“The Constitutional Court is the judicial body responsible for the protection of constitutionality.” With these words, the Constitution of the Czech Republic of 16 December 1992 established the Constitutional Court. The Court began its work on 15 July 1993. Today it is an indispensable part of the nation’s constitutional, legal and political system and continuously performs the tasks entrusted to it. Forty-three persons have served as Justices of the Constitutional Court since 1993. In the thirty years of its existence, the Constitutional Court has decided over ninety-five thousand cases.
The Constitutional Court marked its thirtieth anniversary on Thursday 23 February 2023 with a jubilee conference. It was opened by the President of the Constitutional Court Pavel Rychetský, who was followed by the President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil and the President of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic Ivan Fiačan. Jiří Přibáň, Professor of Law at the Cardiff University, closed the opening session. The following sessions were devoted to three decades of the Constitutional Court through the eyes of its current and retired Justices. Ivana Janů and Vojen Güttler spoke about the first decade, Vlasta Formánková and Stanislav Balík dedicated their speeches to the second decade and Milada Tomková and Vojtěch Šimíček presented the third (and current) decade. Tomáš Langášek and Ivo Pospíšil, former Secretaries General of the Constitutional Court, now judges of the Supreme Administrative Court, and Vlastimil Göttinger, who currently holds the position of Secretary General, chaired the respective sessions.
The conference opened with speeches by Pavel Rychetský, Miloš Vystrčil, Ivan Fiačan and Jiří Přibáň.
Ivana Janů, Vojen Güttler and Tomáš Langášek recalled the first decade of the Constitutional Court.
Vlasta Formánková, Stanislav Balík and Ivo Pospíšil spoke about the second decade.
The third, i.e. the current decade, was presented by Milada Tomková, Vojtěch Šimíček and Vlastimil Göttinger
The anniversary of the Constitutional Court was also commemorated beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. Six representatives of the European judiciary spoke to the conference participants via video-recordings. They were Siofra O'Leary, President of the European Court of Human Rights, Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Laurent Fabius, President of the Constitutional Council of France, Christoph Grabenwarter, President of the Constitutional Court of Austria, Roger Linden, President of the Constitutional and Supreme Court of Luxembourg and Aldis Laviņš, President of the Constitutional Court of Latvia.
President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Koen Lenaerts
The uniqueness of the event was underlined by the performance of the choir of students of the Faculty of Music of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (Janáčkova akademie múzických umění). The 15-member choir was created exclusively for the Jubilee Conference. Also the repertoire was chosen to reflect the event. The idea of creating an ad hoc choral ensemble was conceived by Associate Professor Lucie Pešl Šilerová from the Music Production Department. The implementation of the idea would not have been possible without the support of Dr. Ivana Mikeskova, Head of the Vocal Studies Department. The dramaturgy and direction of the choir was taken over by Associate Professor Tomáš Krejčí from the Conducting and Opera Direction Department. The choir's performance was rewarded with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Choir of students of the JAMU Faculty of Music
The Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic also commemorated its anniversary. It did so on Wednesday 22 February in the Historical Building of the National Council in Bratislava. The dates of the Bratislava and Brno ceremonies were chosen to fall on two consecutive days. Symbolically, this was a reminder of the fact that both Constitutional Courts built on the work and legacy of the Constitutional Court of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.
Pavel Rychetský at the jubilee assembly on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava.
Pavel Dvořák
Head of External Relations and Protocol Department
© Photos: Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic (photograph Jan Symon) and Office of the National Council of the Slovak Republic