The judgment of the Czech constitutional court in the “slovak pensions” case and its possible consequences (in light of the fortiter in re suaviter in modo principle)
Abstract
As a consequence of a unique historical fact – the dissolution of Czechoslovakia – the divergence between the two social systems of the successor states occurred and caused unequal treatment of those oldage pensioners, previous citizens of the federal state, whose employer had had, by chance, its seat in the territory of the other successor state. The subsequent decision-making over the pension claims of these citizens resulted in controversial judgments not only at the national but also at the Union level.
The article focuses on the recent evolution in European Union Court of Justice case “Landtova” (C-399-09) as reflected in the Czech Constitutional Court’s judgement (Pl. ÚS 5/12) stating that EU law is inapplicable in these cases and therefore the above mentioned decision of CJEU is ultra vires. In this context the auricle deals with relationship of national and EU law in light of the principle of conferral, division of powers and cooperation between the national and European Union courts.