Reform of the judicial system of the Czech Republic and the accession to the European Union

The paper considers the effects of EU accession on the reform of the Czech judicial system.

The author concludes that EU membership will influence the Czech judiciary at three levels. Firstly, at the technical level, as Czech courts must become capable of communicating with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and courts in other Member States. They must also establish judicial co-operation under the first and third pillars of the Treaty. Secondly, the Czech judiciary's capacity to enforce EC/EU law must be enhanced, which includes increasing judges' awareness, as well as their ability to enforce the principle of the primacy of EC law over national law. The third level concerns the general quality of the judiciary as an element of the rule of law, including its speediness and independence.

European integration will have little effect on the reform of the Czech judiciary. EC/EU law is focused on the judicial capacity of Member States to apply such law and to filter out domestic norms that are incompatible with the acquis. However, it does not deal with details of the judicial system of a particular Member State. Although the quality of the judiciary in this context is not a formal requirement of EU membership, it is the prerequisite of successful membership.

The Czech Constitutional Court can function as the last guarantor of Czech obligations under the acquis before a potential conflict appears at EC/EU level, typically before the ECJ. At the same time, the Czech Constitutional Court could also act as a guarantor of Czech sovereignty, which is a scenario that could potentially lead to conflict with the European Commission and the ECJ.

Since more experienced Czech judges do not usually have a university background in EC/EU law, regular training and exams in this area become very important.