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Havel, Bohumil --- "The Czech Republic" [2006] ELECD 172; in Smits, M. Jan (ed), "Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law

Editor(s): Smits, M. Jan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420130

Section: Chapter 21

Section Title: The Czech Republic

Author(s): Havel, Bohumil

Number of pages: 6

Extract:

21 The Czech Republic
Bohumil Havel


1 Introduction
The Czech Republic (Ceská republika) is (both politically and legally) a uni-
tarian state having the form of a republic, and, together with the Slovak
Republic, it is the legal successor of the now defunct Czechoslovakia (1992).
Although the legal order underwent a substantial deformation after the
Communist regime seized power in 1948, the legal system of the Czech
Lands has been traditionally classified as part of the Austrian law family
(the basic private law codices of the Austrian monarchy applied in the
Czechoslovak territory up to 1950). This historical development was dis-
rupted first by the impact of a gradual `sovietization' after 1948, followed
by a germanization of law after 1989 (Knapp, 1996). The present-day Czech
legal order is a complex structure consisting of post-Soviet normative solu-
tions (civil law, labour law, family law) and German­Austrian and French
solutions (commercial law). Using obsolete terminology, the current Czech
legal system could be classified as a system belonging to the Socialist (post-
communist) law, modified by the normativity of Austrian and German
laws; however, the entire system is a part of the continental law system
beyond any doubt.
Czech law is codified, and as regards its structure, strictly speaking, it
follows German systematics, while, from a broader point of view, it follows
Soviet systematics. While the individual codices are divided into general
and special parts (modelled on the German BGB), their classification
follows the Soviet doctrine. In the early 1950s, ...