Found at the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic No. 49 / 1994 Coll.

Article 2 I Act No. 190 / 1993 Coll., amending the provisions of Section 4 (1) of Act No. 29 / 1984 Coll., on the System of Primary and Secondary Schools (School Act), as amended, in the section entitled "Unless otherwise provided for ', the date of the declaration of findings in the Collection of Laws shall be deleted.

The remainder is rejected.

A group of 45 Members submitted a motion to repeal Article I of Act No. 190 / 1993 Coll., amending and supplementing Act No. 29 / 1984 Coll., on the System of Primary and Secondary Schools (School Act), as amended. In Article 4 (1), the sentence "Education and education are free of charge 'is replaced by the sentence" In schools forming part of a system of primary and secondary schools, citizens are entitled to free education, unless otherwise provided for by the law.' The secondary sentence "unless otherwise provided for by the law 'introduces paid education in public schools (albeit only partially), but that is the provision of Article 4 (1) (c) of the Act. I Act No. 190 / 1993 Coll. conflicts with both the national law and the international legal obligations of the Czech Republic, namely the provisions of Articles 1, 9 (2) and 10 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, Article 5 (2) of the Constitutional Law of the Czech National Council No. 4 / 1993 Coll., on measures related to the disappearance of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, the provisions of Articles 4 (2) and (4), Article 33 (2) and Article 41 (1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as" the Charter'), Article 4 of the Convention on the fight against discrimination in the field of education, and Articles 28 and Article 41 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with the provisions of Article 5 and Article 13 of the International Pact on Economic, and Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Treaty.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, by letter dated 6 December 1993, signed by its President, PhDr. Milan Udem, stated that the legislature insisted on the law adopted, and the constitutional division of the State's power implies that it is solely up to the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the law and to give a decision in connection with the proposed group of 45 Members.

It follows from the short-term report on the 10th meeting of the Chamber of Deputies of Parliament on 15 - 17 June 1993 that Act No. 190 / 1993 Coll., amending and supplementing Act No. 29 / 1984 Coll., on the System of Primary and Secondary Schools (School Act), as amended, was adopted at that meeting by the necessary majority of Members in accordance with § 39 (1) and § 2 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic. This law was published in the amount of 48 Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic sent on 15 July 1993 and was also effective on that date. The bill was discussed and adopted on the basis of an initiative by Members (House Press No. 193) and joint committee reports (House Press No. 342). It can therefore be considered that the law was adopted and issued within the limits of the Constitution established competence and in a constitutional manner (§ 68 (2) of Act No. 182 / 1993 Coll., on the Constitutional Court).

The question in the present case is whether the right to free basic and secondary education is of an unconditional nature, or whether there is legal justification and derogation in this area, in the present case provided by the secondary sentence "unless otherwise provided for by the law '. In particular, the Charter gives a clear answer to this question, which, because of Article 112 (1) of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, is part of the constitutional order of the Czech Republic and which itself, in Article 33 (2), grants citizens as one of its fundamental rights the right to free education in primary and secondary schools. Within the meaning of Article 4 (2) The limits of fundamental rights and freedoms may be adjusted under the conditions laid down by the Charter only by law, but the substance and meaning of fundamental rights and freedoms must be investigated when applying this provision (Article 4 (4) of the Charter). Although, pursuant to Article 41 (1) of the Charter, the rights referred to in Article 33 (2) of the Charter, i.e. the right to free education in primary and secondary schools, can only be invoked within the limits of the laws implementing those provisions, it can hardly be considered that, with the examination of the limits of fundamental rights and freedoms, the legal exception of the contested inconditionality of the right to free primary and secondary education would still be compatible.

This conclusion is also confirmed by the ratified and declared treaties on human rights and fundamental freedoms, by which the Czech Republic is bound even after that date, in view of the provisions of Article 5 (2) of the Constitutional Act of the Czech National Council No. 4 / 1993 Coll., on measures related to the demise of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, and which are directly binding under Article 10 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic and take precedence over the law. In particular, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, published under No 120 / 1976 Coll., recognises everyone's right to education (Article 13 (1)), while at the same time providing that, in order to achieve the full implementation of this right, basic education is required to be compulsory and freely accessible to all and that secondary education and higher education can be made available and made available, including through the gradual introduction of free education [Article 13 (2) (a), (b), (c)]. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, published under No 104 / 1991 Coll. also recognises the right of the child to education, with the fact that, for the purposes of the gradual implementation of that right and on the basis of equal opportunities, free and compulsory basic education is introduced for all children and the development of various forms of secondary education, including by such measures as free education [Article 28 (1) (a), (b)]. It is noted in Article 41 (a), (b) of this Convention that nothing in this Convention is affected by provisions which are to a greater extent conducive to the exercise of the rights of the child and which may be contained in the legal order of a Contracting State or in international law which is binding on such State. Subsequently, Article 5 (2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights corresponds to that Article of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, according to which no restriction or derogation from any of the fundamental human rights recognised or existing in any country under the law, convention, regulation or practice will be permitted under the pretext that the Covenant does not recognise or recognise such rights to a lesser extent.

Thus, the Constitutional Court then shares the reasons which led the group of 45 Members to make a motion. On the other hand, there is no reason to conclude that Article 10 (1) (c) of the basic Regulation does not apply. Also Law No. 190 / 1993 Coll. was affected by Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties published under No 15 / 1988 Coll., since, as far as the contested article is concerned, the legislature does not refer as a reason for the proposed amendment to any provision of its national law (Article 27). The Constitutional Court also considers that Article 4 cannot be applied in the present case. The Convention on the fight against discrimination in the field of education, since this Convention has not yet been declared, could not, in the light of Article 10 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, take precedence over the law.

The Constitutional Court therefore decided, for the reasons set out above, that the provisions of Article I of Act No. 190 / 1993 Coll., which amended the provision of Article 4 (1) of Act No. 29 / 1984 Coll., on the system of primary and secondary schools, as amended, in the part of Article 5 (2) (a), which reads "unless otherwise provided by the Act on Social Affairs," shall be deleted from the date of publication of the Act in the Collection of Acts No. 120 / 1993 Coll., for its contradiction with the provisions of Articles 1, Articles 104 (2) and 10 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, Article 5 (2) (1) and Article 41 (1) of the Charter, with the provisions of Article 28 (1) (b), (b), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 4 (2), Article 4 (2) and Article 10 (2) of the Constitution, Article 33 (1) and Article 41 (1) of the Constitution, Article 41 (1) of the Charter, and Article 41 (1) of the Charter. Otherwise, he rejected the proposal in the rest because that part of the contested article referred to in the first sentence of Paragraph 4 (1) "In schools which are part of the primary and secondary school system, citizens have the right to free education ', is in full compliance with the above standards.

The finding is enforceable on the day of its publication in the Collection of Laws.