Czech Constitutional Court: Twists and Turns of Recent Judgments of the Highests Courts in Cases of Parliamentary Immunity
Abstract
The Constitutional Court used the case of a constitutional complaint filed by a former member of the Chamber of Deputies to provide a comprehensive view of the scope of parliamentary immunity. Indirectly overruling previous case law of the Supreme Court, this Court adhered to a more restrictive interpretation of the relevant constitutional provisions.
According to this decision, members of parliament can rely on their constitutional protection only with regard to the communication of information or expression of an opinion verbally, in writing, visually, or in another way at a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, their committees, subcommittees, and commissions or their bodies, that is aimed at the participants of the meeting rather than just at the television audience or radio listeners.