Upper house rejects presidential nominee for Constitutional Court

In a ballot vote, Czech Senators also rejected the president’s nominee for the Constitutional Court, Jan Sváček, over his past membership in the totalitarian Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Mr Sváček, who serves as Chief Justice of the Prague Municipal Court, joined the party in June 1989, just months before communism collapsed in the country. He has also been an advisor to President Václav Klaus since his election in 2003. In his appearance in the Senate, Justice Sváček argued he had to join the party in order to be able to become a judge; the Senators however remained unconvinced and refused to approve the nomination.

Author: Jan Richter