Czechia Government - 2024

Country name

conventional long form: Czech Republic

conventional short form: Czechia

local long form: Ceska republika

local short form: Cesko

etymology: name derives from the Czechs, a West Slavic tribe who rose to prominence in the late 9th century A.D.; the country officially adopted the English short-form name of Czechia on 1 July 2016

Government type

parliamentary republic

Capital

name: Prague

geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E

time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology: the name may derive from an old Slavic root "praga" or "prah", meaning "ford", and refer to the city's origin at a crossing point of the Vltava (Moldau) River

Administrative divisions

13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky (South Bohemia), Jihomoravsky (South Moravia), Karlovarsky (Karlovy Vary), Kralovehradecky (Hradec Kralove), Liberecky (Liberec), Moravskoslezsky (Moravia-Silesia), Olomoucky (Olomouc), Pardubicky (Pardubice), Plzensky (Pilsen), Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky (Central Bohemia), Ustecky (Usti), Vysocina (Highlands), Zlinsky (Zlin)

Independence

1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia); note - although 1 January is the day the Czech Republic came into being, the Czechs commemorate 28 October 1918, the day the former Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as their independence day

National holiday

Czechoslovak Founding Day, 28 October (1918)

Constitution

history: previous 1960; latest ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993

amendments: passage requires at least three-fifths concurrence of members present in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2021

Legal system

new civil code enacted in 2014, replacing civil code of 1964 - based on former Austro-Hungarian civil codes and socialist theory - and reintroducing former Czech legal terminology

International law organization participation

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship

citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Czechia

dual citizenship recognized: no

residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

chief of state: President Petr PAVEL (since 9 March 2023)

head of government: Prime Minister Petr FIALA (since 17 December 2021); First Deputy Prime Minister Vit RAKUSAN (since 17 December 2021), Deputy Prime Ministers Marian JURECKA, Ivan BARTOS, Vlastimil VALEK (all since 17 December 2021)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (limited to 2 consecutive terms); elections last held on 13 to 14 January 2023 with a second round held from 27 to 28 January 2023; next election to be by January 2028; prime minister appointed by the president for a 4-year term

election results:
2023: Petr PAVEL elected in the second round; percent of vote in the first round - Petr PAVEL (independent) 35.4%, Andrej BABIS (ANO) 35%, Danuse NERUDOVA (Mayors and Independents) 13.9%, Pavel FISCHER (independent) 6.8%; percent of vote in the second round - Petr PAVEL 58.3%, Andrej BABIS 41.6%

2018: Milos ZEMAN reelected president in the second round; percent of vote - Milos ZEMAN (SPO) 51.4%, Jiri DRAHOS (independent) 48.6%

Legislative branch

description: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of:
Senate or Senat (81 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years)

Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members directly elected in 14 multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote with a 5% threshold required to fill a seat; members serve 4-year terms)

elections: Senate - last held on 23 to 24 September with a runoff from 30 September to 1 October 2022 (next to be held in October 2024)
Chamber of Deputies - last held on 8 to 9 October 2021 (next to be held by October 2025)

election results:
Senate - percent of vote by party/coalition NA; - seats by party/coalition - ODS 23, STAN 15, KDU-CSL 12, TOP 09 6, ANO 5, SEN 21 4, other 15, independent 1; composition as of January 2024 - men 148, women 52, percent of women 26%
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party/coalition – SPOLU 27.8%, ANO 27.1%, Pirates and STAN 15.6%, SPD 9.6%, other 19.9%; seats by party/coalition - ANO 72, SPOLU 71, Pirates and STAN 37, SPD 20; composition as of January 2024 - men 15, women 6, percent of women 28.6%; note - total Parliament percent of women 20.6%

Judicial branch

highest court(s): Supreme Court (organized into Civil Law and Commercial Division, and Criminal Division each with a court chief justice, vice justice, and several judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 justices); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 36 judges, including the court president and vice president, and organized into 6-, 7-, and 9-member chambers)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and appointed by the president; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate; judges appointed for 10-year, renewable terms; Supreme Administrative Court judges selected by the president of the Court; unlimited terms

subordinate courts: High Court; regional and district courts

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Marian JURECKA]
Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Petr FIALA]
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Katerina KONECNA]
Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Michal SMARDA]
Freedom and Direct Democracy or SPD [Tomio OKAMURA]
Mayors and Independents or STAN [Vit RAKUSAN]
Mayors for the Liberec Region [Martin PUTA]
Action of Dissatisfied Citizens or ANO (Akce nespokojených občanů) [Andrej BABIS]
Party of Free Citizens Svobodni [Libor VONDRACEK]
Pirate Party or Pirates [Ivan BARTOS]
Senator 21 [Vaclav LASKA]
Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 or TOP 09 [Marketa PEKAROVA ADAMOVA]

International organization participation

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Miloslav STASEK (since 16 September 2022)

chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008-3803

telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100

FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540

email address and website:
washington@embassy.mzv.cz

https://www.mzv.cz/washington/

consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Bijan SABET (since 15 February 2023)

embassy: Trziste 15, 118 01 Praha 1 - Mala Strana

mailing address: 5630 Prague Place, Washington DC  20521-5630

telephone: [420] 257-022-000

FAX: [420] 257-022-809

email address and website:
ACSPrg@state.gov

https://cz.usembassy.gov/

Flag description

two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side

note: combines the white and red colors of Bohemia with blue from the arms of Moravia; is identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia

National symbol(s)

silver (or white), double-tailed, rampant lion; national colors: white, red, blue

National anthem

name: "Kde domov muj?" (Where is My Home?)

lyrics/music: Josef Kajetan TYL/Frantisek Jan SKROUP

note: adopted 1993; the anthem was originally written as incidental music to the play "Fidlovacka" (1834), it soon became very popular as an unofficial anthem of the Czech nation; its first verse served as the official Czechoslovak anthem beginning in 1918, while the second verse (Slovak) was dropped after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993

National heritage

total World Heritage Sites: 17 (16 cultural, 1 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales: Historic Prague (c); Historic Telč (c); Historic Český Krumlov (c); Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape (c); Historic Kutná Hora (c); Holy Trinity Column, Olomouc (c); Karlovy Vary Spa (c); Zatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops; Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops (n)