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71/2012 Coll.

CONSTITUTIONAL ACT

of 8 February 2012

that amends Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Coll., the Constitution of the Czech Republic, as amended

The Parliament has enacted the following Constitutional Act of the Czech Republic:

Art. I

Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Coll., the Constitution of the Czech Republic, in the wording of Constitutional Act No. 347/1997 Coll., Constitutional Act No. 300/2000 Coll., Constitutional Act No. 395/2001 Coll., Constitutional Act No. 448/2001 Coll., Constitutional Act No. 515/2002 Coll., and Constitutional Act No. 319/2009 Coll., is amended as follows:

1. Art. 54 paragraph 2 reads as follows:

“The President of the Republic is elected directly in a national popular vote.”

2. Art. 56 reads as follows:

“Art. 56

(1) The election of President shall be held in the form of a secret ballot based on the universal, equal, and direct right to vote.

(2) The candidate having received majority of valid votes from eligible voters is elected the President of the Republic. If there is not such a candidate, fourteen days after commencement of the first electoral round a second electoral round should be held, which the two most successful candidates in the first electoral round proceed onto. If the candidates [in the first round] receive equal number of votes, all candidates having received the highest number of votes from eligible voters shall proceed onto the second electoral round; and if there are not at least two such candidates, candidates having received the second highest number of votes from eligible voters [shall also proceed onto the second electoral round].

(3) The candidate having received the highest number of votes from eligible voters in the second round of the election is elected the President of the Czech Republic. If there are more of such candidates, the President of the Republic is not elected, and a new election of President of the Republic shall be held within 10 days.

(4) If the candidate who proceeded onto the second round of the election ceases to be eligible for office of the President of the Republic or if such candidate waives his right to stand as a candidate for the office of the President of the Republic, the candidate having received the subsequent highest number of votes from eligible voters in the first electoral round shall proceed onto the second round of the election. The second electoral round shall be held even if there is only one candidate who proceeds onto the second round.

(5) Each citizen of the Czech Republic who has reached the age of 18 years is entitled to nominate a candidate provided that such a nomination is supported by a petition signed by at least 50.000 citizens of the Czech Republic who are eligible to vote for the President of the Republic. A candidate can [also] be nominated by at least twenty Deputies or by at least ten Senators.

(6) Every citizen of the Czech Republic having reached the age of 18 has the right to vote.

(7) Presidential election shall take place within the last sixty days of the office of the incumbent President, but not less than 30 days prior to the expiration of the term of the office of the incumbent President of the Republic. If the office of the President becomes vacant, the election of the President shall be held within ninety days.

(8) The election of the President shall be announced by the President of the Senate ninety days prior to holding the election at the latest. If the office of the President becomes vacant, the President of the Senate shall announce the election of the President within ten days [from the moment when the office became vacant] and simultaneously within eighty days prior to holding such election.

(9) If the office of the President of the Senate is vacant, the election of the President shall be announced by the Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament.”

3. Art. 58 reads as follows:

“Further conditions of the exercise of the right to vote in the election of the President as well as the details of the process of proposing the presidential candidates for the office of the President of the Republic, the announcement and implementation of the election, and the announcement of the outcome of the election, and the judicial review shall be provided in a statute.”

4. In Art. 59 para. 1 and in Art. 61 the words “Assembly of Deputies” shall be replaced by the word “Senate”.

5. In Art. 62 letter g) the words “order that a criminal proceeding is not to be instituted or, if it has [already] been instituted, that it shall be discontinued,” shall be deleted.

6. In Art. 62 the comma at the end of letter k) shall be replaced by a full stop, and the letter l) shall be deleted.

7. Behind letter i) in Art. 63 para. 1) the new letter j) which reads as follows shall be added:

“orders that a criminal proceeding shall not be instituted or, if it has [already] been instituted, that it shall be discontinued,”.

The current letter j) shall be designated as letter k).

8. Art. 65 paragraph 1 reads as follows:

“While in the office, the President of the Republic may not be taken into detention, criminally prosecuted, and prosecuted for misdemeanors or other administrative offense.”

9. Art. 65 paragraph 2 reads as follows:

“The Senate may with the consent of the Chamber of Deputies lodge a constitutional motion against the President of the Republic for a high treason, a gross violation of the Constitution or other component of the constitutional order to the Constitutional Court; by treason it is meant any conduct of the President of the Republic directed against the sovereignty and integrity of the Republic as well as against the democratic order. Upon the constitutional motion the Constitutional Court may hold that the President loses the office of President and the eligibility for holding it in future.”

10. Art. 65 paragraph 3 reads as follows:

“For the Senate to accept the proposal for constitutional motion the consent of a three-fifths majority of the present senators is required. For the Assembly of Deputies to consent to the filing of constitutional motion a three-fifths majority of all deputies is required: if the Assembly of Deputies fails to grant the consent within three months from the day when the Senate requests the consent, the consent shall be deemed withheld.”

11. In the first sentence of Art. 66 words “Art. 63 para. 1 letters. a), b), c), d), e), f), h), i), j),” shall be replaced by words “Art. 63 para. 1 letters a) to e) and h) to k), and”.

12. In the second sentence of Art. 66 words “Art. 62 letter a), b), c), d), e), k), l)” shall be replaced by words “Art. 62 letters a) to e) and k) and further Art. 63 para. 1 letter f), if the announcement of the election for the Senate is concerned,” and at the end of the text of this article the following words shall be added “, who is also in charge of the office of the Presidency at the time when the Prime Minister is in charge of the designated functions of the President of the Republic pursuant to Article 63 paragraph 1 letter f), if the announcement of the election for the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament is concerned”.

13. In Art. 87 para. 1 the comma at the end of letter k) shall be replaced by a full stop, and letters l) and m) shall be deleted.

Art II

This Constitutional Act shall enter into effect on 1 October 2012, with the exception of Art. I clauses 8-10 that shall enter into effect on 8 March 2013.