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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 probable future
development of Czech civil law
nMethods of course:
nGenetic-procedural
nComparison
nDescription
nContent of course
nCivil law (6 lessons)
nCivil procedure law incl. structure and org. of justice (6 lessons)
nTermination of the course (1 lesson)
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Introduction to the course II
nSources and literature:
nTextbook Introduction.. – to buy in the bookshop of to borrow from the library or to copy in the
library (+ on IS)
nCzech civil Code (eng.) – on IS or to borrow or to copy
nCzech commercial Code (eng.) – on IS or to borrow or to copy
nCompleting literature:
nHurdík-Fiala: Contracts. Czech Republic. IEL. Kluwer Int. 2009
nHurdík-Polčák-Smejkalová: Czech law in European regulatory context, Wien-München 2009
nPoplawski-Šramková: Legal sanctions..Brno 3008
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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.)
n1964  - „socialist“ czechoslovak Civil Code (40/1964 Sb.)   – was changed by Act 509/1991 Sb.
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 Sb.-Coll.)
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Czech civil Law I – from past to future II
nfrom 2000  -  started project of new czech Civil Code
n2012 – new Civil Code accepted in Parliament and signed by the President (20.2.2012)
nfrom 1.1.2014 new Civil Code will be in force
nIn preparison – complementary acts (mainly civil procedure)
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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
nNow, the parts of czech private Law are:
nCivil law (Civil Code – Act 40/1964 Sb., Authors 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 is going to change the whole system of czech private Law:
nThe part of civil code should be:
nFamily Law,
nlegal capacity to be the part of labour regal relations, legal reference (link) to labour contract
in Labour Code,
nmain part of commercial law (excl. Act of commercial Corporations)
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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 Sb.
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 Sb.-Coll.)
nInternational private law Act (91/2012 Sb.-Coll.)
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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.Inheritance)
nPart Four: Relative property Rights (Contract and Tort Law)
nPart Five: Final, Transitory and Repealing Provisions
n3.046 of paragraphs.

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The main attributes of new civil Code I
1)Universal Code of private Law – integration of entire private Law
2)Proclaim itself charter of private basic rights soukromých práv – it lost that function
Constitution-now the goal to apply the constitutional rights .
3)Based on the doctrine of natural rights – applied mainly – juridical conception of human being (§
19) and principles of private law (§ 3). Dangr – implementation of principles of natural law leads
to the destruction of grounds of natural law.
4)Based on individual (loss of the social dimension).
5)Discontinuity of the existing development
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The main attributes of new civil Code II
6)Basic institutes family, property (ownership) and contract.
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 selected the
traditional concept of (ABGB, Draft of Czechoslovak Civil Code 1937)
9)Denied the function of Code civil as the tool of the control of social relations.

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The main attributes of new civil Code III
nMotto: F.v.Zeiller: Code shall be „kurz, klar, abstrakt“ (short, clear, abstract)
1)Wide range of terms of the same word meaning (e.g. equity principles)
2)Many terms of very near word (groups of principles)
3)Many problems with functional/working implementation of the term into context (The effect of
judgement on the juridical act once validity, another time formation of juridical act another time
effectiveness of j.a. § 33odst. 1, § 46 odst. 2, § 50)
4)The trouble in translation (how to translate Good Faith and Fair Dealing of DCFR to Czech C.C.?
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The main attributes of new civil Code IV
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, judirical relation as the paradigm of all legal/judirical
constructions..)
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Czech civil law in European frame
n4 levels of civil law:
nNational civil law de lege lata (existing Czech civil law)
nNational civil law de lege ferenda (recidification of C.c.)
nEuropean dimension of civil law de lege lata (existing european „civil“ law + new project
(horizontal directive, Common European Sales Law Regulation..)
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..)
nDesire or real possibilities of development ?
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