Are Czech Judges Angels or Devils? The Practice of Judicial Disciplinary Authorities in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The article analyses all judicial disciplinary decisions issued by the disciplinary court in the Czech Republic since 2008, when the reform of the disciplinary court took place. The authors, after introducing the Czech disciplinary system, describe the conduct of the judges which was found inappropriate by the court. In the second part of the paper they offer analysis of the cases tried by the disciplinary court in which the court found no substantial breach of the standards of professional judicial ethics or which were suspended before a decision was reached. In the last part of the paper, the authors summarise their findings, offer their interpretation and place their findings in a broader Czech context. The article thus offers an overview of the most recent practice of the Czech disciplinary court, which may be used for international comparison with the judicial disciplinary practice in other states.

Keywords: Professional ethics of judges, disciplinary proceedings of judges, disciplinary court, judicial misconduct, permissible judicial behaviour