Parliament of the Czech Republic

Parliament of the Czech Republic Parlament České republiky
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	- Senate - Chamber of Deputies
Leadership
President of the Senate	Milan Štěch, ČSSD since 24 November 2010
Chair of the Chamber of Deputies	Miroslava Němcová, ODS since 24 June 2010
Structure
Members	281 - 81 Senators - 200 Deputies
Senate Political groups	ODS (35 seats)      ČSSD (29 seats)      KDU-ČSL (7 seats)      KSČM (3 seats)      SNK-ED (2 seats)      other (5 seats)
Chamber of Deputies Political groups	ČSSD (56 seats)      ODS (53 seats)      TOP 09 (41 seats)      KSČM (26 seats)      VV (24 seats)
Elections
Senate Voting system	Two-round system
Chamber of Deputies Voting system	Proportional representation
Senate Last election	17-18 October 2008 24-25 October 2008
Chamber of Deputies Last election	28-29 May 2010
Meeting place
Palaces in Malá Strana, Prague
Website
Senate Chamber of Deputies

Czech Republic

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Czech Republic

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The Parliament of the Czech Republic (Czech: Parlament České republiky) is the legislative body of the Czech Republic, based in Prague. It consists of two chambers, both elected in direct elections:

• the Lower House: Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
• the Upper House: Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

The Parliament exercises competences usual in parliamentary systems: it holds and passes bills, has the right to modify the Constitution, ratifies international agreements; if necessary, it declares war, approves presence of foreign military forces in the Czech Republic or a dispatch of Czech military forces abroad. Both chambers also elect the President at a joint session.

History

Session room of the Chamber of Deputies

The tradition of modern parliamentarianism in the Bohemian lands dates back to times of the Habsburg Empire (Austria, then Cisleithanian part of Austria-Hungary), where the Imperial Council (Reichsrat, Říšská rada) was created in 1861.

After proclamation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 its National Assembly undertook legislative duties both of the Imperial Council and State Diets (Bohemian, Moravian, Silesian).^[1] In 1938-1939 and between 1945 and 1990 there existed a parliament within non-democratic regimes. As a consequence of federalization of Czechoslovakia (1968), national councils of Czech and Slovak parts of the country were created.

The Chamber of Deputies keeps continuity with the Czech National Council, while the Senate was established in 1996 (with reference to the First Czechoslovak Republic one).

References

1. ^ Balík, S.-Hloušek, V.-Holzer, J.-Šedo, J.: Politický systém českých zemí 1848-1989. Brno 2006, p. 81.