In this lecture, I will introduce the Czech constitutional system in the context of comparative constitutional law. Building on constitutional theory and on the students' knowledge of their own legal system, I will highlight the most important choices made by the constitution drafters. At the same time, I will explain, how various constitutional actors (incl. the Czech Constitutional Court) have given life to constitutional provisions.

At the end of the class, you should know and understand:

• What are the basic principles of Czech constitutionalism - which of them are shared with other countries and which (if any) are uniquely "Czech"
• How did the Czech constitutional system come to be, what shaped its nature and identity
• What challenges, conflicts or simply differences of opinion did the Czech constitutional system have to overcome

As a background text for the constitutional law lecture, I have included a draft chapter (published in Max Planck Handbook of European Public Law, vol. II.) about the basic features of the Czech constitutional system. It will be structured in a similar way as the lecture itself, but it goes considerably deeper. You can use it for study purposes, but please do not circulate it in any way.