Czech Civil Service Exam cheat sheet

Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Sb. (Constitution) plus the Charter of Fundamental Rights (Act No. 2/1993 Sb.) form the constitutional order; art. 112 lists the Charter among constitutional laws, so it is directly binding and hierarchically equal to the Constitution.

Art. 1(1): the Czech Republic is a sovereign, unified and democratic state governed by the rule of law, based on respect for the rights and freedoms of persons and citizens; art. 2(1) holds that state power derives from the people, who exercise it through legislative, executive and judicial bodies.

Art. 9(2): amendment of the substantive requirements of the democratic state governed by the rule of law is inadmissible; art. 9(1) requires constitutional laws to be adopted by a 3/5 majority of all Deputies and a 3/5 majority of Senators present.

Art. 10: ratified and promulgated international treaties on human rights and fundamental freedoms bind the Czech Republic directly and prevail over statute; the Constitutional Court (art. 87(1)(a)) may annul statutes or individual provisions inconsistent with the constitutional order or such treaties.

Art. 2(3): everyone may do what is not prohibited by law, and no one may be forced to do what the law does not impose; art. 2(2) permits state authority only where and to the extent provided by law.

Art. 2(4) and art. 4: constitutional limits may be imposed on fundamental rights only by law and only where the conditions are met; restrictions must preserve the essence and meaning of the right and must not be misused for purposes other than those for which they were enacted.

Art. 83: the Constitutional Court is the judicial body protecting constitutionality; its 15 judges are appointed for 10 years by the President with the consent of the Senate, and judges are not removable during their term except by disciplinary or criminal decision.

Art. 95(1): a judge is bound by statute and international treaty in deciding; if a judge concludes that a statute is inconsistent with the constitutional order, the case must be referred to the Constitutional Court (art. 95(2)).

Chamber of Deputies: 200 members elected for 4 years by proportional representation; Senate: 81 members, one third renewed every 2 years, single-member districts, two-round majority, 6-year term. A Deputy or Senator may not concurrently hold the office of President or a judgeship.

President: elected directly since 2013 for 5 years, may serve at most two consecutive terms; may be prosecuted only for high treason before the Constitutional Court on a Senate motion, and is not responsible for the exercise of office otherwise (art. 54–65).

Government is responsible to the Chamber of Deputies; the Chamber may pass a vote of no confidence by an absolute majority of all its members (101 votes). The President appoints the Prime Minister and, on the latter's proposal, other ministers (art. 68).

Territorial self-government: municipalities are basic self-governing units, regions (kraje) are higher self-governing units (art. 99–100); the right to self-government is guaranteed by the Charter (art. 8), and a municipality is a public-law corporation owning property and acting in its own name.

Dual position of municipalities: they act in independent competence (samostatná působnost) under their own authority, and in delegated competence (přenesená působnost) as executors of state administration bound by statutes and by the directives of superior administrative bodies.

Statutory cities and the City of Prague are governed by special statutes (Act No. 131/2000 Sb., on the Capital City of Prague); Prague is simultaneously a municipality and a region, with a City Assembly, City Council and City Board.

Public administration is performed by state bodies, self-governing bodies and other public-law entities; supervision over independent municipal competence is limited to legality and is exercised by the Ministry of the Interior, while delegated competence is subject to hierarchical and state supervision.

Administrative bodies must act within their statutory competence (příslušnost), which may be subject-matter, territorial or functional; a body acting outside its competence issues a void decision, and conflicts of competence are decided by the Supreme Administrative Court.

Act No. 234/2014 Sb., on State Service, governs the service relationship of state employees in administrative offices; it distinguishes officials (úředníci) from other employees, and the service relationship arises by appointment to a service post, not by an employment contract.

An official is appointed by a service authority after fulfilling prerequisites: Czech citizenship (or citizenship of another EU member state where required), full legal capacity, no criminal conviction for an intentional crime, integrity (bezúhonnost) and the required education; a security clearance may be required for certain posts.

Service is performed in a service office; the official takes a service oath (služební slib) on appointment, and a probationary period of 6 months may be agreed. A temporary appointment for a fixed term cannot exceed 3 years (with renewal limits).

Duties include: perform service personally and duly, observe the Constitution and statutes, act politically neutral, maintain confidentiality (mlčenlivost) extending beyond the end of service, avoid conflicts of interest, and refrain from conduct damaging the reputation of the service.

Ethical framework: the service authority issues a code of ethics; officials must not accept gifts or advantages that could influence their impartiality, must report corruption offers, and must not engage in business activity incompatible with the service or hold positions in political parties' bodies while serving.

Working time: standard weekly service time of 40 hours; overtime, on-call duty (pohotovost) and service readiness are compensated by time off or pay; annual leave is at least 5 weeks for officials under the State Service Act.

Pay: salary is determined by a salary scale (platová třída) according to the most demanding activity and a salary grade (platový stupeň) according to years of practice; personal allowance, special allowance and performance bonus are discretionary components.

Termination: the service relationship ends by agreement, notice, dismissal, expiry of the fixed term, forfeiture of the post, or death; dismissal requires a statutory ground, and the official has a right to appeal to the service authority and to judicial review.

Act No. 500/2004 Sb., the Administrative Procedure Code (správní řád), applies to proceedings before administrative bodies unless a special statute provides otherwise; it covers the initiation of proceedings, evidence, decision, remedies and enforcement.

Basic principles: legality, protection of good faith, proportionality, equal treatment, opportunity to comment on evidence, duty to state reasons, and the requirement to decide without undue delay; a decision must be issued within 30 days of the initiation of proceedings (60 days in complex cases).

A decision must contain the operative part (výrok), reasoning (odůvodnění) and instructions on remedies (poučení o opravném prostředku); a decision without such instructions is defective, and a missing instruction may extend the appeal period.

Remedies: appeal (odvolání) within 15 days of notification to the superior administrative body; a request for review of a decision outside appeal (přezkumné řízení); renewal of proceedings (obnova řízení); and a complaint against the conduct of the administrative body (stížnost).

Administrative justice: Act No. 150/2002 Sb., the Code of Administrative Justice, establishes regional courts and the Supreme Administrative Court; an administrative action must be filed within 2 months of notification of the decision, and the defendant is the administrative body.

Grounds for annulment include illegality, procedural defects, lack of competence and misapplication of law; the court may also declare a decision void (nicotnost) and may suspend the enforceability of the decision pending its ruling.

Cassation complaint (kasační stížnost) to the Supreme Administrative Court must be filed within 2 weeks of notification of the regional court's judgment; admissible grounds are listed in § 103 of the Code and do not include mere disagreement with the facts.

Administrative bodies must cooperate with the Ombudsman (Public Defender of Rights) and provide information; the Ombudsman may investigate conduct of offices and propose remedial measures, but cannot annul decisions.

Act No. 89/2012 Sb., the Civil Code, governs legal personality, legal acts, contracts, liability and property; a legal act is void if it is contrary to good morals or to a statute protecting the weaker party, and is voidable if it was made under mistake, duress or gross disproportion.

Contract formation: offer and acceptance; a contract is concluded when acceptance reaches the offeror; a contract requiring written form must be signed by the parties; public-law bodies may conclude contracts within their statutory competence.

Liability: fault-based liability for damage under § 2913 and strict liability for damage caused by an operational activity under § 2924; compensation covers actual damage and lost profit, and non-material damage (pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment) is compensated separately.

Labour law: Act No. 262/2006 Sb., the Labour Code, applies to employment relationships; an employment contract must be in writing, contain the type of work, place of work and start date, and the probationary period may not exceed 3 months (6 months for managerial employees).

Notice period is at least 2 months and begins on the first day of the month following delivery of notice; the employer may give notice only on statutory grounds (organisational change, incapacity, breach of duties), and protection applies during pregnancy, parental leave and sick leave.

Criminal law: Act No. 40/2009 Sb., the Criminal Code; the age of criminal responsibility is 15, and the Criminal Procedure Code (Act No. 141/1961 Sb.) regulates detection, prosecution and trial; only a court may impose a criminal sanction.

Public officials face specific offences: abuse of authority (§ 329), acceptance of bribes (§ 331), and obstruction of a task of a public official (§ 337); a public official is defined in § 127 of the Criminal Code and includes employees of self-governing bodies.

Legal persons are criminally liable under Act No. 418/2011 Sb.; the sanction may be dissolution, forfeiture of property, a fine or prohibition of activity, and liability is excluded where the offender acted without the will of the statutory body.

Act No. 218/2000 Sb., on Budgetary Rules, governs the state budget, state funds, state debt and the management of state assets; Act No. 250/2000 Sb. governs the budgets of territorial self-governing units.

The state budget is adopted as a statute for one calendar year; if it is not passed before 1 January, provisional budget management (rozpočtové provizorium) applies, with monthly expenditure limited to one-twelfth of the previous year's budget.

Budgetary principles: annuality, unity, transparency, balanced budget, and gross budgeting; each expenditure must have a legal title and be covered by a budgeted amount, and funds may not be used for purposes other than those approved.

Budgetary control: the Supreme Audit Office (Nejvyšší kontrolní úřad) is established by the Constitution (art. 97) and audits the management of state assets and the state budget; the Ministry of Finance exercises internal financial control and audit under Act No. 320/2001 Sb.

Public procurement is governed by Act No. 134/2016 Sb.; procurement procedures include open procedure, restricted procedure, negotiated procedure and competitive dialogue, and the estimated value determines the mandatory procedure and thresholds.

Conflict of interest in public procurement and state-owned companies is regulated by Act No. 159/2006 Sb., on Conflicts of Interest, which requires public officials to file asset declarations and prohibits certain contracts with entities they control.

Public funds may be granted only on the basis of a legal title: subsidy, grant, contribution or compensation; a grant decision (rozhodnutí o poskytnutí dotace) is a public-law act subject to review, and breach of grant conditions may lead to repayment.

State debt and state guarantees require statutory authorisation; the Ministry of Finance manages the state debt and the State Treasury, and a municipality may enter into debt only within the limits set by law and its budget.

The Czech Republic acceded to the EU on 1 May 2004 by the Accession Treaty; EU membership is anchored in art. 10a of the Constitution, which allows the transfer of certain powers to international organisations by treaty approved by Parliament.

Sources of EU law: primary law (Treaty on European Union, Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Charter of Fundamental Rights), secondary law (regulations, directives, decisions), and general principles; a regulation is directly applicable, a directive binds as to result and must be transposed into national law.

Principles: direct effect (Van Gend en Loos), supremacy of EU law (Costa v ENEL), consistent interpretation (Marleasing), and state liability for breach of EU law (Francovich); national courts must set aside conflicting national law.

Institutional framework: European Commission (initiative and enforcement), Council of the EU (ministerial configuration), European Parliament (co-decision), European Council (heads of state or government), Court of Justice of the EU (Luxembourg).

The Czech Republic holds 21 seats in the European Parliament (of 720) and participates in the Council's rotating presidency; voting in the Council follows qualified majority, with a double majority of 55% of member states representing 65% of the EU population.

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU applies to EU institutions and to member states only when implementing EU law (art. 51); the Czech Republic obtained a protocol limiting the Charter's application in certain respects (Protocol No. 30).

The euro: the Czech Republic has a derogation and has not adopted the euro; it is bound by the convergence criteria and participates in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism only voluntarily; the Czech National Bank is not part of the Eurosystem.

Infringement procedure: the Commission may bring a member state before the Court of Justice for failure to fulfil obligations (art. 258 TFEU); a judgment may be followed by financial penalties (art. 260 TFEU).

The Charter of Fundamental Rights (Act No. 2/1993 Sb.) guarantees human dignity, personal liberty, privacy, freedom of expression, assembly, association, petition, property, and the right to a fair trial; rights may be limited only by statute and only within the limits of art. 4.

Equality: art. 1 of the Charter guarantees equality in dignity and rights; art. 3 prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political opinion, national or social origin, membership of a national minority, property, birth or other status.

Anti-discrimination statute: Act No. 198/2009 Sb., on equal treatment and legal means of protection against discrimination (Anti-Discrimination Act); it defines direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, instruction to discriminate and victimisation.

Direct discrimination occurs where a person is treated less favourably on a protected ground than another is, was or would be treated in a comparable situation; indirect discrimination arises from a neutral provision, criterion or practice that disadvantages a protected group without objective justification.

Permitted exceptions: genuine and determining occupational requirement, age limits where objectively justified, measures to prevent or compensate for disadvantages (positive action), and differences based on nationality in access to employment in the public service where the law permits.

Enforcement: a victim may claim before a court that the principle of equal treatment was breached, may seek a declaration, cessation of the conduct, reasonable satisfaction and compensation for non-material damage; the burden of proof shifts to the defendant once facts suggesting discrimination are shown.

The Public Defender of Rights (Ombudsman) acts as the equality body under the Anti-Discrimination Act and provides legal advice and methodology on discrimination, in addition to its general role in protecting persons against the conduct of authorities.

Data protection and privacy: the Charter (art. 7 and 10) and the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) protect personal data; processing requires a legal basis, purpose limitation, data minimisation and the rights of access, rectification and erasure.

GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) applies to processing of personal data; the Czech implementing statute is Act No. 110/2019 Sb., on the processing of personal data, which also establishes the Office for Personal Data Protection (ÚOOÚ) as supervisory authority.

Lawful bases for processing include consent, contract, legal obligation, vital interests, public task and legitimate interest; special categories of data (health, biometrics, ethnicity, religion) require an additional condition under art. 9 GDPR.

Data subject rights: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection and the right not to be subject to automated decision-making; a controller must respond within one month, extendable by two further months.

Data breach notification: a controller must notify the supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a breach likely to result in a risk, and must inform data subjects where the risk is high; records of processing and a data protection officer may be mandatory.

Digital public services: Act No. 12/2020 Sb., on the right to digital service, guarantees that a person may communicate with public authorities electronically and that authorities must accept electronic submissions; Act No. 365/2000 Sb. governs information systems of public administration.

Electronic identification: the National Identity Authority (NIA) provides eIdentity; a qualified electronic signature or eID means is required where a written form or signature is prescribed, under Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS).

Act No. 300/2008 Sb., on electronic acts and authorised conversion of documents, governs electronic documents, data boxes (datové schránky) and the conversion of paper documents to electronic form and vice versa.

Cybersecurity: Act No. 181/2014 Sb. and the EU NIS2 Directive impose obligations on providers of essential and important services, including risk management, incident reporting and registration with the National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB).

The service authority must define the service post by a catalogue of activities and the required education and experience; the official must meet the prerequisites at the time of appointment and throughout the service relationship.

Project and process management in public administration follows the principle of value for money (hospodárnost, efektivnost, účelnost) under Act No. 320/2001 Sb.; each expenditure must be justified, documented and auditable.

Public administration quality models: the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and the Model of Excellence are used for self-assessment; the Ministry of the Interior coordinates quality support and publishes methodological guidance.

Access to information: Act No. 106/1999 Sb. obliges public authorities to provide information on request within 15 days, extendable to 30 days in complex cases; refusal must be reasoned and is reviewable by a superior body and by a court.

Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) and the legislative process: draft legislation must be submitted for interministerial comment procedure and assessed for impacts on public budgets, businesses and fundamental rights before adoption by the Government.

Archiving and records management: Act No. 499/2004 Sb. governs records and archives; public authorities must maintain a filing plan (spisový řád) and transfer documents of permanent value to the relevant state archive.

Complaints and petitions: Act No. 85/1990 Sb., on the right of petition, and the internal complaints procedure require authorities to register, investigate and respond to complaints within statutory time limits, usually 30 days.

Language and accessibility: Czech is the official language (Act No. 500/2004 Sb. and the Charter, art. 25); authorities must communicate clearly, provide accessible formats and respect the rights of persons with disabilities under Act No. 198/2009 Sb. and the Accessibility Act.