On Wednesday, 22 October, Josef Baxa, President of the Constitutional Court, received Peter Reuss, the new Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Czech Republic. Ambassador Reuss took up his current position on 8 October this year. He entered the diplomatic service more than thirty years ago. In the past, he served in many important positions, e.g. at the embassies in Ankara and Tallinn. From 2019 to 2023 he was the German Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris.

At the beginning of the meeting, Josef Baxa briefly introduced the history of constitutional judiciary in the Czech Republic. He did not forget to mention that the modern system of protection of constitutionality established after 1989 in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic was largely inspired by Germany. The German Federal Constitutional Court was established in 1951 and has since become the flagship of European and, indeed, global constitutional justice. The Bundesverfassungsgericht is also an important partner for the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. The cooperative relationship between the two institutions was demonstrated by last year's bilateral meeting of representatives of both courts in Karlsruhe. In the second part of yesterday's meeting, the discussion focused mainly on the renewal of the body of Justices at the Constitutional Court. Of the fifteen current Justices of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, twelve were appointed between 2023 and 2025. The German Federal Constitutional Court also underwent extensive renewal. During the same period, nine of a total of sixteen Justices were appointed to office. In this context, President Josef Baxa stated that despite the personnel changes, the Czech Constitutional Court had not slowed down its work in any way and appreciated that it had managed to maintain the continuity and smooth running of its activities.

At the end of his visit, His Excellency toured the seat of the Constitutional Court, which is one of the most remarkable buildings in Brno and in Moravia in general. 

Pavel Dvořák
Head of External Relations and Protocol Department

Photo: Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany