CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW ASPECTS OF THE NEW CZECH ACT …

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW ASPECTS OF THE NEW CZECH ACT ON FOREIGN SERVICE Petr Válek* Abstract: In 2017, the new Act on Foreign Service entered into force in the Czech Republic. At first, the reasons why the Act was passed are explained. While most of its provisions deal with internal matters of the Czech foreign service ( i.e. , of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and its representative offices), some of them have international law aspects too. These provisions can be considered as an expression of the international legal practice of the Czech Republic. The present article focuses on the following three parts of the Act: first, the principles for the exercise of foreign service, second, the categories of the representative offices and their functions, and third, the scope and limits of the consular protection. Each of these parts of the Act on Foreign Service is described in detail and analyzed from the point of international law. Resumé: V roce 2017 vstoupil v České republice v účinnost nový zákon o zahraniční službě. Nejprve jsou vysvětleny důvody, proč byl tento zákon přijat. I když většina jeho ustanovení se zabývá vnitřními záležitostmi české zahraniční služby (tj. Ministerstva zahraničních věcí České republiky a jeho zastupitelských úřadů), některá z nich mají též mezinárodněprávní aspekty. Tato ustanovení lze považovat za vyjádření mezinárodněprávní praxe České repub- liky. Předkládaný článek se zaměřuje na následující tři části tohoto zákona: zaprvé, zásady výkonu zahraniční služby, zadruhé, druhy zastupitelských úřadů a jejich funkce, a zatře- tí, rozsah a meze konzulární ochrany. Každá z těchto částí zákona o zahraniční službě je podrobně popsána a analyzována z hlediska mezinárodního práva. Key words: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Act on State Service, Act on Foreign Service, Council Directive (EU) 2015/637, Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character, Convention on Special Missions, Allied Control Council Law No. 10, Ministries Trial, Consular Protection. On the Author: Mr. Petr Válek was appointed the Director of the International Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in October 2012. In 2016, he was elected the Vice-Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law. Prior to his current position at the International Law Department, he was posted as Legal Adviser to the Czech Permanent Mission to the UN (from 2009 to 2012), worked as Legal Officer at the International Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the UN Mission in Kosovo (in 2007) and in the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (in 2004). He also served in the Czech Army. Mr. Válek studied at the Charles University Law School in Prague, where he received both his Master’s degree and Ph.D., at the J. W. Goethe University Law School in Frankfurt am Main and at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, where he gained an LL.M. degree.

* The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily correspond with the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and do not bind this institution in any way.

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