What is Act No 322 / 2016 Coll.?

Act No. 322 / 2016 Coll., amending electoral laws and other related laws — Law amending electoral laws and other related laws.

When it became Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. effectiveness?

Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. became effective 01.01.2017.

Is Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. still valid?

Yes, Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. is still valid and effective.

How many times was it Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. amended?

Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. has 3 time versions of the text.

Act No 322 / 2016 Coll. - Law amending electoral laws and other re...

322

THE LAW

of 6 September 2016

amending electoral laws and other related laws

Parliament has decided on this law of the Czech Republic:

ČÁST PRVNÍ

Amendment of the Election Act to Parliament of the Czech Republic

Čl. I

Act No. 247 / 1995 Coll., on the elections to Parliament of the Czech Republic and on the amendment and addition of certain other laws, as amended by Act No. 212 / 1996 Coll., the Constitutional Court Act No. 243 / 1999 Coll., Act No. 204 / 2000 Coll., the Constitutional Court Act No. 64 / 2001 Coll., Act No. 491 / 2001 Coll., Act No. 37 / 2002 Coll., Act No. 171 / 2002 Coll., Act No. 261 / 2008 Coll., Act No. 320 / 2009 Coll., Act No. 195 / 2004 Coll., Act No. 222 / 2012 Coll., Act No. 58 / 2014 Coll., Act No. 59 / 2014 Coll., Act No. 114 / 2016 Coll., amended as follows:

1. In Article 16, the following paragraphs 1 to 3 are inserted:

"(1) The election campaign shall mean any promotion of the candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate or election agitation for the benefit of the candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate, in particular public notices intended for or serving for their support, including any accompanying action for which a payment is granted or usually granted. A message to the detriment of another candidate political party, political movement, coalition, their candidate or independent candidate shall also be considered as an election campaign.

(2) A natural or legal person intending to participate in an election campaign without the knowledge of the candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate shall be required to register as a registered third party with the Political Party and Political Movement Supervisory Authority (hereinafter "the Office") established under the law governing association in political parties and political movements before entering the election campaign.

(3) The election campaign under this law begins on the day of the announcement of the elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic and ends on the day of the publication of the overall results of the elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic. "

Paragraphs 1 to 8 shall be renumbered paragraphs 4 to 11.

2. In Article 16, the sentence "The communication media of the region or the municipality or the legal person controlled by the region or municipality may not be used for the election campaign shall be added at the end of paragraph 4. ';

3. In Paragraph 16, the following paragraph 6 is inserted after paragraph 5:

"(6) Promotion or election agitation by means of communication media shall include information on their contracting authority and processor; This applies mutatis mutandis to the use of large-scale facilities and communications to the detriment of any candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate. Candidate political parties, political movements, coalition or independent candidate shall be required to indicate their name or abbreviation, in the case of an independent candidate, in their name and surname, by their means of election campaign. Registered third parties shall be required to indicate the election campaign funds used by them by the name, abbreviation or name and surname and registration number of the registered third party allocated by the Office. ';

Paragraphs 6 to 11 shall be renumbered paragraphs 7 to 12.

4. Paragraph 16 (9), including footnote 5h, is deleted.

Paragraphs 10 to 12 shall become paragraphs 9 to 11.

5. Paragraph 16 (10), including footnote 5i, is deleted.

Paragraph 11 shall become paragraph 10.

6. The following Sections 16a to 16i are inserted after Section 16, including the headings:

„§ 16a

Election Account

(1) Any candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate shall be required to set up an account for the financing of the election campaign no later than 5 days from the date of the announcement of the elections, allowing for free and continuous access by third parties to display an overview of payment transactions in that account (hereinafter referred to as the "Election Account").

(2) The election account must be held with a bank, savings and credit cooperative or with a foreign bank that has a branch located in the Czech Republic.

(3) The funds deposited in the electoral account can only be used to fund the election campaign. The collection of cash from the election account and its subsequent use to finance the election campaign shall be recorded in the accounts.

(4) The funds in the electoral account not used for the election campaign may not be used for the period during which administrative proceedings concerning infringements of the rules on the financing of the election campaign are conducted, but for at least 180 days from the date of publication of the overall outcome of the election; This prohibition does not apply to the reimbursement of campaign expenses under § 16c.

(5) In order to pay the fine imposed on an administrative offence relating to the violation of the rules on the financing of an election campaign, funds may be used in an election account not used for an election campaign.

(6) Within 60 days of the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 4, any funds in the electoral account not used for the election campaign shall be transferred in the case of:

(a) political parties or political movements on behalf of a political party or a political movement governed by a law governing association in political parties and political movements; in the case of a coalition, the agreement of the members of the coalition on the share to be transferred from the election account of the coalition to the account of political parties or political movements represented in the coalition shall be decisive; If such an agreement is not concluded, the funds shall be transferred equally from the electoral account;

(b) an independent candidate for a social, health, sport, environmental, cultural or otherwise public purpose, to the extent and in a manner specified by an independent candidate.

(7) An election account may be cancelled only after all funds not used for the election campaign have been transferred from it pursuant to paragraph 5 or 6.

§ 16b

Funding of the election campaign

(1) The financing of the electoral campaign includes all the campaign expenditure. Only funds deposited in an election account may be used to cover these expenses.

(2) A candidate political party, a political movement, a coalition or an independent accounting candidate under the Accounting Act leads on the funding of the election campaign.

(3) Information on funds in the electoral account shall be recorded, indicating the name, surname, date of birth and the municipality in which the natural person who provided the funds has permanent residence or, if it is a legal person, its business name, registered office and identification number, if any.

(4) Information on other transactions valued in money shall be recorded with an overview of the origin of such transactions, including the name, surname, date of birth and the municipality in which the natural person who provided those transactions has permanent residence or, if it is a legal person, an indication of his business name or the name, seat and identification number of the person has been allocated.

§ 16c

Election campaign expenditure

(1) Expenses on election campaigns are the sum of all funds or other transactions valued in money spent by the candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate to cover the costs of the election campaign.

(2) Expenditure on election campaigns may not exceed:

a) for elections to the Chamber of Deputies an amount of CZK 90 000 000, including value added tax,

b) for elections to the Senate, the amount of CZK 2 000 000 including value added tax for each candidate, if only the first round of elections, or the amount of CZK 2 500 000 including value added tax, if the candidate of the first round and the second round of elections participate.

(3) The amount referred to in paragraph 2 shall include the amounts paid or payable by the candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or an independent candidate, including the amounts paid or committed to be paid by third parties with their knowledge. If a performance which is part of an election campaign has been provided free of charge or at a price lower than the usual, the normal value of the assets of the State shall be included in this amount under the law governing the valuation of the assets of the State.

(4) No later than 3 days before the election date, all persons who have paid or committed to pay the campaign expenses shall be known to the candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate, who have provided a donation or a free payment. Such persons shall be published on the websites of the candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate, as provided for in Article 16b (3).

§ 16d

Publication of campaign financing data

(1) The candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate shall ensure that access to the electoral account is published for the duration of that account as defined in Article 16a in a manner that allows remote access on their websites. The candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate shall notify the Office of the address of its website where information on the financing of the election campaign will be published and the establishment of an election account and the address of the website on which the account is accessible; the coalition shall notify the Office and its composition.

(2) The candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate shall, within 90 days of the date of publication of the overall results of the elections, publish on its website a report on the funding of the election campaign in a manner enabling remote access.

(3) The report referred to in paragraph 2 shall contain:

(a) an overview of the free payments provided to the candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate for the election campaign, indicating the usual price, if not a donation, and data on donors and providers to the extent set out in Article 16b (3), as well as the amount of campaign expenses paid by the candidates themselves;

(b) an overview of the campaign expenses and the purpose for which they have been used; if the performance is provided at a price lower than the usual, the provider's identification data shall be provided to the extent specified in Paragraph 16b (3);

(c) an overview of the cash debts to be met by the candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate in connection with the financing of the election campaign, indicating the performance which the candidate political party, political movement, coalition or independent candidate has been provided by the creditor or for which the creditor has undertaken to provide; if the transaction is provided at a price below the usual, the creditor's identification details shall be provided to the extent specified in Paragraph 16b (3).

(4) The report referred to in paragraph 2 shall be published by the candidate political party, political movement, coalition and independent candidate on a form to be established by the Office by a decree.

(5) The candidate political party, political movement, coalition and independent candidate shall, within 90 days of the publication of the overall results of the elections, send to the Office all accounts relating to the election campaign and a report on the financing of the election campaign by a person authorised to act on behalf of the candidate political party or political movement, or, if the coalition is signed by persons authorised to act on behalf of all political parties and political movements represented in the coalition, or by an independent candidate.

(6) An independent candidate shall, within 15 days of the date on which the funds in the electoral account not used for the election campaign have been transferred to a public utility pursuant to Article 16a (6) (b), publish in a manner that allows remote access on his website, and at the same time send to the Office a signed information on who, to what extent and to what public utility the funds have been transferred.

§ 16e

Election campaign conducted by a registered third party

(1) For the purposes of this Act, a registered third party is a natural or legal person who is registered in a special register administered by the Office.

(2) Registered third parties for the purposes of this Act may not:

(a) the State and its contribution organisations;

(b) the municipality, the town district, the town district and the region;

(c) voluntary association of municipalities,

(d) a State enterprise and legal persons having the ownership of a State or a State enterprise, as well as the person in whose management and control the State is involved, including as a person controlling it; This does not apply if the State or a State enterprise does not have 10% of its shareholding;

(e) a legal person having the ownership of the region, the municipality, the city district or the city district, as well as the person in whose management and control the region, the municipality, the city district or the city district are involved, including as a person in control; This does not apply if the holding does not reach 10%,

(f) community, political institute and institute,

(g) trust fund;

(h) another legal person, provided that other legislation so provides;

(i) a foreign legal person;

(j) a natural person who is not a national citizen of the Czech Republic; This does not apply if the person is entitled to vote in the Czech Republic to the European Parliament,

(k) a natural or legal person who, on his behalf and under his responsibility, ensures the content, issue and public dissemination of periodical printing;

(l) operator of radio and television broadcasting.

(3) The application for registration of a third party shall include the name, surname, nationality, address of permanent residence and birth number, or, if not assigned, the date of birth, if it is a natural person, and the name or business name, registered office, legal form and identification number of the person, if it is a legal person.

(4) The Authority, upon a complete request from a third party, shall immediately assign a registration number to a third party and carry out the registration and publish the registration data on its website. The Office shall refuse the registration of the person referred to in paragraph 2 by decision; no decomposition or review may be made in the review procedure. A registered third party may start taking part in an election campaign not earlier than the day following the date of registration.

(5) The publication of the registration data referred to in paragraph 4 shall contain the data from the application except for the birth number and the third-party registration number and the date of registration.

(6) The registered third party is obliged to set up an election account for the financing of the election campaign and to notify the Office of the address of its website where information on the financing of the election campaign will be published and the establishment of an election account and the address of the website on which the election account is accessible.

(7) Funding for an election campaign registered by a third party shall cover all of its campaign expenditure. The issue of a registered third party to an election campaign shall be understood as money and other transactions valued in the money spent on the election campaign. Only funds deposited in the electoral account of a registered third party may be used to cover such expenditure. In the voting account of a registered third party, funds may be entered only by transfer from another bank account. The registered third party shall demonstrate to the Office, at its request, who is the owner of the bank account from which the funds were transferred to the election account.

(8) The expenditure of a registered third party for an election campaign may not exceed:

a) for elections to the Chamber of Deputies the amount of CZK 1 800 000, including value added tax,

b) for Senate elections 40 000 CZK including value added tax for each constituency, if only the first round of elections, or 50 000 CZK including value added tax for each constituency, if the first round and second round of elections are held.

(9) The amount referred to in paragraph 8 shall include amounts paid or payable by the registered third party, including amounts paid or committed to be paid by another person. If a performance which is part of an election campaign has been provided free of charge or at a price lower than the usual, the normal value of the assets of the State shall be included in this amount under the law governing the valuation of the assets of the State.

(10) A registered third party must keep a record of the use of election campaign funds containing:

(a) expenditure on pre-election surveys;

(b) expenditure on advertising in the press;

(c) expenditure on outdoor advertising;

(d) other expenditure.

(11) The registered third party shall retain the extracts from his or her electoral account and the records referred to in paragraph 10 for a period of 5 years and submit those extracts and records at the request of the Office.

(12) The registered third party shall publish an overview of the expenditure referred to in paragraph 10 on its website within 10 days of the end of the election campaign. The summary of expenditure shall be published continuously for at least 3 months.

§ 16f

Supervision of election campaign financing

(1) Office

(a) oversees the financing of election campaigns by candidate political parties, political movements, coalitions, independent candidates and registered third parties;

(b) publish on its website the address of the websites of the candidate political parties, political movements, coalitions and independent candidates where information on the financing of the election campaign is published and the accounts concerning the election campaign of the candidate political parties, political movements, coalition and independent candidates, and the address of the websites of registered third parties where information on the funding of the election campaign is published and the election account of the registered third party is accessible;

(c) carry out registration of third parties intending to participate in an election campaign, decide to refuse registration of a third party and publish registration data on its website;

(d) discuss offences and administrative offences against legal and business natural persons and impose penalties.

(2) For the purposes of monitoring the financing of the electoral campaign, the Office uses the following reference data from the population base register:

(a) name, surname,

(b) the date of birth;

(c) the address of the place of stay,

(d) citizenship and, where appropriate, multiple citizenship.

(3) The Office uses the following data from the population registration information system for the purposes of monitoring the financing of the electoral campaign:

(a) name, surname, maiden name,

(b) the date of birth;

(c) the address of the place of permanent residence, including previous addresses of the place of permanent residence;

(d) citizenship and, where appropriate, multiple citizenship.

(4) The Office uses the following information from the alien information system for the purposes of monitoring the financing of the election campaign:

(a) name, surname including previous surnames, maiden name;

(b) the date of birth;

(c) the type and address of the place of residence in the Czech Republic;

(d) the beginning of the stay or, where appropriate, the date of termination of the stay;

(e) citizenship.

(5) For the purposes of monitoring the financing of the electoral campaign, the Office uses the following reference data from the basic register of persons:

(a) the firm or name of the legal entity;

(b) the address of the registered office;

(c) the statutory authority;

(d) the person's identification number;

(e) the date of origin;

(f) the date of extinction;

(g) legal status.

(6) From the data referred to in paragraphs 2 to 5, only such data as are necessary to fulfil the task may be used in a particular case. Data kept as reference data in the population base register shall be used from the population registration information system or the alien information system only if they are in the form preceding the current situation.

§ 16g

Transfers

(1) A natural person commits an offence by:

(a) in contravention of Article 16 (2), participate in an election campaign without prior registration in a special registry of the Office;

(b) in contravention of Article 16 (4), use or make possible the use of the communication media of the region or the municipality or of a legal person controlled by the region or municipality for an election campaign;

(c) in breach of Article 16 (6), shall not ensure that the promotion or election agitation distributed through the communication media or using a large-scale device or communication to the detriment of any candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate contains information about the contracting authority and processor;

(d) in breach of Article 16 (6), shall not indicate the means of the election campaign in the name and surname and registration number of the registered third party;

(e) in contravention of Paragraph 16 (7), publish the results of pre-election and election surveys at the time beginning on the third day preceding the date of the elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic and ending with the end of the vote;

(f) in contravention of Article 16e (6), it shall not establish an election account or hold an election account pursuant to Article 16e (6) or notify the Office of the facts pursuant to Article 16e (6);

(g) deposit funds in an election account in breach of Article 16e (7) or in breach of Article 16e (7), does not prove who is the owner of the bank account from which the funds transferred were transferred to the election account;

(h) contrary to Article 16e (8), it shall not ensure that its campaign expenses for elections to the Chamber of Deputies or elections to the Senate exceed the fixed amount;

(i) it does not keep records of the use of election campaign funds pursuant to Article 16e (10) or in contravention of Article 16e (10);

(j) not submit statements from the electoral account and records of the use of election campaign funds pursuant to Article 16e (11); or

k) will not publish an overview of the campaign expenses under § 16e (12).

(2) An independent candidate commits an offence by:

(a) in contravention of Paragraph 16 (6), it shall not indicate, in its name and surname, the means of the election campaign used by it;

(b) in contravention of Paragraph 16a (1), it shall not establish an election account or hold an election account pursuant to Article 16a (2);

(c) use funds deposited in an electoral account in breach of Article 16a (3);

(d) in contravention of Article 16a (4), treat the funds in the electoral account not used for the election campaign for the duration of the administrative infringement proceedings concerning the breach of the rules on the financing of the election campaign or for a period of 180 days from the date of publication of the overall results of the election;

e) does not transfer funds in an electoral account not used for the election campaign pursuant to § 16a (6);

(f) cancel the election account in breach of Paragraph 16a (7);

(g) contrary to Article 16b (2), does not keep accounts on the financing of the election campaign,

h) does not provide information on funds in an electoral account pursuant to Article 16b (3);

(i) does not provide information on other transactions valued in money pursuant to Article 16b (4);

(j) in breach of Article 16c (2) (b), shall not ensure that the costs of the election campaign for the Senate do not exceed the fixed amount;

(k) in contravention of Paragraph 16c (4), does not disclose the required data on persons who have paid or committed to pay the campaign costs or provided a cash donation or a free payment; or

(l) fails to fulfil any of the obligations under Article 16d relating to the publication of information on the financing of the election campaign, the content of the report on the financing of the election campaign, the transmission of supporting documents on the Office's accounts or the transfer of funds from the election account.

(3) To deal with an infringement under:

(a) points (a) to (d) and (f) to (k) of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 shall be the competent authority; the decision of the Office is not subject to decomposition or review in the review procedure;

(b) paragraph 1 (e) shall be the competent regional authority according to the place of residence of the natural person; the fine is the revenue of the county budget which imposed it.

(4) A penalty may be imposed for an offence from:

(a) 10 000 CZK to 100 000 CZK, if it is an offence pursuant to paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 (a) or (l),

(b) 20 000 CZK to 300 000 CZK if the offence referred to in paragraph 2 (h), (i) or (k) is committed,

(c) 30 000 CZK up to 500 000 CZK if the offence referred to in paragraph 2 (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g) is committed,

(d) 10 000 CZK up to a maximum of one and a half times the amount by which the ceiling of the campaign expenditure has been exceeded, if it is an infringement pursuant to paragraph 2 (j).

§ 16h

Administrative offences of legal and business natural persons

(1) A natural person, whether legal or legal, commits an administrative offence by:

(a) in contravention of Article 16 (2), participate in an election campaign without prior registration in a special registry of the Office;

(b) in contravention of Article 16 (4), use or make possible the use of the communication media of the region or the municipality or of a legal person controlled by the region or municipality for an election campaign;

(c) in breach of Article 16 (6), shall not ensure that the promotion or election agitation distributed through the communication media or using a large-scale device or communication to the detriment of any candidate political party, political movement or coalition, their candidate or independent candidate contains information about the contracting authority and processor;

(d) in contravention of Article 16 (6), it shall not indicate the means of the election campaign by name, abbreviation or name and surname and registration number of the registered third party;

(e) in contravention of Paragraph 16 (7), publish the results of pre-election and election surveys at the time beginning on the third day preceding the date of the elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic and ending with the end of the vote;

(f) in contravention of Article 16e (6), it shall not establish an election account or hold an election account pursuant to Article 16e (6) or notify the Office of the facts pursuant to Article 16e (6);

(g) deposit funds in an election account in breach of Article 16e (7) or in breach of Article 16e (7), does not prove who is the owner of the bank account from which the funds transferred were transferred to the election account;

(h) contrary to Article 16e (8), it shall not ensure that its campaign expenses for elections to the Chamber of Deputies or elections to the Senate exceed the fixed amount;

(i) it does not keep records of the use of election campaign funds pursuant to Article 16e (10) or in contravention of Article 16e (10);

(j) not submit statements from the electoral account and records of the use of election campaign funds pursuant to Article 16e (11); or

k) will not publish an overview of the campaign expenses under § 16e (12).

(2) The candidate political party and political movement or political party and political movement represented in the coalition commit an administrative offence by:

(a) in breach of Article 16 (6), it shall not indicate its name or abbreviation of the means of election campaign used by it;