorial jurisdiction in the court system, recognises foreign decisions, authorises the transit of a person under a European arrest warrant, reviews wiretapping orders and rules in cases of doubt about the exclusion of a matter from the powers of the bodies active in criminal proceedings[1].
Since 21 December 2024, under an amendment to Act No. 7/2002 Coll., on proceedings in matters of judges, public prosecutors and court executors, the Supreme Court has acted as the disciplinary appeals court in appeals in disciplinary matters of judges[1].
The court also unifies the decision-making of the courts, both by review in appeal proceedings on points of law and through rulings of the grand chamber and opinions adopted by the divisions. The most important decisions and opinions are published in the Collection of Court Decisions and Opinions of the Supreme Court, together with a legal sentence approved by the division; since 1 January 2022 the collection has been published exclusively in electronic form[1].
The Supreme Court collects and checks the declarations of activities, property, income, gifts and liabilities of all judges of the Czech Republic; these declarations are not public[1].
Organisation and leadership
The court consists of the president, the vice-president, the chairpersons of the divisions, the chairpersons of the panels and other judges. The president and the vice-president are appointed by the President of the Czech Republic[2]. The judges decide according to their own conscience and are bound only by the law[2].
The court usually sits in panels made up of a presiding judge and two judges, or in the grand chambers of the divisions[2]. The grand chambers of the divisions were created under Act No. 30/2000 Coll., which amended the act on courts and judges with effect from 1 January 2001; they consist of at least nine judges of the division concerned[2]. The grand chamber of a division decides when a panel has referred a case to it because the panel has reached a legal opinion different from one expressed in an earlier decision of the court[2].
The three-member panels decide mainly on appeals on points of law, in criminal matters also on complaints for violation of the law, and on the recognition and enforceability of decisions of foreign courts in the Czech Republic where a special legal regulation or an international treaty requires it[2]. Each panel is headed by a presiding judge, who organises its work and assigns cases to its members[2].
The judges are divided into divisions according to their field of activity. The court currently has two divisions, the civil and commercial division and the criminal division, each headed by a chairperson who directs and organises its work[2]. The divisions monitor and evaluate final decisions of the courts, generalise their findings, submit proposals to the president of the court for opinions to be adopted by the plenary, adopt opinions at the proposal of the president of the court, the chairperson of the division or a grand chamber, and select decisions for inclusion in the Collection of Court Decisions and Opinions. The meetings of the divisions are not public[2].
The plenary consists of the president and the vice-president of the court, the chairpersons of the divisions, the chairpersons of the panels and the other judges. Its sessions are not public. The plenary discusses in particular the Rules of Procedure of the Supreme Court and adopts opinions on the decision-making of the courts in questions concerning both divisions or disputed between the divisions[2].
The president of the court exercises the judicial power belonging to the Supreme Court and performs administrative and managerial functions. After consulting the judges' council, the president issues the work schedule for the calendar year; after discussion in the plenary, the president issues the Rules of Procedure and the Organisational and Office Rules. The president chairs the Assembly of Judges, may take part in the meeting of any division, presides over or sits on a panel according to the work schedule, convenes the plenary sessions, sets their agenda and directs their proceedings[2]. On the basis of final court decisions, the president also proposes to the divisions or the plenary that an opinion on the decision-making of the courts be adopted, sees to the dignity of proceedings and compliance with judicial ethics, supervises the smooth course of court proceedings and deals with complaints about delays in proceedings or about the inappropriate conduct of judges and other employees working at the Supreme Court or of the president of a high court[2].