Suchergebnisse

Conflict-of-laws rules lead relatively often to the application of foreign law and the Czech judge, unlike judges of some other countries, is in principle obliged to apply that law. The issue of treatment of foreign law is covered by special regulation within Czech law. The new Private International Law Act 2012 contains section 23 entitled "Ascertainment and application of foreign law", which builds upon the application of foreign law as it is perceived by contemporary Czech jurisprudence. The National Report also considers the possibilities to access to foreign law, under the viewpoint of both status quo, and further developments, in particular within the European Union.

This Article brings a general overview of legislation on consumer law in the Czech Republic, notábly with respect to enforcement of consumer law. Czech law knows various ways how to enforce consumer rights such as court proceedings, out-of-court dispute resolution or sanctions for breach of consumer law. Consumer organizations play also an important role. Regarding out-of-court dispute resolution, attention has been paid in particular to specialized administrative agencies and proceedings before the Czech Trade Inspection Authority. Authors also shortly describe the development of arbitration, which is, however, no longer allowed in the case of consumer disputes.

The implementation of the Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters has triggered interest in the concept of mediation in the Czech Republic that has no long tradition of mediation in civil and commercial disputes to build on. Since the adoption of Mediation Act in 2012, apart from arbitration, mediation is the only form of ADR that is regulated by special legislation; however the Mediation Act regulates exclusively mediation carried out by mediators that are registered with the Czech Ministry of Justice. Mediation is voluntary; if considered efficient and adequate, it is at the discretion of the court to order the parties to meet with a mediator for a three-hour informative session. Pursuant to the Mediation Act mediation commences upon the execution of Mediation Agreement and if successful, it results in the conclusion of Mediation Accord expressing the will of all the parties that are ready to voluntarily fulfil their obligations thereof. Under the Czech Mediation Act, Mediation Accords are not directly enforceable.

The National Report brings a general overview of legislation on private law in the Czech Republic, notably with respect to the Civil Code, Commercial Code, Labour Code, Family Act, and Private International Law Act. Attention has been paid not only to the legal history and current situation, but also to the upcoming complete re-codification of the private law, in particular to the new Civil Code.