Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

The Centre is an independent academic institution monitoring human rights developments both domestically and worldwide, issuing a monthly Bulletin, as well as organizing conferences.

25. 7. 2018  

The June Bulletin opens with a contribution from Marie Lukasová, who discusses the outcomes of the review of the Czech Republic by the UN Committee against Torture. What are the areas that should be improved?

We continue with the report from the conference in Olomouc, in particular from the section on international law focused on hybrid threats. The participants included not only Czech and foreign academics but also representatives of the armed forces from the Czech Republic and the US.

Furthermore, there are a number of articles regarding current human rights developments. These articles are divided into the following four categories: International Criminal Justice; European System of Human Rights Protection; International Politics, Business and Human Rights; and the Czech Republic and Human Rights.

20. 6. 2018  

The May Bulletin of the Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democracy opens with an article by Monika Hanych on the freedom of media in the states of the Visegrád Group. How are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary doing in the area of freedom of the press? And what is the trend of this development?

Furthermore, there are a number of articles regarding current human rights developments.  These articles are divided into the following four categories: International Criminal Justice; European System of Human Rights Protection; International Politics, Business and Human Rights; and the Czech Republic and Human Rights.

You can download the Bulletin in PDF version. The Bulletin is in the Czech language.

12. 5. 2018  

The April Bulletin of the Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democracy opens with an interview with Jan M. Passer, a Czech judge at the General Court which is part of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The topic of the interview is not only the court in Luxembourg, but also the current developments in the Czech Republic and Europe.

The following contribution is brought by the Czech representatives in the Venice Commission, Veronika Bílková and Kateřina Šimáčková. What did the Venice Commission focus on during its March session?

3. 4. 2018  

The March issue of the Bulletin opens with Helena Kopecká and an exclusive interview with the international prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Nicolas Koumjian. What are the main challenges of the court regarding justice for the crimes of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia?

In March it has already been seven years since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. However, there has been no justice for the perpetrators of the crimes committed. Jan Lhotský focuses on the current options of national prosecutions, as well as the desired future role of the international criminal judiciary.

3. 3. 2018  

We open the two-month issue of the Bulletin with an external contribution of Kristýna Horňáčková, who as part of the Czech delegation took part in the international conference in New York. This conference  approved the extension of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court for the crime of aggression.

There is also  an article by Kateřina Šimáčková regarding the December session of the Venice Commission, which focused mainly on Poland. The author explains, among other things, two critical opinions of the Polish act on the public prosecutor’s office and on the reform of Polish judiciary.

8. 2. 2018  

As we invited new interns to write on the Bulletin and two new heads of sections of the Centre, we are bringing the December issue of the Bulletin of the Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democracy to the readers in a little bit altered composition of our team. We hope you will be happy with the result in terms of the articles.

We are opening the issue with a contribution of our new head of Czech section, Lucie Nachvátalová, who shared her experiences with The European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA) in the beautiful Venice. Would you like to get inspired?

A contribution by Šárka Dušková follows. The article focuses on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human rights obligations of the Czech Republic. The UPR took place in November in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

3. 12. 2017  

In September Jan Lhotský finished one-year studies specialized in human rights (E.MA) that took place in Venice, Italy and Graz, Austria. His final thesis was awarded among five best works that will be published. The paper discusses the need for reforming the UN human rights treaty bodies, like e.g. the Human Rights Committee. It further proposes a concrete shape of the reform for 2020 when the UN General Assembly will decide on the system’s improvements (more about the event here). Furthermore, in October Jan Lhotský started a six months work as a Visiting Professional at the chambers of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.