Chapter I. Fundamental Provisions
Article 1
- The Czech Republic is a sovereign, unitary, and democratic state governed by the rule of law, founded on respect for the rights and freedoms of man and of citizens.
- The Czech Republic shall observe its obligations resulting from international law.
Article 2
- All state authority emanates from the people; they exercise it through legislative, executive, and judicial bodies.
- A constitutional act may designate the conditions under which the people may exercise state authority directly.
- State authority is to serve all citizens and may be asserted only in cases, within the bounds, and in the manner provided for by law.
- All citizens may do that which is not prohibited by law; and nobody may be compelled to do that which is not imposed upon her by law.
Article 3
The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms forms part of the constitutional order of the Czech Republic.
Article 4
The fundamental rights and basic freedoms shall enjoy the protection of judicial bodies.
Article 5
The political system is founded on the free and voluntary formation of and free competition among those political parties which respect the fundamental democratic principles and which renounce force as a means of promoting their interests.
Article 6
Political decisions emerge from the will of the majority manifested in free voting. The decision-making of the majority shall take into consideration the interests of minorities.
Article 7
The state shall concern itself with the prudent use of its natural resources and the protection of its natural wealth.
Article 8
The right of autonomous territorial units to self-government is guaranteed.
Article 9
- This Constitution may be supplemented or amended only by constitutional acts.
- Any changes in the essential requirements for a democratic state governed by the rule of law are impermissible.
- Legal norms may not be interpreted so as to authorize anyone to do away with or jeopardize the democratic foundations of the state.
Article 10
Promulgated treaties, to the ratification of which Parliament has given its consent and by which the Czech Republic is bound, form a part of the legal order; if a treaty provides something other than that which a statute provides, the treaty shall apply.
Article 10a
- Certain powers of Czech Republic authorities may be transferred by treaty to an international organization or institution.
- The ratification of a treaty under paragraph 1 requires the consent of Parliament, unless a constitutional act provides that such ratification requires the approval obtained in a referendum.
Article 10b
- The government shall inform the Parliament, regularly and in advance, on issues connected to obligations resulting from the Czech Republic’s membership in an international organization or institution.
- The chambers of Parliament shall give their views on prepared decisions of such international organization or institution in the manner laid down in their standing orders.
- A statute governing the principles of dealings and relations between both chambers, as well as externally, may entrust the exercise of the chambers’ competence pursuant to paragraph 2 to a body common to both chambers.
Article 11
The territory of the Czech Republic forms an indivisible whole, the borders of which may be altered only by constitutional act.
Article 12
- The conditions under which citizenship of the Czech Republic is acquired and lost shall be provided for by statute.
- No person may be deprived of his citizenship against his will.
Article 13
The capital city of the Czech Republic is Prague.
Article 14
- The small and large state emblem, the state colors, the state flag, the flag of the President of the Republic, the state seal, and the national anthem are the state symbols of the Czech Republic.
- The state symbols and their use shall be governed by statute.
