On Tuesday 13 September afternoon, a delegation of the Supreme Court of Israel, led by its President, Ms Esther Hayut, and consisting of Judge Yael Willner and Judge Noam Sohlberg, visited the Constitutional Court. The three top Israeli judges were in the city of Brno at the invitation of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic. The judicial system of the State of Israel does not have a specialized body for the protection of constitutionality, which in the Czech Republic is the Constitutional Court. It is the Supreme Court of Israel that is entrusted with the task of constitutional review. In this respect, therefore, the competences of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic and the Supreme Court of Israel overlap. 

The bilateral visit was hosted by the President of the Constitutional Court Pavel Rychetský, who was accompanied by the Vice President of the Court Jaroslav Fenyk and Judge Pavel Šámal. At the beginning of the meeting, President Rychetský spoke briefly about the history of the Czech or Czechoslovak constitutional judiciary and the role of the Constitutional Court in the legal and political system of the Czech Republic. President Esther Hayut then spoke on the same topic referring to Israel. Afterwards the discussion focused on two more specific topics, namely the constitutional and human rights challenges faced by the judiciary during the coronavirus pandemic and the issue of human dignity in the jurisprudence of the courts. At the end of the visit, the guests were offered the tour of the Constitutional Court seat, which is one of the most remarkable and important buildings in the city of Brno.

Pavel Dvořák
Head of External Relations and Protocol Department