The Constitutional Court found no 235 / 2002 Coll.

Motion denied.

On 14 August 2001, the Constitutional Court received a proposal from a group of 23 Senators of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for the annulment of Article 46a of Act No. 90 / 1995 Coll., on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, as amended, on the grounds that, in their view, the provision in question is contrary to Articles 4 (3) and 21 (1) and (4) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms ("the Charter '). The above proposal is justified by the following: Act No. 483 / 1991 Coll., on Czech Television, as amended by Act No. 36 / 1993 Coll., Act No. 253 / 1994 Coll., Act No. 301 / 1995 Coll. and Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll., (hereinafter referred to as the" Act on Czech Television "), the conditions and also the procedure of the election of the Council of Czech Television, i.e. the body which is elected by the citizens (rightly, however, the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic) to check the activities of Czech Television. Under Section 4 (2) of the Czech Television Act, candidates are elected from among citizens on the basis of proposals from organisations and associations representing cultural, regional, social, trade union, employers, religious, educational, scientific, ecological and national interests. The proposals are delivered to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as the Chamber of Deputies), which is also entitled under the Czech Television Act to vote and withdraw individual members of the Czech Television Council. The possibility of being elected a member of the Council of Czech Television is given by law to all those who meet the criteria of the Act on Czech Television, i.e. those who are eligible for legal action, have permanent residence in the territory of the Czech Republic and are upstanding, as defined in Section 4 (3) of the Act on Czech Television. Part Three, Article IV, point 2, of Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll., amending Act No. 483 / 1991 Coll., on Czech Television, as amended, and amending some other laws, was also amended (supplemented) by Act No. 90 / 1995 Coll., on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, as amended by Act No. 47 / 2000 Coll., by setting up an Election Committee for the Election of Members of the Council of Czech Television. The Election Committee of the Chamber of Deputies is then required to select three times the number of members of the Czech Television Council, in accordance with Section 46a of the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, provided that the number of candidates proposed by eligible organisations and associations meeting the requirements of the Czech Television Act is higher than the three times the number of members of the Czech Television Council to be elected. The group of Senators, as the appellant, sees, in the present version of the contested Rule 46a of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, a contradiction

(a) with Article 21 (1) of the Charter, which reads: "Citizens have the right to participate in the administration of public affairs directly or by free choice of their representatives."

(b) with Article 21 (4) of the Charter: "Citizens shall have access to elected and other public functions on equal terms."

(c) with Article 4 (3) of the Charter, which reads: "Legal restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms must apply equally to all cases which fulfil the conditions laid down."

The current text of the Rules of Procedure Act The Chamber of Deputies limits, in the appellants' view, the unjustifiably inalienable right of citizens to participate in the administration of public affairs through their representatives, in a way which does not support (probably in constitutional laws or laws, because the appellants did not specify this thesis). By setting up an Election Committee which was otherwise entrusted with the Czech Television Act to all Members of the Chamber of Deputies, all non-members of the Election Committee are excluded from voting (and, moreover, by their choice to seek re-election from their electorate), and thus from those citizens who represent them. This limits the right of these citizens to participate in the administration of public affairs (through the election of the members of the Czech Television Council to the administration of Czech television within the scope of the Czech Television Act). The current text of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies thus limits the unjustifiable right of citizens to have access to elected and other public functions on equal terms. There are no rules (criteria) for this activity of the Election Committee consisting of the way in which proposals submitted (for candidates for elections to the Czech Television Council) and leading to the selection of only such number of candidates... "meeting the requirements of this Act..." corresponding to three times the number of members of the Czech Television Council for the election of members of the Czech Television Council by the Chamber of Deputies. This prevents a substantial part of the candidates from being elected by the body designated by law, namely the entire Chamber of Deputies, that is to say, having access to elected functions on equal terms. In addition to the implementation of the contested provision, the Chamber of Deputies, in accordance with § 46a (3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, has decided on the details of the procedure (Resolution 1616), but in addition to the legal authorisation by its Resolution No 8, the Election Committee has limited the right of candidates to appear before (and only) the Election Committee of the Chamber of Deputies only for a certain proportion of those who otherwise fulfil the conditions for the choice of a member of the Czech Television Council. Moreover, the current text of § 46a in paragraph 2 in part... "and of the proposed candidates meeting the requirements of this Act, the House of Deputies will select candidates corresponding to three times the number of members of the Council..." is puzzling, as it is not clear which law is meant by the wording "... of this law..." when the Act on Czech Television is not quoted in the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies at all and the Law on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies could not have had the legislator in mind in the context. The contested provision of the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies is contrary to the right of a citizen (i.e. also a candidate for a member of the Council of Czech Television) to have legal restrictions on fundamental rights, namely the right to have access on equal terms to elected and other public functions, equally applicable to all cases which fulfil the conditions. The contested provision itself is based on a hypothesis... "of candidates fulfilling the preconditions..." but then the restriction to become an object of choice applies to only a part of the candidates (those who, without setting the criteria - that is to say arbitrarily - will be determined by the Election Committee). If, therefore, the possibility of being "admitted" to the election of a member of the Council of Czech Television is to become the subject of political partisan conjecture and misunderstandings and, in addition, of compromises by the parliamentary parties, the relevant provision of the Czech Television Act (§ 4 (2)) on which the candidates for the members of the Czech Television Council (namely those outside the political parties, i.e. the interest and professional organisations and associations of citizens) would be a provision that would be confusing. However, even from the point of view of this factual argument, the misleading and confusing provision itself is the contested provision. In addition, this statement is supported by the fact that the legislator has established a range of subjects of choice by means of a substantive rule (the Czech Television Act) and the method of choice is governed by the procedural rule.

The appellants therefore requested the Constitutional Court to abolish the contested part of the Act for a contradiction with Articles 4 (3) and 21 (1) and (4) of the Charter.

The Constitutional Court requested a statement from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate to examine the motion. In its observations, the Chamber of Deputies stated that Law No 39 / 2001 Coll. in Part Three, Article IV (2) provides for the establishment of the Election Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and its activities and provides that the details of the Committee's procedure are to be adapted by the Chamber of Deputies itself by its resolution. This regulation is fully in line with the constitutional order of the Czech Republic. Directly in the Constitution of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution), the power of the two chambers of Parliament to establish committees and commissions as their bodies, the Constitution does not specify which committees are to be set up specifically. Comoros may set up their committees by their resolutions or their establishment by law. It is de facto the power of the chambers to set up their bodies autonomously. In the Chamber of Deputies, the committees are set up in accordance with Section 115 (2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies according to the principles of proportional representation, with the exception of the Organising Committee. The committees shall be accountable to the Chamber of Deputies for their activities. It is therefore not possible to agree that "all non-members of the Election Committee are excluded from the possibility of voting for the members of the Czech Television Council, and thus those citizens who do not represent the members of the Election Committee '. This view would completely deny the principle of legislative elections and the principle of proportional representation in the Chamber of Deputies. Citizens are, of course, represented by their Members, but it is clear from the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies how Members participate in the work of the Chamber of Deputies. The Member may be a member of a maximum of two committees, with the exceptions set out in Paragraph 33 (1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. It is therefore not possible to draw a conclusion from the above opinion on Members and citizens representing them. It should also be emphasised that each committee presents its conclusions to the Chamber of Deputies and only the Chamber of Deputies is responsible for the final decision on the matters it is discussing, including those discussed by the committees as bodies of the Chamber of Deputies. Law 39 / 2001 Coll. does not therefore infringe the right of citizens to participate in public governance by choosing their representatives. Paragraph 46a (2) only regulates the procedure for a large number of candidates. The law must contain such a regulation, otherwise, with a very large number of candidates, the choice itself would be almost impossible. All members of the Election Committee representing their constituents shall participate in the selection of candidates according to the principle of proportional representation. The contested provision of Paragraph 46a therefore does not in any way restrict fundamental rights and freedoms under Articles 21 (4) and 4 (3) of the Charter. Finally, the Chamber of Deputies took the view that the contested provision was not contrary to the constitutional order of the Czech Republic and was fully in the scope of the legislation given by the relevant provisions of the Constitution - in particular Articles 18 (1) and 31.

In its observations, the Senate stated that the contested provision was added to the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies when amended by Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll. The draft Act was submitted by the Government at the beginning of January 2001, containing amendments to three laws, namely Act No. 483 / 1991 Coll., on Czech Television, as amended, Act No. 484 / 1991 Coll., on Czech Radio, as amended, and Act No. 468 / 1991 Coll., on the operation of radio and television broadcasting, as amended. At the request of the government, a state of legislative emergency has been declared - given the situation in Czech television at the time - to discuss the government bill and the bill has been discussed in a brief hearing. In the Chamber of Deputies, the government's proposal has made changes, which have also been reflected in the change in the title of the law, and the amendment of three other laws, including the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, has been supplemented. The bill adopted by the Chamber of Deputies was delivered to the Senate on 15 January 2001 and, since it was a draft law discussed in the Chamber of Deputies in a brief hearing, pursuant to Article 118 of Act No. 107 / 1999 Coll., on the Rules of Procedure of the Senate, it was also discussed by the Senate in a brief hearing. In the Senate, the bill as Senate Press No. 1 / 2001 was discussed in two committees, in the Committee on Petitions and in the Committee on Constitutional Law. The Senate debated the draft law at its 4th session (III. Election) on 17 January 2001, and after no proposal had been adopted that the Senate should not deal with the draft law, nor the proposal for its approval, as tabled by the Chamber of Deputies, adopted the amendments tabled at that meeting of the Senate, and decided to return the draft law to the Chamber of Deputies as amended by the amendments adopted. Of the 66 senators present, 39 voted in favour of this proposal and 14 members of the Senate. When discussing the bill in the Senate, account was taken of the situation in which the bill was discussed, when it was necessary to adopt legislative arrangements to deal with the crisis situation on Czech television. Consideration was given to the seriousness of the proposed adjustment, which, in the opinion of many senators, included some relatively serious shortcomings, the solution of which would require a longer period. The Senate has therefore adopted amendments to the draft law, which were intended to adopt only a legal regulation to address the current crisis situation in Czech television, and stated that the new regulation of so-called media laws and the necessary amendments to the related laws that also respect the constitutional principles should be prepared in the ordinary legislative process. However, this solution was not accepted by the Chamber of Deputies.

In the context of the proposal submitted by a group of senators, it can be pointed out that in the middle of June 2001, the Government submitted to the Chamber of Deputies a draft law amending Act No. 484 / 1991 Coll., on the Czech Radio, and Act No. 90 / 1995 Coll., on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. In this proposal, which has yet to be discussed in the bodies of the Chamber of Deputies, the Government also proposes amendments to Paragraph 46a of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, which justifies - inter alia - the fact that the modification of the electoral committee procedure contained in Section 46a (2) "seems not to comply with Article 21 (4) of the Charter '.

The Constitutional Court under Section 68 (2) of Act No. 182 / 1993 Coll., on the Constitutional Court, examined whether Law No. 39 / 2001 Coll. (here Part Three - Amendment of Act No. 90 / 1995 Coll., on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, as amended by Act No. 47 / 2000 Coll., Article IV (2)) was adopted within the limits of the Constitution laid down by competence and by a constitutional procedure. It was then apparent from the Chamber of Deputies that Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll., which included the contested provision of Paragraph 46a in the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, was adopted in the Chamber of Deputies at the third reading on 13 January 2001, and in the vote under order No 16 there were 179 Members for 120 and against 50 Members present. The motion returned by the Senate was voted on 23 January 2001 and the Chamber of Deputies approved the original bill (as amended on 13 January 2001) in the vote under order number 123, of the 194 Members present it was for 133 and against 52 Members. The Act was signed by the President of the Republic on 23 January 2001 and declared in the Collection of Laws on 25 January 2001 in the amount of 14 / 2001 Coll. It remains to be concluded that the designated law has been adopted and issued within the limits of the constitutionally determined competence and the constitutionally prescribed manner.

According to § 4 paragraph 1 of the Third Act on Czech Television, as amended by Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll. "The members of the Council elect and withdraw the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as the Chamber of Deputies) in such a way that significant regional, political, social and cultural currents are represented."

Under Section 4 (2) of the Czech Television Act, as amended by Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll., "Proposals of candidates for Council members are submitted to the Chamber of Deputies of the Assembly of Deputies representing cultural, regional, social, trade union, employer, religious, educational, environmental and national interests. Proposals may be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of the invitation by the President of the Chamber of Deputies to submit proposals in the manner laid down in the resolution of the Chamber of Deputies. '

Paragraph 46a of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, as amended by Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll., provides:

"(1) For the purposes of the election of the members of the Czech Television Council (hereinafter referred to as the Council), the Chamber of Deputies shall set up an Election Committee, the members of which shall be elected by Members in accordance with the principle of proportional representation.

(2) If the number of candidates proposed by authorised organisations and associations is higher than three times the number of members of the Council to be elected, the Election Committee shall examine the proposals submitted and select for election by the Chamber of Deputies three times the number of members of the Council to be elected. If the number of candidates proposed by authorised organisations and associations is not higher than three times the number of members of the Council to be elected, the Election Committee shall submit to the Chamber of Deputies for election all proposed candidates meeting the requirements of this law.

(3) The details of the procedure shall be adapted by the Chamber of Deputies by its resolution, which shall also determine the extent to which the Rules of Elections shall apply to the procedure referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 (Annex 2). ';

By Resolution 1492 of the 34th meeting of 2 March 2001, the Chamber of Deputies, pursuant to Rule 46a (3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, amended the procedure of the Election Committee for the selection of candidates. In that resolution it stated that

1. the invitation to submit proposals for candidates for the members of the Czech Television Council within the legal 15-day period (§ 4 (2) of the Czech Television Act) will be sent by the President of the Chamber of Deputies for publication by the Czech Press Office,

2. in accordance with Sections 4 and 5 of the Act on Czech Television, the Qualifying Organisations and Associations submit proposals for candidates for members of the Czech Television Council within the legal deadline to the Election Committee of the Chamber of Deputies,

3. the Election Committee will assess whether candidates for the members of the Czech Television Council have been proposed by eligible organisations and associations under the Czech Television Act and whether the candidates proposed meet the conditions set out in the quoted Act,

4. The Election Committee shall present the candidate of the Council of Czech Television to the Election Commission of the Chamber of Deputies and shall simultaneously notify the President of the Chamber of Deputies. Article 6 (2) of the Annex to the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies shall not be used. The other provisions of Annex 2 to the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies shall apply to the election of the Czech Television Council. The above Annex No 2 is the electoral order for elections held by the Chamber of Deputies, with proposals being submitted to the Election Commission of the Chamber of Deputies no later than 10 days before the election date, pursuant to Article 6 (2).

Furthermore, the following resolutions of the Election Committee were submitted to the Constitutional Court:

- Resolution No 6 of the second meeting of 5 April 2001,

- Resolution No 8 of the third meeting of 24 April 2001,

- Resolution No 11 of the 4th meeting of 15 May 2001,

- Resolution No 16 of the 5th meeting of 22.5.2001, and

- Resolution No 21 of the 5th meeting of 24 May 2001.

These documents showed that the Election Committee, within the meaning of the resolution of the Chamber of Deputies, examined exclusively the fulfilment of the conditions and assumptions laid down by the Czech Television Act. In particular, he examined whether the proposals were submitted by the organisations and associations mentioned in Section 4 (2) of the Czech Television Act. To this end, on the basis of Resolution No 6, these bodies requested to provide appropriate evidence that they fulfilled the conditions laid down for the submission of proposals. By order No 11, he then excluded from the selection those candidates who were proposed by entities either not complying with the conditions laid down in Section 4 (2) of the Czech Television Act or those who did not prove that they were entitled to submit a proposal within the meaning of the provision cited. Furthermore, the documents submitted showed that the Election Committee examined whether the proposed candidates fulfilled the conditions laid down in Section 4 (3) of the Czech Television Act. By order No 6, the President of the Election Committee asked the appellants to provide documents showing that the candidates they proposed met the conditions laid down by them. The required supporting documents were precisely defined by the same order. It is clear from the other resolutions of the Election Committee that only those who were proposed by ineligible entities or did not fulfil the conditions were excluded from the total proposed number of candidates. Furthermore, the Election Committee has already selected a specified number of candidates (three times the number of members of the Czech Television Council) by secret ballot according to the rules resulting from Annex 2 to the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies and Resolution 8.

At the heart of the Senate Group's proposal to repeal that provision of the Rules of Procedure Act The House of Deputies are two objections, namely the objection concerning the constitution of the electoral committee itself and the objection concerning the restriction of citizens' right to have access to elected and other public functions on equal terms.

In essence, the objection to the constitution of the electoral committee itself is the conviction of the appellants that, by creating this committee, all Members who were not included in the committee are excluded from taking decisions when choosing the members of the Czech Television Council. As a result of this exclusion, non-attached Members cannot represent their constituents in this area, which, as a result, is a restriction on the right of their constituents to participate in public governance.

The Constitutional Court, when examining this objection, took the view expressed in the Chamber of Deputies that the law regulates the establishment of the Election Committee and its activities by providing that the details of the Committee's procedure are left to the resolution of the Chamber of Deputies. This regulation is fully in line with the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, since the power of the two chambers of Parliament to set up committees and commissions as their bodies is regulated in the Constitution without the Constitution determining which committees are to be set up specifically. If individual chambers can set up their committees by their own resolution, it is the power of parliamentary chambers to establish their bodies in an autonomous way. This corresponds - in the view of the Constitutional Court - to the principle of representative democracy, since Parliament, which has come from free elections, holds decisions that express the will of the people within the meaning of Article 2 (1) of the Constitution as a power-holder within the framework of the Constitution. The competitive sovereignty of Parliament, as well as the internal organisational autonomy of its chambers, is therefore an undeniable requirement of an authority representing the sovereign will of the people.

It follows from the general definition of the principle of proportional representation that this political representation system is to fulfil the requirement that the ratio of mandates allocated is more or less equal to the ratio of votes received. However, the implementation of this principle requires the creation of basic conditions in relatively stable electoral and party situations. According to the general theory, these basic conditions include, in particular, a fixed electoral mechanism, which was used in at least three successive elections. Furthermore, it is assumed that the party system is largely stable, not too fragmented and it is possible to determine the minimum measurable size of the so-called smallest side. The theory itself shows (e.g. Klíma M., the relative "disproportionate" electoral system after the amendment of the Election Act to the Parliament of the Czech Republic, the political journal No. 4 / 2000, p. 349) that stabilized ratios for application of the principle of proportional representation are created in the Czech Republic, and the Constitutional Court is of the same opinion.

In the view of the Constitutional Court, it can be inferred from what has been stated that, if sufficiently stabilised conditions are created for the application of the principle of proportional representation in the constitution of the Chamber of Deputies as a whole, then of course there is no doubt that even for the constitution of the internal bodies of this Chamber, the principle of proportional representation is a constitutional basis. The Law on Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies then specifies how Members participate in the work of the Chamber of Deputies. The Member may then be a member of a maximum of two committees with the exceptions provided for in Rule 33 (1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. For the Election Committee, as is apparent from Rule 46a (1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, the principle of proportional representation is a fundamental rule for its constitution, which means that the structure of the College of Members of the Election Committee corresponds to the very structure of the mandates in the Chamber of Deputies and, therefore, the proportion of the votes of the voters that the political parties represented in this Chamber have obtained.

In other words, it can be said that the establishment of the Election Committee closely follows the principle of proportional representation, which is also created by the Chamber of Deputies itself. From this point of view, it can be reasonably expected that the Election Committee, within the limits of its competence, will also decide in the selection of members of the Czech Television Council in a manner that respects the distribution of political forces throughout the Chamber of Deputies. The establishment of the Election Committee (the incorporation of § 46a into the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies by Act No. 39 / 2001 Coll.) is clearly motivated by the intention to select the appropriate number of candidates of the Council of Czech Television in such a way that the Chamber of Deputies has sufficient time to discuss and carefully consider individual candidates, which could only lead to rational conclusions justifying their choice. In view of what has been mentioned, this is a certain "pre-selection" of the candidates of the Czech Television Council, but it is an institution established by the Chamber of Deputies in the way already described. This method cannot ultimately be described as unconstitutional, even from the point of view of Article 21 (1) of the Charter, where, at the very least, an important principle is respected that "Citizens have the right to participate in governance directly or by free choice of their representatives." In view of the above, the Constitutional Court therefore concludes that the method of constitution of the Election Committee does not show the characteristics of unconstitutionality and that there was no other reason to consider the objection raised to be unfounded.

In essence, the objection concerning the restriction of citizens' right to have access to elected and other public functions on equal terms is the conviction by the appellants that the regulation in question does not contain any rules (criteria) for the activities of the Election Committee consisting of the way in which the proposals submitted are assessed and leading to the selection of only the number of candidates who otherwise meet the requirements of the Czech Television Act, equivalent to three times the number of members of the Czech Television Council. In the appellants' view, the application of this regulation prevents a substantial proportion of the candidates proposed from being elected by the body designated by law, i.e. the Chamber of Deputies, from having access to the elected functions on equal terms.

Article 21 (4) of the Charter provides that "Citizens shall have equal access to elected and other public functions." This right is related to the right to participate in public administration. Such a right is universal, belongs to every citizen without gender, nationality, religion, political affiliation to any group or other position. The administration of public affairs is participation in the political life of the state, the administration of the state and the administration of public affairs, and it also means the possibility of running and holding any functions in public life without discrimination. That provision of the Charter also corresponds to Article 25 (c) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that every citizen has the right and the possibility to enter the public services of his country on equal terms, without any differences referred to in Article 2 of the Pact and without unjustified restrictions. Equal conditions for access to a country's public services mean that the qualification requirements may not exclude any of those services for the reasons set out in Article 3 of the Charter or Article 2 of the Pact. Equal conditions also mean that the law of any force or practice of state authorities cannot favour or discriminate against certain groups of citizens in relation to access to public functions.

As already stated, the only criteria that the Czech Television Act gives for the election of the members of the Czech Television Council by the Chamber of Deputies are that the Council of Czech Television is to be chosen in such a way... "to represent significant regional, political, social and cultural currents" (§ 4 (1) of the Czech Television Act), where proposals for candidates are submitted to the Assembly of Deputies and associations representing cultural, regional, social, trade union, employers, religious, educational, scientific, ecological and national interests (§ 4 (2) of the Czech Television Act). The preconditions for the possibility of being elected a member of the Czech Television Council are set out in Section 4 (3) of the Czech Television Act and include legal capacity, permanent residence in the Czech Republic and integrity.

The task of ensuring that the composition of the Czech Television Council is given to the Chamber of Deputies by the Act on Czech Television, but the provisions in Article 46a (2) of the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies are the standard governing the procedure by which the Chamber of Deputies carries out this task. The division of the constitution of the Council of Czech Television between, as stated by the applicants, the substantive law and the procedural law does not consider the Constitutional Court to be unconstitutional, because the substantive regulation - that is, the position of the Council of Czech Television, its formation, powers, etc. - must be regulated by the substantive regulation (the Act on Czech Television), whereas the manner of the work of the Chamber of Deputies in the elections of the members of the Council of Czech Television must be clearly adapted in the law governing the conduct of the Chamber of Deputies, that is the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. If, in the context of the first objection concerning the constitution of the Election Committee, the Constitutional Court concluded that the Election Committee was constitutionally in conformity with the body of the Chamber of Deputies and was entrusted with the power to take part in the elections of the members of the Czech Television Council, then the election committee's role in the election of the members of the Czech Television Council could be considered as the work of the Chamber of Deputies itself.

Under Section 32 of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, the Election Committee is one of the committees of the Chamber of Deputies, that is to say, a legally established body with defined powers and negotiations. The activities of the committees are regulated in Section 6, Sections 32 to 46a of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. It is clear from the Rules of Procedure as set out in Section 36 et seq. of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies that the work of the Committee is governed by the standard rules applicable to the acts of democratically established bodies. Members of the Committee shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the Committee, to propose additions or amendments to the agenda, to speak with suggestions, proposals and comments. All proposals are then decided in a way that is precisely regulated by the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies. The committees shall be accountable to the Chamber of Deputies for all their activities.

The Election Committee, as is apparent from the supporting documents set out in Part IV of the preamble to this finding, followed the procedure laid down in Sections 4 (2) and 4 (3) of the Czech Television Act when eliminating candidates, thus assessed the fulfilment of the formal requirements laid down by the law (the proposal submitted by the legitimate bodies, the fulfilment of the conditions for a member of the Czech Television Council). This procedure cannot be blamed for a breach of equal conditions for citizens' access to elected functions. However, a breach of that principle cannot be seen in the next procedure of the Election Committee, which has already carried out the selection of a limited number of candidates only on the basis of an election with a secret ballot. It is clear from this procedure that all the candidates proposed here, too, had the same access to this function.

In view of what has been stated and as a result of respect for the principle of proportional representation in the setting-up of the Election Committee, it cannot be concluded that Article 21 (4) of the Charter would be infringed and thus denied citizens access to elected and other public functions on equal terms (membership of the Council of Czech Television). Once again, it is necessary to recall the obvious intention of the Chamber of Deputies to create its body (with respect for the principle of proportional representation), which clearly created the conditions for streamlining the activities of the Chamber of Deputies in the selection of members of the Czech Television Council. The maintenance of a level playing field for citizens in terms of access to public functions should be seen in their equal opportunities by means of proposals from authorised bodies to apply for a member of the Czech Television Council, including from the point of view of the existence and competence of the Chamber of Deputies established by the Election Committee according to the principle of proportional representation.

Finally, the appellants argued that the current text of § 46a (2) of the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies in the "... and from the proposed candidates meeting the requirements of this Act," it is confusing, because it is not clear which law is meant by the wording of "..." when the Act on Czech Television is not quoted at all in the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies and the Law on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies could not be taken by the legislator in the context. On this point, the Constitutional Court states that the wording is not very appropriate, but from the overall context of the contested provision, i.e. Section 46a of the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies clearly shows that it is the election of the members of the Council of the Czech Television and it can therefore be concluded that the conditions for the performance of this function are laid down in the Act on Czech Television. In this context, the Constitutional Court notes that that inaccurate wording is rather technical and in no way constitutes the unconstitutional nature of the contested provision.

The Constitutional Court concluded that the contested provision was not infringed by Article 21 (4) of the Charter.