SOC015 Czech Legal Culture

Faculty of Law
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
JUDr. Bc. Terezie Smejkalová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
JUDr. Bc. Markéta Štěpáníková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
JUDr. Bc. Terezie Smejkalová, Ph.D.
Institute of Law and Technology – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: prof. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Timetable
Mon 20. 2. to Fri 19. 5. Wed 18:00–19:40 259
Prerequisites
There are no special requirements or prerequisites. The course is suitable also for students of non-legal disciplines.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 21 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to provide for a systematic introduction to the Czech legal culture.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the students should be able to: - understand the historical, political and social foundations of the Czech Law
- to understand and analyze the structure and system of the Czech Law
- to understand and analyze the structure of the Czech Judiciary
- to understand and analyze the structure of Czech legal professions
- to critically compare Czech legal system with their European and Common-law counterparts
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. What is culture? What is legal culture?
  • 3. The basics (Constitution and Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms)
  • 4. 1989: The regime change
  • 5. Historical context: Trial with Milada Horáková
  • 6. Legal authorities I.: Texts (aka Sources of Law)
  • 7. Cases I: Pl. ÚS 27/09 - Shortening the Term of Office of Chamber of Deputies
  • 8. Legal authorities II.: People (Judges and Lawyers; ethical standards of their professions)
  • 9. Cases II: I. ÚS 2617/15 - Restriction of Judges' freedom of expression; I. ÚS 3018/14 - Scope of Parliamentary indemnity
  • 10. Legal authorities III. Who writes the laws/legal texts? (Does legal language produce elites? What are the consequences?)
  • 11. Assignment presentations
  • 12. Exam
Literature
  • veškerá studijní literatura bude studentům poskytnuta prostřednictvím interaktivní osnovy / all readings will be provided within the interactive syllabus
Teaching methods
Interactive seminars - students will prepare and submit assignments related to the topics of the lectures
Assessment methods
- at least 4 out of 6 in-course assignments for seminars marked with A or B (cca 2 pages A4, 12pt, single-spacing, deadline at 12:00 on the day of respective seminar) - relevance 40% - exam (2 short essays, timed, open-book, in-class - online) - relevance 60%; each 30%
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2004, Spring 2005, Autumn 2005, Spring 2006, Autumn 2006, Spring 2007, Autumn 2007, Spring 2008, Autumn 2008, Spring 2009, Autumn 2009, Spring 2010, Autumn 2010, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Spring 2016, Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Spring 2018, Autumn 2018, Spring 2019, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Spring 2024, Autumn 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/spring2023/SOC015