Senate rejects presidential nominee for Constitutional Court

Prague, Feb 8 (CTK) - The Czech Senate yesterday rejected the candidacy of Prague City Court chairman Jan Svacek who was nominated for a judge of the Constitutional Court (US) by President Vaclav Klaus.

Klaus will have to offer a new candidate to the senators. The new constitutional judge would replace US deputy chairwoman Eliska Wagnerova whose mandate expires in March.

US chairman Pavel Rychetsky said he believes the Senate and Klaus would reach agreement on the next candidate.

According to Klaus, the Senate made a mistake by not supporting Svacek.

Presidential Office spokesman Radim Ochvat said Klaus believes the country lost an opportunity to have a good constitutional judge as Svacek was a quality candidate.

The rejection of Svacek was expected as the Senate's constitutional committee and the human rights committee recommended that the upper house reject his candidacy. Svacek was nevertheless only two votes short of being supported by the Senate dominated by the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD), according to CTK's information.

Senate constitutional committee head Jirina Rippelova (CSSD) indirectly blamed Klaus for the unsuccessful vote. She said it would be good to preliminarily consult the senators to find out whether they would approve of his candidate, which Klaus does not do.

Svacek, 54, was criticised for joining the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSC) shortly before 1989.

Svacek told the senators yesterday that he has nothing to say in defence of his KSC membership but he sharply rejected accusations that he had issued verdicts according to the orders of the KSC or the communist police.

He pointed out that he passed screenings after 1989 before his appointments to posts at courts.

Svacek recalled that Klaus offered him to be a candidate for a US judge already in 2003 but that he rejected the offer for personal, family and professional reasons then.

He dismissed the view that he is "Klaus's man." He said he had a dispute with Klaus over the appointment of young judges several years ago.

"I am an independent judge and I firmly believe that I will stay independent till the end of my professional career," Svacek said.

Klaus had several disputes with the US. He also repeatedly claimed that the US goes beyond its powers. He said the court wants to become a third house of Czech parliament.

The US cancelled several major decisions of the parliament, siding with complaints often filed by politicians. It for example scrapped the early elections scheduled for autumn 2009.

The Constitutional Court has 15 judges and its composition has not changed since 2005.

The president appoints new members of the US for 10 years but he needs the Senate's consent with the persons he nominates.

The US lineup markedly changed in 2003-2005 when the mandates of a part of the court's members expired. Klaus clashed with the Senate over some candidates already then. The senators have rejected six of the 19 candidates proposed by Klaus.

In June, the mandate of US judge Frantisek Duchon will end.

The mandates of eight US members, including Rychetsky, will expire next year. The US may temporarily limit its operation in case of protractions and disputes over the naming of its new members, which it did eight years ago. These problems may occur also in connection with the presidential elections scheduled for the beginning of 2013.