Presidential powers

Presidential powers of the Republic are determined by the Constitution of the Czech Republic. As regards the executive power, the President of the Republic discharges the following power:

Chapter Three - Executive Power

President of the Republic

Art. 54

(1) The President of the Republic is the head of state.

(2) The President of the Republic is elected directly in a national popular vote.

(3) The President of the Republic shall not be responsible for the performance of his duties.

Art. 55

The President of the Republic assumes office upon taking the oath of office. The President of the Republic’s term of office lasts for five years and begins on the day the oath of office is administered.

Art. 56

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

(2) The candidate having received more than a half majority of valid votes of rightful voters is elected for the office of the President of the Republic. In the event of absence of such a candidate a second electoral round should be held 14 days after commencement of the first electoral round which the two most successful candidates from the first electoral round proceed onto. Should the candidates receive equal number of votes, all candidates having received the plurality of votes of rightful voters shall proceed onto the second electoral round and should there not be at least two such candidates, also candidates having received the second highest number of votes of rightful voters shall proceed onto the second electoral round.

(3) The candidate having received the plurality of votes of rightful voters in the second round of the election. Shall there be more of such candidates, the President of the Republic is not elected and a new election of President of the Republic is held within 10 days.

(4) Shall the candidate who proceeded onto the second round of the election cease to be eligible for office of the President of the Republic or shall such candidate waive 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 of rightful voters in the first electoral round shall proceed onto the second round of the election. The second round of election is held even if there is only one candidate who proceeds onto the second electoral round.

(5) Each and every 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 entitled to vote for the President of the Republic. A candidate can 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 takes place within the last sixty days of the office of the incumbent President, however, 30 days prior to the expiration of the term of the office of the incumbent President of the Republic. Shall the office of the President become vacant, the election of the President is held within ninety days.

(8) The election of the President is announced by the President of the Senate ninety days prior to holding the election at the latest. Should the office of the President become vacant, the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic shall announce the election of the President ten days prior to holding such election at the latest and simultaneously eighty days prior to holding such election.

(9) Shall the office of the President of the Senate be vacant the election of the President shall be announced by the President of the Chamber of Deputies.

Art. 57

(1) Any citizen eligible for election to the Senate may be elected President.

(2) No person may be elected President more than twice in succession.

Art. 58

Further conditions of the exercise of the right to vote in the election of the President equally as the details of the process of proposing of 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 stipulated by the Law.

Art. 59

(1) The President of the Senate shall administer the oath of office to the President-elect at a joint meeting of both chambers.

(2) The President-elect shall take the following oath of office: “I pledge loyalty to the Czech Republic. I pledge to uphold its Constitution and laws. I pledge on my honor to carry out my duties in the interest of all the people, to the best of my knowledge and conscience.

Art. 60

If the President-elect refuses to take the oath of office or takes it with reservations, he shall be deemed not to have been elected.

Art. 61

The President of the Republic may resign from office by tendering his or her resignation to the President of the Senate.

Art. 62

The President of the Republic:
a) appoints and recalls the Prime Minister and other members of the government and accepts their resignations, recalls the government and accepts its resignation;
b) convenes sessions of the Chamber of Deputies;
c) may dissolve the Chamber of Deputies;
d) shall entrust the government whose resignation he has accepted, or which he has recalled, with the temporary performance of its duties until a new government is appointed;
e) shall appoint Justices of the Constitutional Court, its Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons;
f) shall appoint from among judges the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Supreme Court;
g) may grant pardons or commute sentences imposed by courts and order that a criminal record be expunged;
h) has the right to return to Parliament acts it has adopted, with the exception of constitutional acts;
i) shall sign statutes;
j) shall appoint the President and Vice-President of the Supreme Auditing Office;
k) shall appoint members of the Banking Council of the Czech National Bank.

Art. 63

(1) In addition, the President of the Republic:
a) represents the state externally;
b) negotiates and ratifies international treaties; she may delegate the negotiation of international treaties to the government or, with its consent, to individual members thereof;
c) is the supreme commander of the armed forces;
d) receives heads of diplomatic missions;
e) accredits and recalls heads of diplomatic missions;
f) calls elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate;
g) commissions and promotes generals; h) may grant and award state honors, unless she has empowered some other body to do so;
i) appoints judges;
j) orders that the criminal proceedings not be instituted or if it has been instituted, that it be discontinued;
k) has the right to issue amnesties.

(2) The President of the Republic also possesses powers which are not explicitly enumerated in constitutional acts if a statute so provides.

(3) In order to be valid, decisions of the President of the Republic issued pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 require the countersignature of the Prime Minister or a member of the government designated by him.

(4) The government is responsible for the decisions of the President of the Republic that require the countersignature of the Prime Minister or a member of the government designated by him.

Art. 64

(1) The President of the Republic has the right to take part in the meetings of both chambers of Parliament, as well as those of their committees and commissions. He shall be given the opportunity to speak whenever he requests.

(2) The President of the Republic has the right to take part in the meetings of the government, to request reports from the government or its members, and to discuss with the government or its members issues that fall within their competence.

Art. 65

(1) The President of the Republic may not be taken into detention, criminally prosecuted nor prosecuted for misdemeanors or other administrative offenses while in office.

(2) The Senate may, with the consent of the Chamber of Deputies, file a constitutional charge against the President of the Republic for high treason, gross violation of the Constitution or other segment of the constitutional order before the Constitutional Court; treason is deemed to mean any conduct of the President of the Republic directed against the sovereignty and integrality of the Republic as well as against the democratic order of the republic. Based on the constitutional action the Constitutional Court may hold that the President shall lose the Presidency office and any further eligibility for the office.

(3) For the Senate to approve the filing of a constitutional charge, the consent of a three-fifths majority of the votes of present senators is required. For the Chamber of Deputies to consent with the filing of the constitutional charge, the consent of a three-fifths majority of all deputies is required: if the Chamber of Deputies fails to grant the consent within three months from the day that the Senate sought such consent, the consent shall be deemed to have been withheld.

Art. 66

If the office of the Presidency becomes vacant and before a new President of the Republic has been elected or has taken the oath of office, likewise if the President of the Republic is, for serious reasons, incapable of performing his duties and if the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate adopt a resolution to this effect, the performance of the presidential duties under Article 63 paragraph 1, letters a) to e) and h) to k), and Article 63, paragraph 2 shall devolve upon the Prime Minister. In any period in which the Prime Minister is performing the above-specified presidential duties, the performance of the duties under Article 62 letters a) to e) and k) and further Article 63 paragraph 1 letter f) if the announcement of the election for the Senate is concerned shall devolve upon the President of the Chamber of Deputies; if the office of the Presidency becomes vacant during a period in which the Chamber of Deputies is dissolved, the performance of these functions shall devolve upon the President of the Senate 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 is concerned.