APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110010-2
The reform movement of 1968 set in motion a full-scale review of the judicial system with the intent of once more separating the judiciary from political control. Because of a combination of influences—the continuing pressures for reforms from the judiciary itself, the need of the Husak regime to align the judicial system along federal lines, and the need to come to grips with the numerous legal problems following the invasion—substantial changes were enacted in December 1969. The powers and duties of the courts were specified in much greater detail, emphasizing the administrative separation of the judiciary from the government. The new laws explicitly confirmed the independence of judges, binding them only to the "legal order" of the state. Many of the reforms were administrative, designed to increase the efficiency of the court system.
Under federalization, the Supreme Court of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic is the highest judicial organ in the country. It has the power of judicial review over the Supreme Courts (established in 1970) of the Czech and Slovak Republics, which in turn exercise review authority over the kraj and okres courts. Judges of the Supreme Court of Czechoslovakia are elected to 10-year terms by the Federal Assembly on the nomination of the National Front (an "umbrella" political mass organization encompassing all political parties but firmly controlled by the Communists). Members of the national supreme courts are elected, also for 10-year terms, by their respective National Councils.
The regional court systems employ both professional and lay judges who theoretically have equal status. The constant turnover of the lay judges and their ignorance of legal procedures have decreased the courts' effectiveness, and the use of laymen is declining. Professional judges are now elected by National Councils of the Czech and Slovak Republics on the nomination of the National Front for 10-year terms, a regime compromise with jurists who demanded permanent appointments. Lay judges are elected for 4 years by kraj or okres national committees. Judges can be recalled or prosecuted only by the action, or with the consent, of the organ electing them. The Czech and Slovak ministers of justice supervise the administrative aspects of the regional judicial systems, including financing and assignment of clerical personnel. They also supervise the legal training and professional examinations of judges and determine their salaries.
The military judicial system is under federal jurisdiction, with no direct participation by regional Czech and Slovak judicial authorities. The administration of military justice comes under the jurisdiction of the federal Minister for National Defense, who acts through the ministry's Military Courts Administration. The authority of the regional Czech and Slovak ministers of justice in criminal law affecting military personnel is limited to initiating judicial complaints. Judicial review of the military courts is exercised by the federal Supreme Court. There are two levels of military courts—military district courts and "higher" military courts which exercise jurisdiction in all criminal matters involving members of the armed forces. These courts consist of both professional and lay judges who serve only while they themselves are members of the military. The military district and "higher" courts are constituted and dissolved by the President of the Republic. Commanding officers exercise judicial authority in criminal cases involving 500 korunas or less, in accordance with the military Manual of Discipline.
The federal Prosecutor General, and under him the two national prosecutors general, are responsible for the "observance of the laws and other legal regulations by ministries and other organs of state administration, national committees, courts, economic and other organizations, and individual citizens." The federal Prosecutor General is appointed and recalled by the Federal Assembly, while the national prosecutors are appointed and recalled by the presidiums of their respective National Councils. The prosecutors general operate through subordinate regional and district public prosecutors.
From 1948 to 1968 the application of public, civil, and criminal law generally failed to respect the legal rights enumerated in the 1948 and 1960 constitutions. Criminal administrative law, in many cases, was enforced directly by the secret police without even a facade of court proceedings. Criminal cases requiring court action also were largely determined by state prosecutors, who gave judges orders on the basis of police evidence. De-Stalinization—particularly with its emphasis on rectification of past "miscarriages" of justice—brought some liberalization to the court system after 1962. Party chief Novotny ordered periodic token amnesties of political prisoners but the judiciary remained tightly controlled by the Communist Party until his fall in January 1968.
The liberal judiciary that briefly emerged under Dubcek soon came under severe attack by the Husak regime for its "inadequate protection" of the socialist state. Because of the difficulty of finding "qualified" judges, the conservative retransformation of the judiciary began slowly, but by mid-1970 it had commenced in earnest. Most of the judges on the
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110010-2
