The Czech Republic’s legal framework complies with EU standards. As an example, the Czech accounting law is similar to the French one. But in practise, the Czech legal environment is:

• Incomplete, because the country lacks an extensive case law and decrees.
• Inconsistent and volatile. Laws from communist and pre-communist times cohabit with modern laws, and laws are changing quite often.

An unsatisfactory legal framework

The legal framework is fuzzy, inconsistent and moving, which generates problems of interpretation

Justice is slow, opaque and is little differentiated

Justice is a also characteristized by different drawbacks:

Justice is inefficient and not enough enforced, especially for commercial issues, which local specialists describe as a « jungle ». As an example, the protection of industrial and intellectual property is deficient.

Justice is is slow because

• of low financial and human means,
• it is opaque, as judges are not qualified for specific matters
• part of them keep reflexes from the communist era

Related articles

The Czech political and legal environment

 

To go further

upv.cz - Industrial Property Office

justice.cz - Ministry of Justice

loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/czech.php - Library of Congress - online Guide to Czech law