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Zápatí prezentace
Introduction to the Czech civil Law
1st lesson
jan.hurdik@law.muni.cz

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Introduction to the course I
nAim of the course:
nDescription of history, contemporary situation and its crucial crossroads and future development
of Czech civil law
nMethods of course:
nGenetic-procedural (very rich history)
nComparison (with national laws, european law..)
nDescription
nContent of course
nCivil law (6 lessons)
nCivil procedure law incl. structure and organisation of justice (6 lessons)
nTermination of the course (1 lesson)
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Introduction to the course II
n      Basic sources and literature:
nTextbook „Introduction..“ –on IS or to buy in the bookshop or to borrow from the library or to
copy in the library
nNew: Czech civil Code (machine translation) – on IS
nCompleting literature:
nHurdík-Fiala: Contracts. Czech Republic. IEL. Kluwer Int. 2009 – upgrade 2011 – on IS
nNew Czech contract Law:  Hurdík-Fiala: Contracts. Czech Republic. No 81.IEL. Kluwer Law Int.
upgrade 2014 – on IS
nHurdík-Polčák-Smejkalová: Czech law in European regulatory context, Wien-München 2009
nPoplawski-Šramková: Legal sanctions..Brno 2008
nCzech civil Code 1964 (eng.) – on IS or to borrow or to copy
nCzech commercial Code 1991 (eng.) – on IS or to borrow or to copy
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Czech civil Law
Introduction..

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Czech civil Law I – from past to future
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n1811  - Austrian General Civil Code/Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch
n1937 – project of Czechoslovak Civil Code (1939 after occupation canceled)
n1950  - 1st Czechoslovak Civil Code (141/1950 Sb.-Coll.) called „middle Civil Code“
n1964  - „socialist“ Czechoslovak Civil Code (40/1964 Coll.) – was changed  by Act 509/1991 Coll.
n1964-1991 – 2 national (Czech) civil Codes were parallel (side by side) in force: it was next to
Civil Code, the Code of International Commerce (101/1963 Coll.)
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Czech civil Law I – from past to future II
n1990 „federal“ project of new C.c.
n1996 „Zoulík´s project“ of new C.c.
nfrom 2000  - project of new Czech Civil Code  started
n2012 – new Civil Code accepted in Parliament and signed by the President of Czech Republic
(20.2.2012)
n23. 2. 2012 new C.c. published
nfrom 1.1.2014 new Civil Code in force
ncomplementary acts (mainly civil procedure)were published – see below
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Czech civil Law II – System of existing private Law (by 31.12. 2012)
n1811 – private Law = civil Law
nIn the course of 19th century, and especialy in the 2nd half of the 20th century the Labor Law,
Family Law and Commercial Law as the separated branches of private law were established
nCurrently, the parts of czech private Law are:
nCivil law (Civil Code – Act 40/1964 Sb., Author´s Act 121/2000
nCommercial Law (Commercial Code – Act 513/1991 Sb.
nFamily Law (Family Act – Act 94/1963 Sb.)
nLabor Law (Labour Code – Act 262/2006 Sb.)
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Czech civil Law II – System of new private Law
nRecodification of Czech civil law changes the entire system of Czech private Law:
nThe part of Civil Code are:
nFamily Law (part two of C.c.),
nLabour Law: legal capacity to be the part of labour juridical relations, legal reference (link) to
labour contract in Labour Code Act 262/2006 Coll,
nmain part of Commercial Law – commercial contract (excl. Act of commercial Corporations)
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Czech civil Law III – System of new private Law
nThe integral part of Civil Code are not:
nLabor Law (Act No 262/2006 Coll., Labor Code) : Systemic relation between C.c. and L.c.: general
regulation – special regulation
nThe law of commercial corporations (Act. No 90/2012 Coll.)
nThe international private Law (Act. No 91/2012 Coll.
nThey are „specific private laws“
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Current situation of Czech civil law
nThe new Czech Civil Code has been signed by President (20th February 2012)
nThe text of NCC was published in the Collection of Laws  on 23th March 2012, No 89/2012 Coll.
nNew Czech Civil Code will come in force from 1st January 2014
nThe base of recodification of Czech Private Law is composed of 3 legal acts:
nCivil Code (89/2012 Sb.-Coll.)
nAct of commercial Corporations  (90/2012 Coll.)
nInternational private law Act (91/2012 Coll.)
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Published complementary legal acts to C.c.
1)Act 256/2013 Coll., land registry act
2)Act 257/2013 Sb., changing some acts concerning l.r.a.
3)Act 292/2013 Sb., special civil procedures
3)Act 293/2013 Sb., changing civil procedure order
4)Act 294/2013 Sb., changing bankrupcy act
5)Act 303/2013 Sb., changing some legal acts concerned by the recodification of Private Law
6)Act 304/2013 Sb., concerning legal regulation of public registries of legal and natural persons
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Complementary acts prepared/refused
nchanging some tax acts concerning recodification of private law

nchanging some tax acts concerning transfer if immovable
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nProposal of legal Act concerning Status of public utility
n refused by Senat 13th September 2013
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Czech civil law III – New Czech Civil Code
nStructure of the text:
n5 parties:
nPart One : General Part
nPart Two: Family Law
nPart Three: Absolute property Rights (incl.Trust, incl. Inheritance)
nPart Four: Relative property Rights (Contract and Tort Law)
nPart Five: Final, Transitory and Repealing Provisions
n 3.081  paragraphs (ABGB 1502; BGB 2385; Slovak CC 880; new Hungarian CC cca 1500.

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The main attributes of conception of new civil Code I
1)Universal Code of private Law – integration of entire private Law
2)Proclaim itself to be the charter of private basic rights – C.c. lost that function -
Constitution; now the goal of C.c. to apply the constitutional rights
3)Based on the doctrine of natural law – applied mainly – juridical conception of human being (§
19) and principles of private law (§ 3). Danger – implementation of principles of natural law leads
to the destruction of grounds of natural law.
4)Based on individual position/privity of private law (the social dimension is missing)
5)Discontinuity/breach of existing development
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The main attributes of new civil Code II
6)Basic institutes family, property (ownership) and contract (responsibility?).
7)Deeper „privatization“:  mainly contract relations (more autonomy, more non-mandatory rules, more
respect to the will – last will/testament..).
8)Between tradition and modernization/upgrade of Civil Law regulation, the legislator accepted the
traditional concept (ABGB, Draft of Czechoslovak Civil Code 1937)and refused the future development
9)Denied the function of Code civil as the tool of the control upon social relations.

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The main attributes of new civil Code III
nMotto: F.v.Zeiller: Code should be „kurz, klar, abstrakt“ (short, clear, abstract) M.T.: buta
ember
1)Rule: the same word - the same meaning/the different word – the different meaning
2)Reality: Wide range of different terms of the same word meaning (e.g. equity principles)
3)Many terms of very near word meaning (groups of principles)
4)Many problems with functional/working implementation of the term into context (The effect of
judgement on the juridical act: once validity, some other time formation of juridical act, some
other time effectiveness of j.a. § 33 odst.1, § 46 odst.2, § 50)
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The main attributes of new civil Code IV
n5) The trouble in translation (how to translate Good Faith and Fair Dealing of DCFR to Czech C.C.?
n6) Attention to detail of regulation – C.C. won´t work (example: 8 steps to choose the person who
can/shall bury dead person §114 odst.1, 9 steps to choose the authorized person to agree with the
intervention into the human integrity (§ 97 odst. 1)
n7) Reccurent terms in modificated versions(exam. principles)
n8) Former, extincted social relations (výminek- exchange? § 2707n.)
n9) A lot of presumptions and fictions – Civil Law resignes from the aim to be true image of social
reality
n10) What is containted in code has the same importance as what there misses (equality before the
law, of opportunities, solidarity, juridical relation as the paradigm of all legal/judirical
constructions..)
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Czech civil law in European frame
n4 levels of civil law:
nFormer national private law (Civil Code 1964, Com. Code 1991 etc.) was canceled, but still „in
force“(retroactivity)
nNational civil law de lege lata (recodification of C.c.)
nEuropean dimension of civil law de lege lata (existing european „civil“ law) + new projects
(„horizontal“ Directive on the Consumer Protection, Common European Sales Law Regulation (CESL)..)
nEuropean dimension of civil law de lege ferenda (different projects of europeization of civil law
– Lando commision: PECL, Study group: DCFR, Gandolfi principles, UNIDROIT principles..future
European Civil Code?)
nDesire or real possibilities of development ?
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