SLP 13 (2020)

SUMMARY

The edited book is based on an underlying premise that the protection of fundamental rights is the task of all state authority. Specifically, the authors deal with the role of courts and parliaments concerning the protection of fundamental rights. In six detail contributions, the role of national parliaments in current democratic states (Jana Ondřejková, Helena Hofmannová, Pavel Ondřejek and David Kryska), the role of European legislator (Markéta Křižáková), as well as the role of courts, namely constitutional courts (Jana Ondřejková and Pavel Ondřejek) are thoroughly discussed. Authors deal with the topic at both theoretical and practical level, providing examples from current debates (e.g. on the rise of authoritarian regimes, asylum system reform at both national and European level or methodology of constitutional reasoning). In the first contribution entitled ‘Are parliaments protectors of human rights?’ , Jana Ondřejková deals with fact, that with regard to their independence and impartiality, the courts are generally acknowledged to be the ideal institutions for settling disputes between individuals and public authorities, and hence the ideal institutions for protecting the specific rights at issue. But the question is being asked whether the courts are in the same exclusive position when it comes to the specification of fundamental rights, especially if such judicial decisions should be recognized to entail general normative consequences? In the paper, Jana Ondřejková seeks to find answers on the following questions: Does the essence of judicial protection of fundamental rights lie in their content or form? When the parliament adopts laws on fundamental rights, does it define or merely limit fundamental rights? Why may it be appropriate to leave more room for protection of the fundamental rights to the parliament and to place greater demands on the constitutional court ruling on fundamental rights in the abstract review of constitutionality? The second paper by Helena Hofmannová entitled ‘Weakening of parliamentarism in the Czech Republic’ is a contribution to the discussion of the current phenomenon of the rise of authoritarian regimes, which is not limited to certain states or regions, but crosses continents. It describes the changes in the constitutional rule of the law system of the Czech Republic from the inside to provide reader the relevant information accompanied by a critical analysis of the domestic context. The author argues that we should certainly not be appeased by the fact that in other Central European countries the dismantling of constitutional democracy is at a much more advanced stage for the steps are taken slowly and usually tend to be difficult to identify at the beginning. The main purpose of this paper is to underline the risks to the constitutional system by underestimating political programs based on authoritative methods. In the third contribution entitled ‘The legislator and the principle of proportio- nality’ , Pavel Ondřejek discusses a somewhat neglected topic of application of the

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