PrF:MVV357K Czech Constitutional Values - Course Information
MVV357K Czech Constitutional Values
Faculty of LawSpring 2025
- Extent and Intensity
- 0/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
- Teacher(s)
- Ing. Mgr. Jaroslav Benák, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Patrick Casey Leisure, J.D., LL.M. (seminar tutor)
JUDr. Zuzana Vikarská, MJur, MPhil, Ph.D. (seminar tutor) - Guaranteed by
- JUDr. Zuzana Vikarská, MJur, MPhil, Ph.D.
Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Andrea Kalivodová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science – Faculty of Law - Prerequisites
- SOUHLAS
APPROVAL - 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 10 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/10, only registered: 0/10 - fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
- there are 80 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
- Course objectives
- Although the course is based on the reading of texts from the last century, it is not primarily a historical course and does not aim to teach historical events. The aim is to search for Czech constitutional values. The course is primarily aimed at students in the PhD program at the KUPP, but will also be open to PhD students from other departments and undergraduate students interested in constitutional law and constitutional theory. It will aim to talk about the values that underpin our legal order. We will read texts by Masaryk, Patočka, Havel, the first Constitutional Court, etc. to try to reconstruct the core values of our statehood (and the tensions between different values), but also more conservative texts by Scruton or Deneen to constructively critique liberal democracy. The aim of the course is to spark discussion in a group where Czech and international students meet - the topic should be beneficial to all thanks to this combination.
- Learning outcomes
- an overview of the literature (and jurisprudence) concerning the basic values of Czech statehood, the ability to name various phenomena and subject them to critical discussion.
- Syllabus
- The course will be taught on a full-time basis, once every 14 days. 1. The birth of Czechoslovakia in 1918. “The Czech Question”. 2. “The Building of a State” and the struggles of the First Republic. 3. Losing statehood: the Protectorate and relevant documents from that era. 4. Charter 77 & The Two Thousand Words, in the context of int’l human rights treaties of that era. 5. The Power of the Powerless: what is the role of a state, anyway? 6. The birth of the Czech Republic, its constitutional framework and its values. “The Czech Q” revisited. 7. Lustrations, transition, new democracy, and the case-law of the first decade of the CCC.
- Literature
- required literature
- KOSAŘ, David and Ladislav VYHNÁNEK. The Constitution of Czechia. A Contextual Analysis. 1st ed. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2021, 256 pp. Constitutional Systems of the World. ISBN 978-1-5099-2053-2. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781509920563. Katalog MU Web nakladatele info
- recommended literature
- VANĚK, Miroslav and Pavel MÜCKE. Velvet revolutions : an oral history of Czech society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016, xi, 251. ISBN 9780199342723. info
- Teaching methods
- self-study of relevant academic literature, independent reading of a plurality of sources, open discussion and confrontation of ideas in seminar classes.
- Assessment methods
- 60% continuous involvement in interactive seminar teaching, 40% final written performance.
- Language of instruction
- English
- Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
- The course is taught annually.
- Teacher's information
- Looking forward to meeting you!
- Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
- Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/spring2025/MVV357K