The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

of the

Parliament of the Czech Republic The Parliament of the Czech Republic ( cs, Parlament České republiky) or just Parliament ( cs, Parlament) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Czech Republic, seated in Malá Strana, Prague. It consists of bicameralism, two chambers, bo ...

. The seat of the Senate is

Wallenstein Palace Wallenstein Palace ( cs, Valdštejnský palác) is a Baroque palace in Malá Strana, Prague, that served as a residence for Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein and now houses the Senate of the Czech Republic. History The origina ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...

Structure

The Senate has 81 members, chosen in single-seat constituencies through the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, there is a second round between the two highest-placed candidates. The

term of office A term of office, electoral term, or parliamentary term is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject ...

for Senators is six years, and elections are staggered so that a third of the seats are up for election every two years. A candidate for the Senate does not need to be on a political party's ticket (unlike in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

). The Senate has one President and four Vice-presidents. Its members participate in specialised committees and commissions. The Senate Chancellery has been created to provide professional, organisational and technical services. The Senate occupies several historical palaces in centre of Prague, in Malá Strana quarter. In 2005 its budget was 561.2 million CZK.

Powers

The Senate can delay a proposed law which was approved by the

but this

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto p ...

can be overridden by an absolute majority (i.e. at least 101 of all 200 members) of the Chamber of Deputies in a repeated vote. If the Senate proposes amendments, Chamber of deputies may approve it with a simple majority or override it with absolute majority. The Senate, however, cannot be overridden when it votes on electoral law,

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...

and on

international treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

. The Senate decides on confirmation of judges of the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

, proposed by the

President President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

. It often uses this power to block unacceptable nominants and may propose new laws. However, the Senate does not get to vote on the country's budget or on confidence in the government, unlike the Chamber of Deputies. The

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ...

is the second-highest official of the Czech Republic for ceremonial purposes, after the President of the Republic, but without much real political power.

History

The Senate was established in constitutional law of the Czech National Council (ČNR) No. 1/1993 on 16 December 1992.Ústavní zmìny v dobì od pádu komunismu
Bulletin Scientia Politica The immediate reason for its creation was a need to find a place for members of the Federal Assembly, dissolved together with

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Other reasons given were the positioning of the Senate as a safety device ("''pojistka''") correcting laws endorsed by lower chamber and as a power balancing tool against the dominance of a single party, especially regarding constitution and electoral law. Due to opposition by the Civic Democratic Alliance (who had members in the

Czech National Council The Czech National Council ( cs, Česká národní rada, ČNR) was the legislative body of the Czech Republic since 1968 when the Czech Republic was created as a member state of Czech-Slovak federation. It was legally transformed into the Chamb ...

, which became the Chamber of Deputies under the new Constitution, but not in the Federal Assembly) and those politicians fearing dilution of power the Senate was not set up. The first elections were held in 1996, with voter turnout around 35% (much lower than turnout for the lower chamber). Further elections were held in accordance with the Constitution every two years after that. The Senate has received criticism for being essentially powerless and unnecessary for a country of the size of the Czech Republic. However, the likely most prominent critic of Czech Senate, former prime minister

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Ministe ...

, has expressed his plan to change the electoral into Chamber of Deputies into

First-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

, something that cannot be done without consent of the Senate, plus the Czech Constitution prohibits such system for lower chamber.

Latest election results

Results of the 2022 Czech Senate election.

Elected senators

Current composition of the Senate

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Senate Of The Parliament Of The Czech Republic

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

Czech Republic, Senate of the 1996 establishments in the Czech Republic