The Czech system of Government

The Czech Republic is a sovereign, united, democratic state whose government is divided into three parts – the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
The legislative branch is represented by the Parliament, which is represented by two chambers - the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies has 200 members, who are elected every 4 years. The Senate has only 81 members, who are elected for 6 years. But one third of them are renewed every 2 years. Every citizen from the age of 18 can vote his own favourite. The political parties can be divided into three groups – the right wing (the Civic Democratic Party, The Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People’s Party), the moderate (Czech Social Democratic Party) and the left wing (The Communist Party). The Senator has to be at least 40 years old. The member of the Chamber of Deputies can be younger. Nobody can be elected into both chambers. The bills are proposed in the Parliament that is a law-making body. The bill has to be passed by both chambers and signed by the head of the Chamber of Deputies, the prime minister and the president. The Parliament expresses the approval for example with posting the military abroad to protect the peaceful operations or help with the search and rescue missions after the disasters, industrial or ecological accidents.
The president, who is the head of the state, and the government represent the second branch –the executive. He is elected by the members of the Parliament and has to be at least 40 years old. The president is elected for five years term and he can’t be elected more than twice. He appoints and disengages the chairman of the government. Then he appoints the judges of the Constitutional Court, and the chairman and vice chairman of the Supreme Court. Next the president appoints the members of the Bank Council of the Czech National Bank, the members of the Supreme Supervisory Office or the generals. He forgives or reduces the judicial decision. He bestows the state accolades. Then he represents the state abroad. He is the commander-in-chief of the army. He can be prosecuted only because of high treason. The government is the supreme authority of the executive. The government constitute of the premiere, the vice-premier and the ministers. We have many kinds of the ministries e.g. Interior, Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, and many and many more.

The power structure of the executive branch goes next down to the local authorities where the town council is the smallest unit. The head of the central government is called a mayor or a provost.
The courts are the representatives of the last branch of our government – the judicial. The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court and the courts at all levels of regional government represent the system of our courts. The judges are independent and they apply the law in the practise in individual trials. The Constitutional Court is a special kind of the court, which consists of 15 judges, who are elected for 10 years. These judges have to be at least 40 years old and they have had the experience in a juristic profession minimally for 10 years. The judges of the Constitutional Court adjudicate the nullification of the laws. The Supreme Court and the other courts decide about the blame and the punishment. The judges in these courts are elected for indefinite time by the president.